Revolting Confession [editorial on bin Laden tape]

Turkish Daily News ^ | 12/14/2001 | Ilnur Cevik

[Turk2]

Man should punish Osama bin Laden for what he has done to man, but we should leave it to Allah to punish him for the pain he has caused to Muslims.

Just listen to the tapes of Osama bin Laden bragging how he organized and executed the terrorist attacks against New York and Washington, killing thousands of people and then saying all this was done in the name of Allah...

In this final Friday of holy Ramadan as we Muslims continue to fast and attend mass prayers, this talk about killing innocent people and then hiding behind the Almighty is a major sin and an insult to our religion.

Those who read the tapes released by the U.S. State Department would be shocked with how bin Laden and his associates keep on using the name of Allah as they speak about their murders. This is not Islam, this is not humanity.

Ramadan has been a period for us Muslims to reflect on our shortcomings. It is not just a period when we starve and remember those who do not have food. During the month we do our best to behave as good human beings as the Koran has taught us. We try to forget all bad feelings, treat our fellow Muslims and people from other religions with deep respect and affection. This is a month of moral fasting for us as we shun the bad and the evil and try to promote the good.

This is not the month when you brag about how you hurt people, let alone kill them. Yet, we see in the bin Laden tapes the joy of having killed so many people in the name of dealing a blow on the United States...

As we said in our earlier editorials, bin Laden and the Taliban zealots who support him have brought our religion into disrepute. This is the greatest injustice done to Islam and unfortunately by the hands of those who say they hold it in such high esteem.

It is also interesting that while from the very first day we pointed the finger at bin Laden there were some writers in Turkey who went as far as to claim that this was an American plot and had nothing to do with bin Laden or the Taliban. There were even political parties which entertained similar ideas. They said the Americans were creating alibis. They even said American right-wing extremists were to blame. They simply shut their eyes to the realities and to the fact that the Taliban had transformed Afghanistan into a major terrorist base.

Now those writers should be very embarrassed as it is clear that the Sept. 11 attack was the work of bin Laden and his people who dominated the Taliban and even Afghanistan.

Bin Laden has committed a crime against humanity, and above that, against Islam. He and his followers should be punished for what he has done to his fellow human beings. We should leave the punishment to the Almighty Allah for the pain this man has caused to Muslims.

Ilnur Cevik (Turkish Daily News)

[Lent]

Bin Laden is a drop in the bucket. I'd like to know what the outcry is concerning the latest Jihading in Algeria, Pakistan (slaugthered Christians on Church), Malaysia (more slaughtering Jihadists), South Philippines - Jihad going strong, Lebanon - Islam trying to expunge last remnants of Christians, India - Jihad attack on Parliament, Israel - mass Jihad body count, etc. etc.

[McGavin999]

Beautifully written, this guy gets it.

[Revolting cat!]

Revolting Confession

Say what? I haven't been to confession for I don't know how long!

[Savage Beast]

From what he says, the God--Allah--Whom Ilnur Cevik worships is The One True God.

Until September 11, 2001, I believed that Muslims, Christians, and Jews all worshipped the same God.

In the aftermath of the September 11 massacre, I began to doubt this.

It is obvious that the "god" bin Laden and his jihadists serve is no god at all. It is an idol, a false "god", known variously as Satan or the Devil, though they refer to it as "Allah". It is merely a fantasy created by their deep hatred and desire for vengeance and power. In other words: they worship their own desire for vengeance and power.

Muslims who worship God, whether they call Him Allah or God, are to be respected.

Those who worship the "god" of bin Laden and his jihadists, though they may refer to it as "Allah", are in fact Devil-worshippers and are to be condemned. And they have committed the supreme blasphemy.

[JBBooks]

It's a good start.

Let's see if it starts an outcry from other Muslims denouncing violence and demanding the start of tolerance and peaceful co-existence.

Throughout history, too many people have suffered and died in the name of some zealot's god.

[ikanakattara]

The Turks have several "fundamentalist Muslim" parties who would like to see Turkey move away from being a secular state to being a state under Islamic law. They need to be encouraged roundly for denouncing Al-Qaeda and keeping jihadist "Islam" under wraps.

[Bug]

Throughout history, too many people have suffered and died in the name of some zealot's god.

In the name of what god did Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot invoke as they slaughtered MILLIONS of people?

