Evangelicals' Anti-Islam Remarks Are Testament To Ignorance

UExpress ^ | May 9, 2003 | Georgie Anne Geyer

[alloysteel]

Only some elements of the Islam world have fanatical devotion to terrorism. Closing one's eyes to the very real suicide attacks by zealots who claim religion as their motive, is to suspend belief and dream that all persons of religious persuasion are uniformly pure and good and wish only the warmest regards for their fellow man, even if the fellow man may have a different God. It was not so long ago that some of the most horrible crimes in the name of mankind were committed on a vast scale, because the object of the "conversion" program (from living person to smoldering ashes) also carried perhaps a history of being of a differing level of devotion. The world had no trouble with pursuing and destroying these builders of camps for purging humanity of its deviants, as witness Nazi Germany. Unfortunately, the other great purifier of humanity, who was acting in the name of the religion of Secular Humanism (also known as Communist Socialism), had no such oversight during his lifetime, and only his heirs saw the collapse of that faith system. And they did not keep nearly as good a record of those who were dispatched to join the afterlife.

[SouthernFreebird]

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain"...."Islam is a religion of Peace" yada yada yada....

we've seen the fruits of Islam on 9-11,
and all the kings horses and all the kings men can't put our ignorance of Islam back together again.
Franklin Graham spoke the truth....Islam is evil.

[netmilsmom]

I think the whole idea is that we know it but don't say it.
Not PC you know.....
Allah forbid we offend the people who want to blow us up.

Now I do have to say, I know some Muslim women who would not blow anyone up. They are quiet and sad. It kills me to see these ladies in America, so repressed.
I have literally heard this from one lady, "I will ask my husband if I can help in the (kindergarten) class tomorrow." (Husband at work as an engineer at GM during the day) Geez.

[VOA]

But I also know from years of working overseas, not to speak of simple observation
of humanity, that the way you contain radicalism -- any radicalism -- is to gradually,
persistently and justly drain out the poisons from the swamps, thus drying up the
wellsprings for terrorism and diverting the rivers of hatred.

Yeah, just the way we slowly spent decades slowly choking off the Nazis and
their radicalism. (yes, I'm being sarcastic.)

The writer fails to understand that different circumstances require different
approaches. Some struggles are best ended by rapid, convulsive action; others by
a slow, prolonged, discontinuous low-level conflict, as in the case of Communism.

The writer simply ignores that Islam has a foundational conflict with Western ideal...
it foundationally requires that the state and Islam be one.
This is in stark contrast to the Western ideal of separating state and religion;
suprising enunciated by an itinerant carpenter as "render unto Caesar
that which is Caesars, and unto G-d that which is G-d's".

For dealing with a lot of radical Islamics (and their silently supportive
"Moderate Muslim" co-congregants) Dubya and the US Military have done
an amazing job of finding and killing the snakes, and sparing and helping
avoid collateral damage to civilians.
Not something you'll see from the radical Islamicists.

[sausageseller]

Today in many parts of the Muslim world, one finds impressive learning and tolerance.

SS. "many". Yea right!

The words of the Grahams, the Falwells and the Robertsons have exactly the opposite effect. It is infinitely good that serious evangelicals are speaking out in other tongues

SS. And the thousands of Muslim clerics who preach murder everyday are just a figment of everyones imagination.

[GingisK]

I'd say the author of this article has been getting his news from the electronic media. The rest of us have notice a continous attack on civilized people by Moslems. Some can see before they speak, other just speak PC speak.

[Remedy]

Literal adherence to Islam ……violence/peace probability spectrum ……Literal adherence to Christianity

VIOLENCE Ü -------------------------------------------------Þ PEACE

 

Amazon.com: Books: Through Our Enemies' Eyes: Osama Bin Laden, ...

This book is the one all Americans must read to understand why radical Muslims, such as Osama bin Laden and his followers, have declared war on America and the West. Furthermore, this book accurately describes the severity of the threat they will continue to pose, with or without bin Laden’s leadership, to our national security. To win the war against terrorism, the author argues, we must first stop dismissing militant Muslims as "extremists" or "religious fanatics." Formulating a successful military strategy requires that we see the enemy as they perceive themselves—as highly trained and motivated soldiers who fervently believe their cause is righteous. Militants throughout the Islamic world are enraged by what they believe is Western aggression against their people, religion, and culture. Though bin Laden declared war on America years ago—not once but twice—Americans were complacent in the face of his violent threats. Such misguided arrogance, according to the author, stems from the increasing secularization and moral relativism of American society and culture. Even if bin Laden is brought to justice, the author warns, the dangers posed by radical Islamic militants will not disappear. We must be prepared for a protracted war against terrorism. This important book will make a major impact on how America thinks about its enemy and itself.

