How many articles have we seen saying that since 9/11?
How many more do you think we will see before the government and media elites start to get a clue? (I think the answer to that one is that they will never get a clue.)
Why does no one put two and two together and ever come up with a coherent explanation of why we haven't seen Muslims do this, even after all these years?
This present call to that great unicorn, the Muslims actively opposed to jihadist violence and supremacism, to make itself known comes from "Muslims, take a strong stand against terrorism worldwide," by Basit H. Ghori in the Florida Times-Union, December 17.
It is indeed high time, and long past high time, but moderate American Muslims are too busy giving us the finger or looking to Hamas-linked groups for leadership to set about doing the work that needs to be done.
"No, no, no! It's Great PINK Unicorn!" - Tobit
In the Islamic faith, it is forbidden to kill innocent people, whether they are Muslims, Jews, Christians or Hindus. -- from article
OK, all you dormant moderate muslims out there, here is your epistemological point of attack. The jihadists blowing up noncombatant civilians out there contend that western non-muslims cannot be innocent, and that they are actually complicit with the actions of their governments due to their lack of effort to overthrow them. If, in fact, the koran does include civilian kaffir in its definition of the innocent, then there is clear and vital need for macro-scale reform within islam, for homicide is being committed on a massive and grisly scale in clear disobedience of the koran. So go get 'em.
Rousing response!
There are no moderate Muslims.
The article by Basit H. Ghori in the Jacksonville Florida Times Union pointed to above is worth reading. Ghori is a retired military man who is a Muslim with a Catholic wife, and he calls for Muslims in the U.S. to stand up and do exactly what Robert has called for - to be loyal and responsible citizens of their country, to forget about jihad, and for Major Hasan to be punished to the fullest extent of the law. It would be difficult to find anything to quarrel with in his article, and it's significant that it was published in a Jacksonville paper.
And as I was concluding to myself that the Ummah was void of a single moderate Muslim, Ghori shows up to prove me wrong.
I hope their are many more out there.
Peace
It is imperative that Islam in America evolve into a current age of worship. Many Christian denominations have evolved over the years with different 'branches' of even a single church, all in an attempt to worship Christian values in a way that those that choose to adhere to the 'new' interpretation can accept to be 'their way'. A new Islam, with no 'Jihad' or 'death of infidels' would be more in line with modern principles of worship.
Adherence to ancient values of intolerance will destroy the good that is offered in Islam and any religion, the world today does not need ancient religion based laws that were formulated when governments did not exist, and laws were only those that were 'religion based'. The laws of governments supersede the need for the continuation of ancient church societal laws. And most, if not all, governments have formed laws that reflect values that reflect the good of most religions.
A new Western Islam would be a good addition to the character of any country and would go a long way to curb the anxiety of those of us that hear there is no such thing as a 'moderate' Muslem.
"A new Western Islam" is a fine concept, implying as the wording does that it would embody modern concepts of respect for human rights that are stripped of pre-modern Islamic concepts of human relations, and where it, and it alone, is the final arbiter of what constitutes "religion." It appears that any movement toward creating a modernized, less violent and more enlightened form of Islam will have tough going, though, as its proponents run the risk of being murdered for their efforts. Violence is woven into the very tapestry of Islam, as any reading of its development and history shows, whether it be of the Sunni and Shi'a varieties. One doubts whether there even exists a surgery delicate enough to excise violence and aggression from its core teachings at the level that is needed to produce a belief system that the rest of the world could live with.
Where are all these moderate muslims? They must be too chicken to stand up, because they sure don't.
Violence is woven into the very tapestry of Islam, as any reading of its development and history shows, whether it be of the Sunni and Shi'a varieties. One doubts whether there even exists a surgery delicate enough to excise violence and aggression from its core teachings at the level that is needed to produce a belief system that the rest of the world could live with.
The delicate surgery required would excise 61% of the Koran as violent, and print in bold red the 2.6% that is universally peaceful. This is not delicate but radical surgery. Nevertheless, this is what Islam must undergo to become modern in our secular sense of separation of religion and constitutional government. In fact, this "separation" of political from religious must be in their face all the time, kind of like litter training, so they really get the smell of it and understand.
Check out the website of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy and its impressive leader, Dr. Zuhdi Jasser. Decide for yourself if there are no muslims that love this country and will defend its present constitution.
http://www.aifdemocracy.org/