Posted on 03/08/2011 12:15:50 PM PST by a fool in paradise
In the bookstore I run, I used to carry lectures on CD by Anwar al-Awlaki. That's the pre-radical al-Awlaki, who recorded lectures about prophets and the hereafter and Islam in general. Now, that al-Awlaki is gone and has been replaced by a terrorist who publicly justifies killing American civilians.
...I was most worried about what the public, the authorities, and other Muslims would think. On the other hand, by removing the CDs I was censoring, and censorship is, generally speaking, a bad thing.
I asked a retired bookseller friend what she thought... She recalled that when her store was open she sold The Anarchist Cookbook, a controversial book which contains instructions for making explosives. That, however, was before September 11 and it was not written by a Muslim - nor is she Muslim.
In the end I took al-Awlaki's CDs off the shelves, threw them all into a crate and shoved the crate into a corner of the storage closet. I hate censoring, but I did it.
...I barely have time to feel sad or angry before the defensiveness sets in and I get ready to start saying the standard Muslim "yes, but" - as in yes, he shouted Allahu akbar but that phrase isn't a call for murder, or yes, he was Muslim but Islam condemns his act, and so on and on and on.
We American Muslims have dozens of "yes, but" responses. We need them because the blame for what others do often falls on us and our religion. We are called upon to publicly condemn such acts, and the absence of condemnation is taken as complicit approval. It is galling for people to assume I approve of murder and demand that I demonstrate I do not. I simply can't apologize for what I didn't do...
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.chron.com ...
I asked a retired bookseller friend what she thought... She recalled that when her store was open she sold The Anarchist Cookbook, a controversial book which contains instructions for making explosives. That, however, was before September 11 and it was not written by a Muslim - nor is she Muslim.
Anarchists have been active bomb throwing seditionists since the early part of the 20th century in the United States. An ideology still pushed by the so-called "anti-fascist" Left who riot in the streets and assault cops.
If she doesn't see "anarchists" as a threat to government or as "terrorists" then she needs to do more research.
Head in sand and singing "la-la-la". Can't help those who don't want to see.
(Houston Comical columnist PING)
Oh, I feel so BADLY censoring this terrorist who wants to conquer, kill, and enslave the American infidels.
Psst! I’m a Muslim myself.
By her reasoning, Christian bookstores should stand behind those who still sell Jeremiah Wright’s lectures for educational enlightenment...
It’s a private business. She can do whatever she wants, and I’m sure she engages in some forms of censorship now. No book store sells everything that is in print. It’s called discernment - something this woman lacks.
True censorship can only be done by governments.
Does she stock The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam or other books critical of Islam? If not, does it bother her to be "censoring"?
She’s a convert to Islam and sees it to be like no other faith in being monotheistic with God as Creator (even though we are repeatedly told that it follows the SAME God as Jews and Christians). I didn’t have room in my excerpt to include that bit...
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