Reviewer: Newt Gingrich (see more about me) from Washington, DC United States

This is a remarkable book well worth reading by anyone who wants to know how dangerous our opponents are and how difficult the war with terrorism could get. The author is described as "a senior U.S. intelligence officer with nearly two decades of experience in national security issues related to Afghanistan and South Asia." He was forced to publish the book anonymously because it is so different from the pre-September 11 analysis of his employing agency.

His own disgust with the American intelligence bureaucracy is evident in his acknowledgments when he cites Mark Helprin about men who "knowing very little or next to nothing, take pride in telling everyone else what to do." He continues with praise for young civil servants "whose work ethic, intellectual honesty, and personal courage inspire awe and-if unleashed-are more than match for America's foes, foreign or domestic. Too often, however, their work is stymied by senior officers of my own generation. Mostly men, these senior officers have made careers by keeping silent in the face of unfairness, avoiding risk, and refusing to make decisions . . . Fortunately, most of the Republic's younger civil servants recognize with Helprin that this behavior is 'more than a pity, more than a disgrace, it is despicable'" (xiv).

The current strategy of focusing narrowly on Al Qaeda, Bin Laden, and body counts "is the road to disaster, for the positions and force bin Laden has presented are a far more lethal and varied threat than that posed by any of those we have labeled as 'terrorists' over the past quarter century. The strength of his personality and message is likely to lead to an enduring legacy that will long survive his departure from the scene" (xvii).

"The forces of bin Laden, then, are waging war on America in God's name; they have made it clear that their goal is not the tactical one of inflicting pain, but the strategic one of defeating the United States 'in the same way in which the USSR suffered humiliation at the hands of the Afghan and Arab mujahedin in Afghanistan.' In the United States before the events of 11 September 2001, however, there was almost no recognition that bin Laden's war is well under way. The first step in countering the forces that bin Laden has established is to listen more patiently to what he said in the past and to understand the personal, historical, and geopolitical contexts in which he thought, spoke, and acted" (xviii).

Americans will find this book disturbing in part because the author uses American revolutionary war patriots' words to frame each chapter. His point is to drive home that the sincerity and intensity of our founding fathers can be matched by equal intensity and sincerity in Islam. He is arguing that the movement opposing us has a religious fervor, a systematic intensity, and a willingness to learn and use the advantages of a free society to defeat that very freedom.

This is a sobering view of a deeply religious movement with the passionate commitment of those who are doing God's bidding and a willingness to kill Americans by the millions if they can find the right mechanism with which to do it.

Anyone who reads this book will be deeply sobered by it and will reflect on how much bigger and longer our campaign to defeat the Reactionary Islamists will turn out to be.

 

 

[LarryM]

Georgie is an Arab shill. Every column she writes is an apologia for the Arabs and Islam.

[Stefan Stackhouse]

Like all non-Christian religions, there is much in Islam that is unique, and much that is true. But that which is true is not unique to Islam, and that which is unique to Islam is not true.

[ml/nj]

For nearly 800 years from 711 A.D. onward, the Islamic Moorish state in Spain ruled over one of the most brilliant, cultured and tolerant states in world history. "Al Andalus, the ornament of the world," historians called it. In the capital city of Cordoba, the city's library housed some 400,000 volumes, compared to hundreds in the largest libraries in Latin Christian countries.

Really? 400,000 volumes?

Were they all Korans?

I think were talking about idyllic Islamic Spain here, the one that Maimonades had to flee circa 1000 AD. Did 400,000 titles even exist then?

ML/NJ

[AppyPappy]

Ah. Are you saying it is merely a coincidence that all of these terrorist acts are committed by Muslims?

[KriegerGeist]

Set aside the Evangelical Christians and consider what the Islamists and those who follow Islam say themselves.

This is not the "Grahams, Falwells or Robertsons" speaking here:

Analyst Doug Bandow said, "I think the Saudi human rights record is about the worst in the Middle East. I mean, if you were a Christian or you were a woman you would probably prefer to be in Iraq than in Saudi Arabia. Yet we embrace the Saudis. It's a terrible record. There's no political freedom. There's no economic liberty. If you want to practice Christianity, you know if you want to live a life with any sort of freedom, that's not a place you can be."

