How long will Islam remain a threat? Or for those who doubt Islam is the problem, I'll ask the question a different way. How long before terrororism and suicide bombings, gender discrimination, gross intolerance, and psychotic threats, all "in the name of Islam"*, recede to the levels found among Buddhists, Hindus, Shinto, atheists, Jews, and Christians? More importantly, what are the possible scenarios that might bring about such moderation?
Here are the primary possibilities that are proposed by Islamic experts and wishful thinkers:
Reformation of Islam: Many believe that Islam can be reformed and are working toward that end. Unfortunately, most who propose this "solution" are not Muslim. Reforming Islam to the extent required to neutralize the supremacist, anti-Semetic, warring, terror components of the ideology requires the elimination or ignoring of hundreds of passages from both the Qur'an and the Hadith. This will cause Islam to become something other than Islam. It would be the Christian equivalent of removing references to Jesus Christ from the Bible. In fact, the trend in Islam over the past several decades has been "reformation." However, the reformation has been going in the opposite direction from becoming more peaceful and accommodating. Understand that before the 1970's Islamic aggression and terror rarely made the headlines. I don't recall it being mentioned on the evening news. Many thousands of the leaders of Islam, whether they understand their religion correctly or not (I believe they absolutely do understand their religion) are taking it from its relatively benign existence of the previous century to what it has become today - what is was during its first 500 years. Not good. In fact, there is tremendous momentum in the direction of increased aggression and terror due to the vitriolic anti-West indoctrination of millions of Muslim youth. "Reformation" in the direction of greater moderation is probably the least likely future of Islam for several generations.
An act of Islamic terror much greater than 9-11: The detonation of an Islamic terrorist nuke (dirty or otherwise) in a major US city or 100 miles above the northeast urban corridor that brings our power grid and electronics to a pre-1900 condition will create interesting times. Such an act will create a firestorm of anger from our population that our leadership, even that of Islamic sympathizer Obama, will not be able to resist. We will raise an army of millions within weeks. Iran, Syria, and every other radical Islamic den will be neutralized sooner than that - without Miranda rights - and Islam will no longer be tolerated as a "religion of peace". Muslim "civil rights" in the US will shrivel up for a time. There will continue to be blamers of America, "truthers" who claim "the CIA did it", and apologists for Islam, but their numbers will shrink to insignificance. But they will be very vocal and possibly violent. There will continue to be terror attacks, but the US and her allies will finally have the will to address the Islamic ideology as we should have since 9-11. How long this resolve lasts will depend on the magnitude of the violent acts. Hopefully longer than one presidential term.
A miraculous mass conversion of a major segment of the Muslim population world-wide: According to several sources, (see HERE and HERE) there are significant numbers of Muslims converting to Christianity. Are there enough to offset the explosive Muslim birth rate? Doubtful. Western Europe is being Islamicized at a rapid rate, and Islam is not standing still regarding converting others to Islam.There would have to be a conversion rate several times the existing rate that would require a miraculous spiritual intervention that is beyond our current comprehension.
Attrition/burn-out: Will the high level of violence-promoting fervor of the 100 million most radical Muslims decline in the coming years? Will Muslims world-wide, despite the teaching of their religion, come to believe that supremacism should be a spiritual concept and not a literal, physical belief carried out to the death? There is a race going on in the Islamic world to convert and recruit and radicalize (aka "enhance the devoutness of") Muslims faster than they lose their subjects to moderation. This is difficult to measure. By most accounts, the trend is in the direction of additional radicalization and additional anti-Western fervor. Unfortunately, the west itself is aiding this trend by its obsession with "blame America first", political correctness, and an out of control "cultural diversity" in America and Europe.
The threat will continue and grow through the next several generations. This is the "none of the above" scenario. Instead of a diminished threat, there is continuing growth among the "radicals" and additional consolidation of Muslims who believe the true, historic, supremacist nature of Islam and who support, promote, and implement that ideology. This scenario sees the continuing Islamization of Western Europe, with Muslim majorities and governance in several countries within 25 to 30 years. The left and ignorant in the US will continue to defend Islam as just another religion. Many more respected Muslims, employing their Taqiyya, will assume positions of influence in government, academia, and military behind the protections of cultural diversity. The average citizen will slowly grow accustomed to this blowing up and that blowing up (the frog in the pot of heating water syndrome). "Acceptance" (through legal coercion and intimidation) of the "rights" of Muslims to govern themselves under Sharia Law will grow. There will be increasing aggression by the majority Muslim pockets in many larger cities and defensive concerns of the declining majority non-Muslims who are threatened by the change in culture, morals, government, and freedoms.
Islam persists - we submit: This is what Islamists and all Muslims would prefer. This is what liberals would peacably allow. This is the voluntary Islamization of the west. This is the path enabled by Islamic apologists and proponents of cultural diversity. Islam will fill the void created by our "judge not" amorality.
The Islamic ideology is defeated in a manner similar to that applied to fascism during WWII: If we identify the Islamic ideology for what it is and commit our will and resources to defeat it, it will be defeated or it will morph into something more benign. See suggested Action Plans HERE.
How do you see things unfolding?
* "In the name of Islam" refers to the motivation of those who commit these acts. Whether the motivation is based on an accurate or an inaccurate understanding of what the religion teaches is really quite irrelevant. Those who assume these acts are not really an expression of the true Islamic ideology will claim that they were committed by "misundertanders of Islam." Nonetheless the threat continues. For those who seek it, the evidence is overwhelming that Islam is both a peacefull and a warring supremacist ideology, depending on which side of the Islamic face you are viewing at the time.