Writing in Der Spiegel Online, Erich Follith excoriates in the serverest terms the anti-Muslim rhetoric taking place in Germany. He then admits: "Of course, these fears are not completely unfounded. Conditions in areas like Berlin's Kreuzberg neighborhood give rise to very real, justified concerns. There are schoolrooms where three-quarters of the students are from immigrant families, students whose German is barely good enough to get by. There are Arab and Albanian family clans that control crime syndicates and receive welfare benefits. There are phenomena like forced marriages and honor killings. In some mosques, imams are encouraging the faithful to engage in Islamist terror. All of this exists, and yet it has nothing to do with ordinary Islam and the day-to-day lives of well over 90 percent of Germany's Muslims. And yet these are precisely the kinds of things that fuel cheap attempts to create stereotypes of Muslims as the enemy." (8/31/10)
The dangerous flaw in Herr Follith's analysis in revealed in his statement, "All of this exists, and yet it has nothing to do with ordinary Islam and the day-to-day lives of well over 90 percent of Germany's Muslims." To insist on making a distinction between "radical Islam" and "ordinary Islam" is the fatal error that will, if not forsaken, inevitably bring the world to it's knees. The truth is, the 90% of "ordinary Islam" is the Trojan Horse for the 10% of "radical Islam," which is more accurately described as "true Islam." And 10% of one billion is a lot of dangerous soldiers of Allah.
People such as Herr Follith better wake up before it's too late. Europe is already well on its way to becoming fully Islamicized.
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Comment of President Obama at September 10 news conference: "We are not at war against Islam. We're at war against terrorist organizations that have distorted Islam or falsely used the banner of Islam to engage in their destructive acts. We've got to be clear about that. From a national security interest, we have to be clear about who the enemy is here.
And so from a national security interest, we want to be clear about who the enemy is here. It's a handful, a tiny minority of people who are engaging in horrific acts — and have killed Muslims more than anybody else.
The other reason it's important for us to remember that is because we've got millions of Muslim-Americans, our fellow citizens, in this country. They're going to school with our kids. They're our neighbors. They're our friends. They're our coworkers. And, you know, when we start acting as if their religion is somehow offensive, what are we saying to them?
I've got Muslims who are fighting in Afghanistan, in the uniform of the United States armed services. They're out there putting their lives on the line for us. And we've got to make sure that we are crystal clear for our sakes and their sakes: They are Americans."
Sure there are Muslims in the military, men like Nidal Hassan. And sure we have neighbors who are Muslim, men like Faisal Shahzad.
There are a billion Muslims in the world, we are told. Usually the ones we see are either terrorists or Muslims in Dearborn, MI, USA who use a complicit police department to intimidate and threaten Christians. We are constantly told, however, that the "vast majority" of Muslims worldwide are "moderate." My question as to all these "moderates" is, where the heck are they?
The WSJ on Sept. 1 devoted almost its entire op-ed page to the subject, "What is Moderate Islam?" After reading the six pieces printed there, four authored by Muslims, I have no clearer answer to the question than before I read these pieces. Anwar Ibrahim says, in effect, we're tolerant and democratic, but we need to do more in the way of condemning violence. More? How about "any"?
I think admirably, Princeton professor Bernard Lewis writes, "For the moment, there does not seem to be much prospect of a moderate Islam in the Muslim world." This is because, he says, "the expression of moderate ideas can be dangerous." Well, what does this tell you?
Ed Husain says don't call me moderate, call me normal, unfortunately, without any persuasive support. The prophet warned against extremism. OK. What is moderate Christianity? he asks. I'm not aware of any Christian terrorist groups, nor did Jesus tell us to kill unbelievers. This is just jibber-jabber.
"Infidel" Reuel Marc Gerecht tells us his Pakistani British college roommate's family treated him well. That's nice.
Tawfik Hamid, in a piece called "Don't Gloss Over the Violent Texts," writes, "Radical Islam is not limited to the act of terrorism; it also includes the embrace of teachings within the religion that promote hatred and ultimately breed terrorism." He says, "Insisting that all acts in Islamic history and all current Shariah teachings are peaceful is a form of deception that makes things worse by failing to acknowledge the existence of the problem." More admirable honesty, I think.
Akbar Ahmed divides Muslims into "mystics, modernists and literalists," the latter of whom "believe that Muslim behavior must approximate that of the Prophet in seventh-century Arabia." He adds that while not all literalists advocate violence, many do, and concludes that the struggle among these three camps will define Islam's fate. I would add, "our fate" as well.
These guys had a great opportunity to persuade us that there is a great mass of "moderate" Muslims out there who condemn violence and confrontation. They utterly failed. The most we can say for this "moderate" idea is that there is a minority who are outwardly violent and confrontational, but that the vast majority of the remainder are enablers of this minority.
There are a billion Muslims in the world, we are told. Usually the ones we see are either terrorists or Muslims in Dearborn, MI, USA who use a complicit police department to intimidate and threaten Christians. We are constantly told, however, that the "vast majority" of Muslims worldwide are "moderate." My question as to all these "moderates" is, where the heck are they?
The WSJ on Sept. 1 devoted almost its entire op-ed page to the subject, "What is Moderate Islam?" After reading the six pieces printed there, four authored by Muslims, I have no clearer answer to the question than before I read these pieces. Anwar Ibrahim says, in effect, we're tolerant and democratic, but we need to do more in the way of condemning violence. More? How about "any"?
I think admirably, Princeton professor Bernard Lewis writes, "For the moment, there does not seem to be much prospect of a moderate Islam in the Muslim world." This is because, he says, "the expression of moderate ideas can be dangerous." Well, what does this tell you?
Ed Husain says don't call me moderate, call me normal, unfortunately, without any persuasive support. The prophet warned against extremism. OK. What is moderate Christianity? he asks. I'm not aware of any Christian terrorist groups, nor did Jesus tell us to kill unbelievers. This is just jibber-jabber.
"Infidel" Reuel Marc Gerecht tells us his Pakistani British college roommate's family treated him well. That's nice.
Tawfik Hamid, in a piece called "Don't Gloss Over the Violent Texts," writes, "Radical Islam is not limited to the act of terrorism; it also includes the embrace of teachings within the religion that promote hatred and ultimately breed terrorism." He says, "Insisting that all acts in Islamic history and all current Shariah teachings are peaceful is a form of deception that makes things worse by failing to acknowledge the existence of the problem." More admirable honesty, I think.
Akbar Ahmed divides Muslims into "mystics, modernists and literalists," the latter of whom "believe that Muslim behavior must approximate that of the Prophet in seventh-century Arabia." He adds that while not all literalists advocate violence, many do, and concludes that the struggle among these three camps will define Islam's fate. I would add, "our fate" as well.
These guys had a great opportunity to persuade us that there is a great mass of "moderate" Muslims out there who condemn violence and confrontation. They utterly failed. The most we can say for this "moderate" idea is that there is a minority who are outwardly violent and confrontational, but that the vast majority of the remainder are enablers of this minority.
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