NOTE: Today, CounterJihad contributor Shireen Qudosi posted an endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on her website, The Qudosi Chronicles: The Voice of Muslim Reformers. CounterJihad.com does not make political endorsements but, in the interest of exploring the interaction of some of our issues with the 2016 presidential campaign, we will present a point-counterpoint. An opposing view will be posted next week.

The Friday before the Indiana primaries, I was approached by the Trump campaign’s Foreign Policy Advisor, Walid Phares, to see if I’d be interested in joining them as a Muslim reformer.

I had to ask myself whether this was right for me as a reformer, as an American, and as a friend. I also didn’t want to alienate colleagues dedicated to the Cruz campaign. And then Ted Cruz lost the Indiana primary. And even though Ted Cruz gracefully suspended his campaign with dignity, there are still deep wounds and great heartbreak within the Republican Party. Those feelings need to be honored and respected. It will take time for conservatives to process what just happened and what’s before them.

But for some of us, our hearts were broken long ago when Rand Paul dropped out of the race. For others, that heartbreak is around the corner if Bernie Sanders doesn’t secure the Democratic nomination. And daily, our hearts break as we’re faced with bills we can’t pay and children we can’t spend more than a few moments a night with. Our hearts break every time we see our world slip a little further away from what it was and what it can be, to what it has become.

The Decision to Support Trump

I ran the idea to support Trump by a few people whose opinion I value. The best advice came from a friend advised me against being the ill-fated Boromir, the Tolkien hero in Lord of the Rings who thought he could save Middle Earth if only he had the power of the One Ring. Boromir is the source of the meme that goes, “One does not simply walk into Mordor.”

He’s right. We’re dealing with the most contentious political climate in memory, and a volatile social landscape. Aligning yourself with a controversial candidate is a risky move. This isn’t a decision you simply walk into.

But… all the world has become Mordor.

As much as we’re horrified by Trump’s media tactics – and I think that’s all that they really are – we should be horrified by ourselves as Americans.

We appoint leaders who don’t have America’s highest interest at heart and then we’re shocked when they betray us. We appoint leaders who cannot think philosophically about the world of people – who can only think in absolute extremes. And we allowed appointed leaders to brand heroes as traitors and traitors as statesmen.

I’ve been watching Trump for a while now and it’s clear to me that this is a man who can think philosophically and beyond absolutes. He’s not polished and he’s not a statesman, but he is formidable. He’s the ultimate political outsider and we desperately need people who think differently and aren’t ashamed of it.

No Man is Your Champion

The romanticized idea of a polished diplomat no longer exists. The days of Eisenhower, JFK, and Reagan are over. The age of the soft statesman has been replaced by the age of tribes. We don’t have a coiffed dignitary; we have modern day Khans, leaders of tribes of men who are rebelling against societal order. They’re rebelling against polish and perfection, against inauthenticity.

People want what’s raw. It doesn’t need to be perfect, but it needs to be truthful.

Miyamoto Musashi, the highly respected Samurai and a famous ronin who pennedThe Book of Five Rings, once said:  Truth is not what you want it to be; it is what it is, and you must bend to its power or live a lie.

The truth is that a great majority of American people think the compass can point any which way they choose. It cannot. A compass only knows one thing: true north. It cannot be swayed no matter which way you move or how align yourself. North will always be North. Truth is always Truth.

America has forgotten that. Through the extreme perversion of liberalism, we’ve swung so far left that we do not see how hateful and divisive we’ve become, even in our own fight against these very things.

We’re horrified at Trump mocking a differently abled reporter, when we should also be horrified at how we fuel racism by constantly, constantly stoking race – a cultural bogeyman – and deeply pushing it into our mind. Making it more real and giving it more power each time we talk about it as if it exists – as if it matters.

We’re horrified by Trump’s treatment of women, when we should be horrified by how disposable women have become to men in a culture that can’t see beyond the physical and in a culture where ghosting is the new norm. When a larger society has treated women like they’re disposable, and we’ve allowed it and even embraced it, then what moral high ground do we have left to stand on?

The day to day loss of values and honor in American society is a greater burden than anything Trump says. As a woman, I don’t need my emotions cradled. What I need is honesty. And as a mom to a special needs boy, I’m not deeply mortified by Trump’s mocking of a differently abled reporter. What I need is someone who is shamelessly himself in a larger pool of people who have gotten so very good at being deceitful.

Trump is a wild card.  There is no guarantee. But he’s also got what it takes to get us to where we need to be. The fact is that no man can be your champion. You are your own commanders and the duty falls on each of us to not rely on world leaders to save us, but to save ourselves.

Just like in the hero stories we love and flock to, the world of people needs heroes of its own. It needs individuals who can see deeply to the value of people beneath the surface. It needs people to see the value of a ruthlessly honest leader who isn’t afraid of crushing feelings, because in order to do the work that needs to be done, feelings will need to be crushed.

America desperately needs people who don’t need safe spaces; it needs people who are unafraid.

America needs people who can simply walk into Mordor.

Why Trump

Most of you are shocked by Trump. His mannerism and language doesn’t always paint pretty picture – but neither does the idea of a nuclear Iran, Yazidi sex slaves, more terrorist attacks, the Muslims Brotherhood, gross human rights violations, drone wars, etc. Our highest priority is finding a Commander in Chief who is smart enough and bold enough to take on the greatest challenge in humanity at this point – radical Islam, because this problem touches every single other issue – even climate change.

As someone who can see what’s ahead just as clearly as what was, I (among others) am desperately trying to turn your attention toward the greater burden headed our way – the uncontainable religious extremism greater than any war or plague mankind has ever known. Radical Islam isn’t done with us and it will not stop until it has completely leveled the playing field, until the ache they feel is the ache we feel.

Radical Islam is going to be a pivotal issue in this election. Moving forward after the election, civilization jihad (also known as Islamism or political Islam) is another high stakes issue on a state and federal level, which Cruz has already been magnificently tackling in his role as Senator.

Religious extremism, bred by the darkest fringe elements in Islam, is the most catastrophic enemy facing us today. Dealing with that monstrous and inevitable crashing wave has to come before absolutely anything else. 

There is no debate.

There is no talking our way out of this.

This is the Truth. Deny it, and be prepared to be crushed by it.

Trump understands this.

And so after more than a decade of reform work, I am profoundly moved to finally meet a political candidate who recognizes the existential crisis in Islam, and who is ready to work with Muslim reformers and like-minded partners to take on the greatest battle the world has known since WWII.

Today, I announce that I support President Trump.