A Voice in the Wilderness In Defense of "Mere Conservatism"

My Kind of Town (for jihad) Chicago Is…

Apparently my hometown was the most attractive spot for an Al Qaeda-linked group to hold their national "Fall of Capitalism & Rise of Islam" conference this weekend.

"Hizb ut-Tahrir is one of the oldest, largest indoctrinating organizations for the ideology known as jihadism," Walid Phares, director of the Future of Terrorism Project at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told FOXNews.com.

Phares said that Hizb ut-Tahrir, rather than training members to carry out terrorist acts like Al Qaeda, focuses instead on indoctrinating youths between ages of 9 and 18 to absorb the ideology that calls for the formation of an empire — or "khilafah" — that will rule according to Islamic law and condones any means to achieve it, including militant jihad.

Hizb ut-Tahrir often says that its indoctrination "prepares the infantry" that groups like Al Qaeda take into battle, Phares said.

"It's like a middle school that prepares them to be recruited by the high school, which is Al Qaeda," he said. "One would compare them to Hitler youth. ... It's an extremely dangerous organization."

Phares said Hizb ut-Tahrir has strongholds in Western countries, including Britain, France and Spain, and clearly is looking to strengthen its base in the U.S.

"The aim of this conference is to recruit within the Muslim community in America," he said. "The Middle East governments go after them, but in the U.S. they are protected, so having a base here is going to help their cells around the world."

Representatives of Hizb ut-Tahrir declined to comment when contacted by FOXNews.com

I have no problem with groups from various religions or worldviews congregating on our free shores to discuss their beliefs. But what I do have a problem with, where we all should logically draw the line, is when those groups are promoting, or in any way linked to, groups and ideologies that would not return the same favor should me and my band of merry conservative evangelical free-market advocates decide to hold our next "Capitalism Rules, Islam Drools" conference in Tehran or the West Bank.

The radical, irreconcilable wing of Islam has no interest in liberty, the dignity of human life, or religious tolerance. There will always be a tension between freedom of speech and security. We can't ignore the latter, or we'll lose the former.