[Turk2]

Several? The AKP and the SP are the only ones I know of. There was the BBP(nationalist islamistyish party) but they don't even get a percentage of the total vote.

[thucydides]

Many in the muslim world will deny the authenticity of the Bin Laden tape, but in their hearts they know it is the real thing. For those with any sense of decency, it will be a source of deep shame. Much of the denial will come from the pain of acknowledging what it shows about the muslim world. It is like the OJ case. Blacks desperately wanted him not to be guilty, for if he was, then the message was: take a black, make him a millionaire and the idol of the country, but when you scratch the surface, you still have just another drugged up murderous ghetto thug. Yet they all know he was guilty. For the muslims, the pain is in seeing that a hero of the muslim world who does nothing but speak of Allah and the bliss of Islam, is a mass murderer who is gratified and amused by his horrific crimes, displaying a moral depravity beyond imagination.

[JBBooks]

My comment was not meant to be exclusive. Other psychopaths have acted without a "religious" motivation, as you point out.

[Mr. Jeeves]

In the name of what god did Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot invoke as they slaughtered MILLIONS of people?

'The State'. Or 'The People'.

[a_Turk]

For those with any sense of decency, it will be a source of deep shame

I have had as part of my family who were muftis of large cities in Turkey. The teachings we were able to take away from them were:

1. Let no man come between you and God.
2. First you are human, then you are whatever else (patriot, pious, etc.)

Are you at that level where the actions of criminals are a source of great shame for you? Because we are humans first? Or are you waiting for me to be ashamed for you. This is all our world and we made this bed together. I'll not take responsibility alone for this anomaly. I am as guilty as you are. Kapish?

[thucydides]

If I were a Christian and a group of Christian terrorists claiming to act in the name of Jesus went to an Islamic country and murdered thousands of innocent people for the reason that they were muslims, yes, I would be ashamed of my correligionists. They would have brought terrible shame on the religion, and there would be no other course than to denounce them, and do everything possible to secure their excommunication from the religion and their criminal punishment.

[a_Turk]

They would have brought terrible shame on the religion,

A religion is like an object. There can be no shame brought upon it. It's either a shame itself, or it is not...

and there would be no other course than to denounce them, and do everything possible to secure their excommunication from the religion and their criminal punishment.

That's all fine and dandy. Take my word for it though, we're all human beings before anything else. How about having shamed the Human species? A crime for which we should denounce them and do everything possible to secure their excommunication from the species and their criminal punishment? :^D

Let's stop seeing each other as though we were on opposing banks of a wild river. We're all in this together. Those of us who won't denounce him don't because he's all they have going for them. If they had a sence of our total togetherness, then they would not need him. Know what I mean?

[thucydides]

I pretty much agree with what you have said, especially about the essential fact being that we are all human. But I fear that I have not successfully conveyed my point. We naturally feel shame as humans when other humans do some terrible thing. The closer those wrongdoers are to us, the more acutely we feel it. For example, where a family member carries out a terrible crime, the family feels ashamed. What is shame? It is a decent regard for the opinions of one's fellow human beings. It comes about through having been in some way associated with terrible things, even if one is not directly or personally responsible in any way. It is the concern that others will think of us as somehow connected to terrible acts.

Now most non - muslim people in the world have little knowledge of Islam or its wonderful cultural history or humane cultural qualities. Suddenly their attention is focused on the terrible crimes against humanity carried out by fanatics purporting to act in the name of Allah. When I said that viewing the Bin Laden tape would induce a sense of shame among good muslim people, I was referring to the bad feelings they would have at the prospect of millions of non - muslim people thinking that Islam, the religion that is dear to them, was somehow responsible.

This is not trying to put anyone at arm's length, in fact, it is based on the assumption of common human feelings. What would truly be terrible would be to assume that no muslim would feel shame over such terrible events, or at least no more shame than someone in China, or Chile. I hope this clarifies matters somewhat.

[a_Turk]

I hope this clarifies matters somewhat.

Yes, I understand, and did understand.. I am ashamed of the bastard, but not because he says he is a supposed Muslim. He surely ain't.

You see, being part of a religion is only possible by practicing it's virtues. He who does not practice the virtues of Christianity cannot be considered Christian.

No, I look around, and needn't look far to find a cornucopia of reasons to feel ashamed of the human race. Perhaps the next phase of evolution will produce a better being.

Peace.