A coalition of Jews, former Moslems and Christians is launching "Infidel Awareness Month," a national observance running from September 11 to October 7, the anniversaries of the 9/11 attacks and the October 7 massacre that claimed thousands of innocent lives.
Each day, Infidel Awareness Month will remember the victims, examine the history and ideology behind the attacks, and ask a simple question: Why are we still afraid to name the threat?
"Infidel Awareness Month is about remembering, understanding and speaking plainly," said founder and historian Richard Landes. "We cannot defend a free society if we are afraid to name the ideology that has repeatedly declared us its enemy. No to supremacist Islam. Yes to Moslems who live as our equal neighbors."
At the center of the initiative is one word: "infidel." It is a word many Americans never knew was meant for them. To a supremacist reading of Islam, it means everyone outside the faith, including Christians, Jews, secular people and even the Moslems who reject it.
"Twenty-five years ago, as a boy in Amman, I cheered when the towers fell. Today I am a proud infidel," said Danny Burmawi, founder and CEO of the Ideological Defense Institute which is partnering with Infidel Awareness Month. "The Month is about confronting the threat of an ideology that demands submission and seeks to impose Sharia law across society. We will not hide behind euphemisms. But this is not a war on Moslems — Moslems are this ideology’s first victims, and some of its bravest opponents are those, like me, who left it."
The Month is not a campaign against Moslems. It is a campaign against a supremacist, intolerant ideology that seeks to dominate rather than integrate, that is hateful rather than accepting of different faiths and points of view. Moslems who embrace diversity and who want to live as equal citizens and patriotic, peaceful neighbors are welcome and should never be the object of bigotry.
THE "27 DAYS OF TRUTH"
The observance opens with three days of context and closes the day after the October 7 anniversary; at its heart are 27 Days of Truth, one for each theme.
The program is built around three ideas:
• A Record. Remember the victims. Name them. Tell their stories.
• A Reckoning. Ask how euphemisms, censorship and fear of offense made it harder to speak honestly about jihadist ideology.
• A Warning. Recognize that the ideology did not disappear with the late Osama bin Laden
...... who is now sometimes referred to as Mister Bones......
or the fall of ISIS’s territorial caliphate.
The full program, daily schedule and additional information are available at InfidelAwareness.com.
ABOUT THE COALITION
Infidel Awareness Month is an independent coalition effort founded by the historian Richard Landes, joined by former Moslems, scholars, philosophers, and filmmakers. It is supported by private philanthropy. Learn more at www.InfidelAwareness.com.