As the Global War on Terror got underway at the turn of the 21st century, then-President George W. Bush sharply distinguished Islam and Islamism. Islam, in this telling, was a global faith counting more than a billion adherents, including a few million in America, the overwhelming majority of them peaceful and loyal. Islamism was the noxious ideology that inspired 9/11 and numerous other attacks of the kind. Islam meant “peace,” as Bush insisted. Islamism meant war and terror.
In the years that followed, a few cultural flashpoints brought Islam’s place in America into public contestation. Even so, Bush’s distinction more or less held. But not anymore. Today, politicians and activists from his home state of Texas are promulgating school curricula that underscore the violent dimensions of Islam, mounting fierce opposition to new mosque proposals, and objecting to recent demographic changes in overtly racial and religious terms.
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People need to know. https://t.co/DiYSlDjolv— Cate Coupal (@CateCoupal) September 26, 2026
