Posted on 06/10/2006 5:27:33 AM PDT by Clive
Muslim Canadians, as Muslims elsewhere in Western societies, have felt increasingly besieged for some time now, both from outside their community and from within.
This sense of isolation, of being misrepresented and misunderstood, will inevitably deepen as the full story unfolds of the arrests of 17 Toronto-area Muslims on terrorism charges.
But whose fault is this? Let us, Muslims, be brutally honest.
We have inherited a culture of denial, of too often refusing to acknowledge our own responsibility for the widespread malaise that has left most of the Arab-Muslim countries in economic, political and social disrepair.
Statistics and intergovernmental reports over the past several decades have documented a gap, perhaps now unbridgeable, between Muslim countries and the advanced industrial democracies in the West.
In a recent "failed states index" published in the journal Foreign Policy (May/June 2006), Pakistan, for instance, is ranked among the top 10 failed states in the world -- ahead of Afghanistan. Pakistan is a Muslim country, a nuclear military power, but it can barely feed, clothe, educate and shelter its population.
The reports on the Arab countries are a dismal catalogue of entrenched tyrannies, failing economies, squandered wealth, gender oppression, persecution of minorities and endemic violence. The cleric-led regime in Iran seeks nuclear weapons and threatens to obliterate Israel, repress domestic opposition, and seek confrontation with the West.
Instead of acknowledging the reality of the Arab-Muslim world as a broken civilization, we Muslims tend to indulge instead in blaming others for our ills; deflecting our responsibilities for failures that have become breeding grounds of violence and terrorism.
Many of our intellectuals in public life and our religious leaders in mosques remain adept in double-speak, saying contrary things in English or French and then in Arabic or Farsi or Urdu.
We have made hypocrisy an art, and have spun for ourselves a web of lies that blinds us to the real world around us.
We seethe with grievances and resentment against the West, even as we have prospered in the freedom and security of Western democracies.
We have inculcated into our children false pride, and given them a sense of history that crumbles under critical scrutiny. We have burdened them with conflicting loyalties -- and now some of them have become our nightmare.
We preach tolerance yet we are intolerant. We demand inclusion, yet we practise exclusion of gender, of minorities, of those with whom we disagree.
We repeat endlessly that Islam is a religion of peace, yet too many of us display conduct contrary to what we profess.
We keep assuring ourselves and others that Muslims who violate Islam are a minuscule minority, yet we fail to hold this minority accountable in public.
A bowl of milk turns into curd with a single drop of lemon. The minuscule minority we blame is this drop of lemon that has curdled and made a shambles of our Islam, yet too many of us insist against all evidence our belief somehow sets us apart as better from others.
In Islam, we insist, religion and politics are inseparable. As a result, politics dominates our religion -- and our religion has become a cover for tribalism and nationalism.
We regularly quote from the Koran, but do not make repentance for our failings as the Koran instructs, by seeking forgiveness of those who we have harmed.
We Muslims are the source of our own misery, and we are not misunderstood by others who see in our conduct a threat to their peace.
No.
Check the FR postings of Salim Mansur's articles. Go back into the history of his columns.
Mansur has been speaking out in this manner since day one.
This is not recent invention on his part.
And in our North American hypercharged "politically correct" left wing academic milieu it displays intellectual honesty and courage for an academic and a Muslim to persist in speaking out in this manner.
The writer of this would be killed in most Muslim countries.
I've heard it said that the rulers of Muslim countries created and use hatred for isreal and america as a means to focus their populations. My keeping them mad at us the local rulers don't have to worry so much about being overthrown for being corrupt and incompetent.
Then, I am too cynical.
Some examples
MEMRI
http://memri.org/reform.html
Coincidentally: has anyone heard a comment from the CAIR gang about Zarqawi's death?
No, but I'm sure they are...saddened.
Shameless Plug
The Real Iraq (do yourself a huge favor)
Commentary Magazine ^ | June 06 | Amir Taheri
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1646763/posts
/Shameless Plug
Good article and nice to hear a voice of reason.
Leaving Islam is not easy for the majority of Muslims and such a thought can lead to a death sentance. However, what this author says is a good start. I'm impressed. Islam needs its Martin Luther nailing demands to the Church Door. Islam needs its John Calvin and other reformers. Authors like this one can lead their sheep out of the darkness.
Muslim women also need to realize that they are sitting on the future of their religion (no pun intended). They need to say "No" to their lot in life so that, even if whispered by enough of them, it will loud enough to change the world.
Further, as Golda Meir stated, Muslims need to learn to love their children more than they hate ours for change to occur.
Islam can change. When I was growing up it was inconceivable to swim in a pool wih Black people. That attitude has gone away in one generation.
Be careful what you say about black Americans and their own cupability in their own behavior. Of course it's true, but within a few years, if some in congress get their way, it will be "hate speech".
You will be arrested, sued, and possibly imprisoned.
P.S. Interested kn a Freeper in Congress? Keep in touch with me
Congressman Billybob
We have inculcated into our children false pride, and given them a sense of history that crumbles under critical scrutiny
Salim Mansur has been writing this for a while.
Goodmorning :~ )
Well they need to get over the Jesus block too;
South-East Wall. Verily Allah and His angels pronounce blessing upon the Prophet. O ye who have pronounced blessings upon Him and give Him the salutation of peace. O, People of the Book (i.e. the Jews and Christians, always referred to as such by the Muslims -Ed.) do not go beyond the bounds in your religion and do not say about Allah anything but the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, is but a messenger of Allah and His word which he cast upon Mary, and a spirit from Him. So believe only in Allah and of his messenger, but do not say "Three" (Trinity) and it will be better for you. Allah is only one God. Far be it from His glory that he should have a son.
http://www.templemount.org/allah.html
Interesting.
The article told the truth but it will not set them free until they actually do something about making it a living truth.
When we actually see the actions of Muslims turning around all the hate and murder they live by, only then would the article be meaningful. And only then would we 'infidel's' begin to trust them.
I wouldn't be surprised if this guy didn't wake up to his house being firebombed. If he said something like this in Saudi Arabia he would be marked for death as soon as he was found.
No, because (as he admits), he will say one thing in English, and in his native tongue, he will call for Jihad.
Some fazool just put Salim on a list.
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