George Carey has now rejoined the dhimmi ranks, and is displaying all the fervor of a new convert. I wonder why: is he running for office? From the BBC, with thanks to Twostellas:
The term Islamic should be dropped when referring to terrorists in a bid to foster better relations between the West and Islam, Lord Carey says….
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has warned that linking international terrorism and Islam was damaging.
“There is an urgent need to stop tarnishing the Muslim world by unfair stereotypes,” he told the United Nations this week.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has also said there is an “iron curtain” falling between the Islamic world and the West.
However, Lord Carey said that while there was a divide, he wanted to resist using such a serious phrase as “iron curtain”….
He had begun a personal campaign “to challenge anyone who talks about Islamic terrorists”, Lord Carey added.
Well, George, I hope you see this, because I would love for you to challenge me on this point. I’ll explain below.
“I think we have to drop the word Islamic because in so doing we deprive the terrorist of his religious legitimacy.
“He wants religious justification for his evil deeds, and we shouldn’t give it to him,” Lord Carey said.
“And second, by dropping Islamic before terrorist we are taking a lot of pressure off the average Muslim who simply doesn’t want to be portrayed as a fellow murderer.”
‘Tiny minority’
He said he accepted that the problems in the Middle East and Iraq had to be addressed, “but it would help the building of bridges if we helped the average Muslim to understand that we are not blaming Islam for this”.
“We’re blaming that tiny, tiny minority of people who are using Islam as a weapon to get their own back against the West and to undermine all we’re trying to do.”
Lord Carey reiterated his call for Muslims to denounce terrorism more often.
“Terrorists are very evil people and I want to hear Muslims say that more and more,” he said.
So do I, George, so do I. But it is myopic and naive to think that if we “” non-Muslims “” stop calling terror “Islamic,” we will thereby “deprive the terrorist of his religious legitimacy.” How can we take away what we did not give? George, I didn’t invent the idea of Islamic terrorism, and neither did you. Jerry Falwell didn’t either. The idea of Islamic terrorism comes from people like Shamil Basayev, who use carefully constructed Islamic arguments to justify the murder of children. No is Basayev alone. I can refer you also to the writings of Osama bin Laden, which are full of Qur’an and Hadith references, or to those of other Islamic radicals around the world. You can read many of them, George, in my book Onward Muslim Soldiers.
These are the people who are responsible for the term “Islamic terrorism,” George, and it is only they who can make the term disappear by stopping doing violence in the name of Islam. But until they do, I myself am going to talk about “Islamic terrorism” all the more: as long as no one wants to admit what the problem really is, it can’t possibly be fixed. As long as you and your ilk, George, want to ignore and even cover up the Islamic roots of modern terrorism, that terrorism will continue to flourish. I, on the other hand, am going to keep shining light on it, in hopes that one day it may be eradicated. There is no other way that the necessary reforms of Islam can even be contemplated.
So call me, George. I accept your challenge regarding the term “Islamic terrorism,” and I look forward to our debate.