Monday’s terrorist attack in Manchester got ‘Puter thinking.

No one defends mass murderers. People (mainly progressives) defend terrorists. Why? What’s the difference?

Ideology.

Terrorists are out-of-power mass murderers with an ideology. Ordinary mass murderers kill without ideology.

Castro, Lenin, Hitler, and Mao were all terrorists. They ceased being terrorists when they took power. We call terrorists who hold territory and control governments “Dear Leader” or “Chairman” or “Fuhrer” or even “Mr. President.”

Muslim terrorists are driven by their ideology: Islam. Islam commands its adherents to spread the faith through conquest, and if necessary, slaughter. Islam’s goal is to marry its religious ideology to its political ideology (arguably, one inseparable ideology), bringing about Muslim government over the earth. Muslims will cease being terrorists when every country has a Supreme Leader dedicated to sharia and Islam.

In order to destroy terrorism, it is necessary to destroy or discredit the ideology. The Allies had no compunction about destroying the Nazis, thereby destroying the ideology. Ditto the West versus the Soviet Union’s communism, though primarily through less violent economic means. America’s embargoed Cuba since Castro and his thugocracy took over. Destroy the ideology, destroy the terrorists.

Admittedly, it’s much more difficult to destroy an ideology once it ascends to governmental status.

So where does this leave us with Islamic terrorism? Must we destroy the ideology to put an end to terrorism?

Maybe.

If Muslims rise against those in their ranks who see violence, murder, and conquest as acceptable methods of spreading the faith, perhaps a larger conflict can be avoided. ‘Puter has seen few signs of this, though he is certain some efforts have occurred.

If not, the West has a choice to make. Submit to Islam or destroy it. This is not to say destroy all Muslims. Just as not all Nazis were destroyed, all Muslims need not be destroyed. Unconditional surrender works as well as absolute destruction. But destroying an ideology requires the competing ideology to be stronger willed.

We are quickly coming to a point when a decision must be made.

Choose wisely.