Obsession - Radical Islam's War Against the West

A Guide for Activists

What can you do to raise awareness about the threat of radical Islam? Below are some ways to get more involved.

Media
Become informed, and help inform others
1. Get clear on what is happening in the world by reading a variety of reputable sources.
2. Monitor your campus and international newspapers for bias and misinformation, and alert others when you see it. When you see news stories that provide excuses for Islamist terror, or that reflect an anti-Western bias without showing the whole picture, organize a letter writing campaign pointing out the mistake.
3. See how the Arab and Iranian media present events. There are several organizations providing important translations:
  - MEMRI and MEMRI TV
  - Palestinian Media Watch
  - IMRA
  - SITE Institute
  Check out what's being said. It's a real eye-opener!
4. Send letters to editors and write op-eds, about radical Islamic incitement, misinformation, and the threats to our shared ideals.
5. Start a blog, or feature some important links on your page at MySpace and Facebook.

Politics
Contact your elected officials
1. Your views as a citizen are important to your elected representatives. Organize letter writing campaigns to your elected officials raising awareness about Islamist incitement, and encouraging them to be pro-active about the issues. You can write a short, personal email with a subject line like: "Thank you for standing up for Western ideals."
2. When you see legislation that benefits radical Islamic groups and terror supporting regimes, but does nothing to help the populations being abused by them, help your friends and colleagues write letters to your elected officials, telling them to oppose such legislation.
3. Volunteer for a campaign, and raise this issue to the candidate you are supporting.

Campus
Engage and educate the people at your university
1. Many college students are intimidated by professors or activists who aggressively attack their ideals. These attacks are often based on misrepresentations of the West or its motives. If you encounter bias, join with other students to foster a balanced exchange of ideas not stifled by misinformation or anti-Western agendas.
2. Engage and encourage student organizations – student government, College Democrats and Republicans, cultural organizations - to condemn radical Islamist incitement, and the threats to our shared ideals posed by inaction and lack of knowledge.
3. On campus, start a booth or group to combat bias. Distribute information, host discussions, and organize multi-media presentations that will help inform people about the issues.

Host an Event
1. Show Obsession or other important films, with a post-show discussion to help people think about the issues. For more information on hosting an Obsession screening, contact us at: screenings@obsessionthemovie.com. For information on hosting an Obsession screening on your college campus, contact us at campus@obsessionthemovie.com.
  Other important films you can show include:
2. Bringing speakers to your campus or community, to help educate, and engage others in a healthy debate.
3. Organizing a peaceful rally or vigil on the issues of relevance to you.

Community
Help build grass-roots awareness where you live
1. Point out hypocrisy when you see it. When various organizations protest alleged desecration of the Quran, but ignore physical violence by Islamists against Christians or others, stand up and say something. Write letters to the editor. Organize a sit-in outside their offices, and invite your local TV News stations to come and watch.
2. Moderate Muslims: Create watchdog groups monitoring what is being taught and disseminated in mosques, schools, and local and national organizations. Work together to keep hate-propaganda out of your communities, and guarantee that the values which are important to you, are taught and upheld. For more information on promoting peace and tolerance, and combating radical infiltration into your communities, contact groups like:

Campaigns
Get involved with campaigns about issues important to you
1. Is there an issue that's important to you, like child abuse or women’s rights? You can find a campaign and get involved, or even start your own!
2. If you're horrified about the culture of hatred being taught to children in certain parts of the world, then check out Teach Kids Peace. TKP encourages the promotion of peace education for children in conflict zones, through raising public awareness, and calling on world leaders to take action to prevent this form of child abuse.
3. If you want to respond to the treatment of women by radicals, then you can get involved with groups like:
  These groups can also provide valuable information and resources for your own campaigns.
4. Begin a “shared values” campaign, encouraging peaceful coexistence among the diverse peoples in our global (and local) communities. Most of us share many of the same ideals. By raising awareness about the beautiful things we have in common, we can stand firm against threats to those ideals.

Think about what's important to you
Spend some serious time thinking about the values that are important to your community. For example: education, justice, equality, and social responsibility. Why are they important? How do we express them? Discuss them with your friends and colleagues at school and in the workplace. If you're a parent or teacher, engage your children in ways that will encourage them to think about our shared values, and some of the ways different cultures around the world express them.

Live what's important to you
The biggest defense against this threat is to stand strong, and strive to bring these ideals into our lives. We should be as equally zealous as suicide bombers, to choose to live lives of truth and meaning. Remind yourself daily that you can distinguish between right and wrong, and you're not being intolerant or narrow-minded. One can be open-minded and still recognize that some beliefs and actions help destroy the good we have struggled to bring into our beautiful world.