Your First Impulse Was Correct

You awakened from your slumber. You somehow became aware of the unsettling brilliance of Islam. Your first impulse was to share your enlightenment with others. More often than not, you were shot down, intensely and with more anger than you expected. You discovered, perhaps, that this topic is not like other kinds of topics — people are both ignorant and self-righteous about what they "know" about Islam and terrorism.

It's quite a shock.

Now you are reluctant to share what you've learned about Islam. It's too upsetting. But you are still awakened and you want to do something about it. You feel motivated. Every news item you read motivates you even more. The situation is getting more and more urgent. Something must be done. But what?

We have created a page full of answers at WhatYouCanDoAboutIslam.com, but I think it's important to point out that your first impulse was the correct one. Your response, however, was mistaken.

Your first impulse was that others must know about this. That is correct. If enough non-Muslims knew about a few basic principles of Islam, the problem is essentially solved. New legislation would be easily passed. We would have enough support for the right kind of military and legal actions. Islam's relentless encroachment would be stopped in its tracks.

Your first impulse was correct, but your subsequent response was mistaken. You tried to educate your fellow citizens and ran into a brick wall of resistance. Your response to this hostile reaction was to find some other way to express your intense motivation. But rather than finding something else to do, you should keep doing what you want to do, but learn to do it differently. Get better at it.

We must learn better ways to respond when people throw hostile arguments back at us. When you can successfully respond to their counter-arguments, you will stay calmer, the conversation will be less upsetting, and you may very well change their minds. That's what we need.

Study the Answers to Objections. Really study them. And study the Frequently Asked Questions. Download lectures from YouTube, put them on your iPod and listen to each one ten times. Study the principles of influence and practice them. Get the book How to Win Friends and Influence People on CD or as a digital download and listen to it ten times.

Prepare yourself in earnest, keep sharing what you know about Islam, and constantly improve your ability to get through to people. Let's get really good at this. Your first impulse was correct: This is the most important thing that needs to be done.