Left in uproar over Congressman's objection to library grant for books on Islam

This story has been written up in Think Progress and the Huffington Post with the predictable sneering and arrogant Leftist slant: redneck yahoo Southern Congressman is "Islamophobic," and stupid and evil to boot.

What is not reported in any of the stories, however, is the likelihood that the books that Craven (heh) Community College acquired were inaccurate, deliberately misleading whitewashes of Islam that would only foster complacency in their readers, without enabling them to gain any awareness of the actual nature and magnitude of the threat of jihad and Islamic supremacism. That threat is not all that can be said or needs to be said about Islam, but it should not be ignored, downplayed, or denied. Yet there is an entire industry in the U.S. devoted to doing exactly those things, tarring those who raise awareness of that threat with "hatred," "bigotry," and "Islamophobia," and trying to shame Americans into thinking there's something wrong with resisting jihad and defending freedom.

Hamas-linked CAIR's Nihad Awad recently boasted about CAIR's having sent books on Islam to over 8,000 public libraries in the U.S. The books that Craven received are most likely of the same kind: smooth propaganda to advance the Islamic supremacist agenda, not actual explorations of Islam's real teachings and the way they are being lived out by Muslims today -- including jihad terrorists and Sharia supremacists.

I'd like to balance Craven's Islam offerings. I will give them, free-of-charge, copies of all eleven of my books, and will add in the twelfth when it comes out in late March. I'll even throw in the Horowitz Center pamphlets. Craven officials can find information about them here, and should feel free to contact me at director [at] jihadwatch.org.

"North Carolina Republican objects to college library purchase of books on Islam," by Alexander Nazaryan in the New York Daily News, January 16:

Rep. Walter Jones, a Republican from coastal North Carolina, is furious because a local community college is using a federal grant to purchase books on Islam and Muslim culture. 

The 25 books are coming to Craven Community College in New Bern as part of a National Endowment for the Humanities grant. A DVD or two will be purchased as well. 

Jones' objection, first picked up by the liberal website Think Progress, is on two fronts: First, the grant is simply a waste of money. Second, it is biased against Christianity.

In an interview with local affiliate WITN, Jones said, “I want to treat it fairly and I think too many times the Christian faith is not treated fairly. If they want to have book about the Muslim’s faith, let’s have equal number of books about Judeo-Christian [sic].”

Jones also said, "I'd rather see the $150 million spent to remodel schools in Craven County or build schools in the Craven community." (It may be noted here, however, that Jones' altruism goes only so far: On Tuesday evening, he was one of 179 Republicans to vote against superstorm Sandy disaster aid.)

As the Annoyed Librarian blogger for the Library Journal has pointed out, $150 million is actually the entire NEH budget. A little number-crunching brought Annoyed Librarian to the conclusion that the total Muslim Journeys grant equaled about $530,000, and that Craven Community College got all of $627.

None of this is likely to quell Jones' criticism. A banner on his website proudly proclaims his opposition to the "Muslim grant," with a statement quoting him as saying, "It is appalling to me that a federal agency like NEH is wasting taxpayer money on programs like this. It makes zero sense for the U.S. government to borrow money from China in order to promote the culture of Islamic civilizations."

The statement further says that Jones has enlisted the Craven-Pamlico Christian Coalition in providing resources to "balance" the influx of Islam-related books. It is not clear that Craven Community College is presently lacking in Judeo-Christian themed materials.