Posted on 07/24/2005 4:30:19 PM PDT by CO Gal
When U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., suggested that bombing Mecca might be an appropriate response to the terrorist threat, he sent shock waves around the world.
And he thrilled many of his supporters.
I heard from dozens of nuke-happy Tancredo fans, though not all of them had the courage to sign their names.
From Don MacEwan: "Islam was and is the religion of terror. ... Putting forth a warning to Islam that mutually assured destruction means their holy city of Medina is nuked if they do not curb their terrorist urges seems to be a prudent step."
From Cynthia J. Starks: "The problem is with the religion of Islam. ... These people are EVIL!!"
From John M. Conway: "I think Mr. Tancredo is right. ... These people are barbarians and it's bed-wetting cowards such as yourself who somehow think they can be reasoned with."
From Margaret Wilmott: "Tancredo hit a nerve. Good for him. I'd prefer a first strike. Why wait?"
The State Department, meanwhile, was in full-on damage control. "These remarks are offensive and unacceptable and do not reflect U.S. policy," it said in a statement. "We unequivocally reject the idea of targeting Mecca or any other civilian or religious site by anyone. The U.S. respects and honors all the great religions of the world, including Islam."
News organizations from Australia to Russia responded with their own criticisms of Tancredo's remarks.
"The lack of understanding for Islam in the United States is disturbing," said Spiegel Online of Germany. "One gets the impression that, were the Constitution not clear about the separation between church and state, the country might rapidly turn into a Christian theocracy. And Muslims would be the first to go. ... Is it any wonder that many Muslims are skeptical of the United States?"
As the controversy roiled, Muslims in Colorado became increasingly frustrated and frightened.
Rafaat Ludin, president of the Colorado Muslim Society, said he has received hate-filled, threatening calls and e-mails at the Muslim Society and on his private phone and private e-mail account in the wake of Tancredo's remarks.
On Tuesday, a car raced through the grounds of the Colorado Muslim Society, endangering people who were there to study and pray. "The schoolchildren were very frightened," he said.
Muslims here and around the world have been vocal and forthright in their condemnation of terrorists for years, Ludin said, but the message seldom is heard. "We had a huge demonstration in Washington, D.C., against terrorism a year and a half ago and even that didn't get any media coverage," he said.
That's why the Muslim Society has hung five banners outside the mosque along Parker Road to try to communicate directly with people who don't understand Islam. They say: "Islam = peacemaking," "Muslims condemn terrorism," "Islam values life," and other messages.
"The position of the Koran is very clear about this," Ludin explained. "The taking of life of innocent people is not only condemned, it is a major sin. For a Muslim person who does this, there is no chance of going to heaven."
All religions have extremists who ration alize violent behavior through some distorted interpretation of their faith, he said. "Eric Rudolph is one of those radicals who went out and started bombing places because he thought he had a religious duty to do that. You don't go out and bomb the Vatican to stop that."
He said the misunderstanding of Islam among Americans - especially people in positions of power - is appalling.
"That someone in Congress on the International Relations Committee is able to make such statements ... and have no shame whatsoever, no understanding whatsoever of the emotions of the more than 7 million Muslims in the U.S., that's what shocks us, that's what angers us and scares us," he said.
"It's such a high level of ignorance of our beliefs," he said. "It's such a message of hate
My only dilemma is when do we nuke Mecca. After we get nuked or before? Both have good arguments
The Vatican is currently not exhibiting a hate killing phase but certainly did in the past. The deaths by the current Islamic terrorist pale beside the massacres sanctioned by the Popes in Rome.
While it's a wonderful sentiment and I can only hope it to be true (and please do not think that I doubt your feelings), history and (re)actions of the Muslim community speaks volume. I never did and never will hold Islam close to my heart and since 9/11 I haven't seen one reason for which I should. I was born and raised in an Eastern European country which for centuries has suffered, along with other Balkan nations, at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. In recent years we all have seen the killings of innocent Serbians because of Bosnian and Albanian Muslims and a world unwilling to see Islam for what it is. In recent years we all have seen innocents being murdered in the name of Islam and it was the silence from the Muslim-American communities which was more deafening than the cries coming from the victims' families. So before you tell anyone that they have NO RIGHT in telling others to leave the country and in the same statement claiming you love everything we stand for remember this: freedom of speech is something guaranteed by our beloved Constitution. I do not hate Islam, I detest and abhor its principles. Allow me to end with a meaningful quote which, for me, defines Islam:
"The only reward of those who make war against Allah and His messenger and strive after corruption in the land will be that they will be murdered or crucified, or have their hands and feet on alternate sides cut off, or will be expelled out of the land. Such will be their degradation in the world, and in the Hereafter theirs will be an awful doom" Quran 5:33
That he did. If he runs for President in 2008, he's got my vote.
BTTT
America is not ignorant regarding Islam. we learned a great deal on 9/11!
Given 9/11, and recent history, the burden of proof is on Islam. in WW2, the Nisei, in spite of great difficulty and deportation, rose to the occasion. America is watching.
To be eligible, you would have to have been born here, and then elected.. No excpeptions.
They are not jihadist Arabs. This is because there was a Persian civilization, long before the hordes of Mohammed conquered it. Their Islam is filtered through over 2500 years of Persian civilization. The mullahs grip is growing tenuous. this is NOT the case in most other Muslim coutries
You have a good point that I totally agree with.
Didn't someone named Daniel Pearl think he could just sit down and talk with them like reasonable people? After all, we're all the same and want the same things right? The kind, passive, understanding approach was what was needed to UNDERSTAND them.
I think, in those terrible seconds when they were beheading him, he understood at last.
If THAT didn't get through to the 'understand them' crowd nothing will except their own executions.
I think it did tho. I think those who defend Islam here do so because they think our way of life SHOULD be destroyed and they see Islam as comeuppance.
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