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🪵 The Threshold

There is indeed a perceived threat from within Western society due to religious switching, secularism, and lower fertility rates. However, the threat is also viewed as externally imposed on…

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tagsja-picks, definitional_content, singleton, xref, category/definitional-content
aliases@hodson_baby_2022, loc. 27

5 min read

There is indeed a perceived threat from within Western society due to religious switching, secularism, and lower fertility rates. However, the threat is also viewed as externally imposed on Western society in the form of ‘baby jihad.‘

Evidence

Ibrahim wrote an article called “Islam’s ‘Baby Jihad’” in direct response to Pew Research Center (2015). Baby jihad paints the fertility of Muslim women as a form of warfare against the West. Unlike the internal threat of moral decay from within Western society, baby jihad is an external threat linked to Islamophobia. — Margaret Hodson, Baby Jihad, 27 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

  • XREF: connects to: I will then consider the demographic factors of fertility rates, age distribution, and migration. Much like conversion, white nationalists view high Muslim fertility rates as a form of jihad. White nationalists use violent rhetoric such as ‘literal baby boom’ (Steyn 2008, xviii) and ‘war of the wombs’ (Kilpatrick 2106, 131) to paint Muslim motherhood as weapon wielded against Western society. This concept of ‘baby jihad’ objectifies Muslim women as baby-producing machines. In turn, these babies will bring about the ruin of Western society through stealth jihad to implement Sharia law, amongst other things such as genital mutilation, rapes, and persecution of Christians. These fears are exacerbated by an aging European population in contrast to a young Muslim population. Finally, migration is viewed as another type of demographic weapon. White nationalists write of the ‘hijra’ as a form of stealth jihad (Corcoarn 2105b), a ‘Trojan horse’ (Solomon and Al Maqdisi 2009) to alter the demographic make-up of non-Muslim countries and implement Sharia law.; White nationalists believe this increase in switching to religiously unaffiliated causes lower fertility and birth rates for Western women. William Kilpatrick writes that ‘The decline of Christianity in Europe led to a loss of cultural confidence and a loss of will. This loss of faith also translated into a declining birth rate.’ (2016, 131). As stated above, Pew Research Center (2107) confirms that religiously unaffiliated women are projected to have lower fertility rates than religiously affiliated women. However, religiosity is only one factor impacting fertility rates, and is intertwined with educational opportunities, economic development, and age of marriage amongst other factors. However, here begins a shift from internal factors within Western society to external threats. There is indeed a perceived threat from within Western society due to religious switching, secularism, and lower fertility rates. However, the threat is also viewed as externally imposed on Western society in the form of ‘baby jihad.’ As shown above, religious switching has little impact on demographic changes. Therefore, white nationalist fears of religious switching impacting demography indicate greater fears about national security and cultural values. However, there are data to support large demographic shifts due to differing fertility rates and age distributions. White nationalists view demography as a form of jihad, and thus fear these projected changes.; Similarly, analyzing ‘demography jihad’ can lend a greater understanding to current events including Brexit, the election of President Trump, and ‘Muslim Ban 2.0.’ The concept of baby jihad plays an important role in anti-Muslim propaganda through both Europe and North America. Baby jihad strikes at the heart of white nationalist fears. (+7 more)

Broader Connections

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