When I pressed him further on how he felt about listening to a Syrian imam implicitly call for the defeat of American troops in the middle of Manhattan, Randall answered, slightly frostily, that "In America we have this thing called the First Amendment."
And no doubt the sheik is well aware of it. Listening to him I had the sense that certain Muslims have studied liberal Western society the way a military general assesses an enemy position — probing for strengths and weaknesses, deciding where and how and at what cost penetration can be achieved.
I saw some of that "Al Qaeda 2.0" seminar on CSPAN2 last night. As I had suspected, much of it sounded more like the '04 OsamaCon but the lectures pertaining to the recruitment and psychology of terrorists and their infiltration in Old Europe reminds me why Europe was the hotbed for the 9-11 killers. At least our Vincent still has to work for his living, over there he'd be just as free AND he could go on the dole. Back in Araby most radical, subversive imams would be dragged off and shot if they railed against the country they happened to be in.
"Politicization is almost always part of the package," says the Islamic Supreme Council of America’s Mateen Siddiqui, referring to hardcore Islamic converts. But if al-Yaqoubi feels comfortable saying in front of 1,300 people in the heart of mainstream American Islam that American troops will be defeated wherever they go, then what might be said in Arabic in small, obscure mosques in Brooklyn, Queens and elsewhere with a translation murmured into a pale, friendly, naive American ear?
"I do wish the American troops would be defeated," he told me, adding, "I’m a Muslim first, and I just live in this country."
Rule #1 in fighting Islamist terror should be--Don't make it easy for them--I strongly suggest bookmarking this article to read it in detail
Interesting that Christianity and Judaism not only allow the Testaments to be critically studied, but for the most part encourage it. This actually strengthens the religions because conflicting stanzas can be discussed and debated. Koranic studies are more about memorization, it is never approached critically.
I have been reading and hearing about that. Islam is one religion in desperate need of a reformation. The ever-present implicit threat of violence runs like a thread through it's history and practice.
Have read several articles of your great stuff...this one was too long for me...fell asleep...come back with a shorter version for those of us that suffer from "that boredom thing"
Will get back to you tomorrow if I might...FR is a forum for discussion and fighting over issues and, from reading your post, you deserve a well-thought-out response...thx for your effort...keep it up...and defend.
Bump
"I have been reading and hearing about that. Islam is one religion in desperate need of a reformation. The ever-present implicit threat of violence runs like a thread through it's history and practice."
Now that's the whole problem. Take a good look at the way that Islam seems to work. For starters, they use the technology and convenience of the 21st century to enforce a 1400 year old system of rules and say that's OK because it benefits islam. At the same time, these 1400 year old rules are so outdated and so out of place and out of context that they do neither benefit (the majority of) muslims nor islam itself. Every bit of reformation affects the position of those in power. What's left: islam for the sake of islam. And 'islam' meaning 'submission', the islamic state implicates an state of oppression for the good of the people. It appears to me that the harsher the oppression, the more the people embrace it, as they take it for the way of true islam.
Yeah, it sounds weird, because it is. Go and have a look in countries under islamic rule. Not much freedom. Apart from those things that are obligatory, of course.