Saudi dissident Ali Ahmed's family is persecuted in Saudi Arabia because his relatives are Shia Muslim, the wrong kind in Sunni Saudi Arabia. He has testified before Congress on a land where women are property, converts to Christianity are executed, and people are taught to hate.

Ali said, "What they teach that Jew — I’m not talking about Israel here — I'm just talking about Jew, period, is the most disgusting creature on earth, you know, you should hate that person with a passion. [And] the cross is a sign of evil."

Here are the words of Sheik Said al Brake at one of Saudi Arabia's largest mosques:

"Muslim brothers in Palestine, do not have any mercy or compassion on the Jews, their blood, their money, their skin. Their women are yours to take, legally. Allah made them yours. People should know that Jews are backed by the Christians, and the battle that we are going through is not with Jews only, but also with those who believe that Allah is part of the Trinity, and those who said Jesus is the son of Allah, and those who said that Allah is Jesus, the son of Mary."

Another well known Saudi cleric has publicly prayed for Allah to "terminate" the Jews, whom he described as "the scum of humanity... the rats of the world... pigs and monkeys."

Historian Michael Ledeen said, "That's a Saudi doctrine, the official doctrine of the Saudi state. Then they export this doctrine, not only to the terrorists, but they've built thousands of mosques and religious schools all over the western world, over a thousand in the United States alone, which have the same textbooks, translated into English, the same doctrine, the same nutty ideas — kill a Christian go to heaven, kill a Jew go to heaven, kill an Israeli, kill an American and go straight to paradise. This is Saudi money, Saudi text, Saudi doctrine."

The doctrine is known as wahhabism, and it flows out of Saudi Arabia, first in the form of money, to nations like Nigeria, where wahhabi influence is increasing. It also goes to the Philippines and Indonesia, where a jihad continues against Christians. And it exists in the United States, where Saudi money has built mosques and schools.

Saudi religious money has only one string attached: you must teach wahhabism, the same doctrine taught to a very famous Saudi named Osama bin Laden. There are said to be 7,000 wahhabi academies around the world.

Ali Ahmed read to us from Arabic wahhabi textbooks used in Saudi academies here in the United States. "The question is can you love Christians and Jews? And the answer is no, you can't," the book said.

[Remedy]

Westerners think mistakenly that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are similar religions that hold slightly different doctrines about salvation and God's nature. This is a profound mistake. The sacred texts of these religions make very different statements about government, economics, and nations. Islam Review - Presented by The Pen vs. the Sword Featured ... *****Islam: the Facade, the Facts

The Attack On The World Trade Center And The Pentagon

Secularists

are Muslims who do not have a knowledge of the contents of the Quran and only know a verse or two to justify enjoying their life such as: "Wealth and children are the adornment of the life of this world" (Surat AI-Kahf 18:46).

Moderates

know the Quran but seek to make their faith relevant to modern life. They try to reconcile the contradicting verses in the Quran in such a way that Muslims may tolerate Jews and Christians living among them. They emphasize the verses that came to the Prophet Muhammad when he was weak militarily and in need of the support of Jews and Christians.

Islam's Immigrant Invasion of Europe: What sense is there in respecting those who don’t respect us?

[Extremist]

EVANGELICALS' ANTI-ISLAM REMARKS ARE TESTAMENT TO IGNORANCE

Ignorance of the dangers of the evil islamic savages has caused us great grief. We must continue to hold these monsters accountable.

To do otherwise would be ignorant and STUPID.

[Gee Wally]

This is really a very perverse article. It suggests that in America, religious leaders should muzzle their religious opinions to satisfy some political end. Sort of like the Jewish leaders of Jesus' time rationalizing that it was better that one man should die rather than that the whole nation should perish. It also has a rather curious view of the history of Islam, which is a history of conquest and subjugation. It reminds me of the PBS documentary they did on Islam, extolling its virtues and wondrous civilization while recounting one conquest after another. Mind boggling.

[Hila]

Georgie Anne Gayer is a testament to ignorance - a fool must not be heard, nor read.

[alloysteel]

To gently point out - Georgie Anne Geyer is a "her", not a "him". But you are right, she probably derives her opinions second-hand, through a filter of other electronic news sources (I would suspect, not a lot from Fox News).

A Muslim fearful of the swift and mighty retaliatory blow from the Fist of Allah, in the form of the coalition forces, tends to re-evaluate the tenets of his faith. Since the flow of money to the families of suicide bombers in Palestine has largely dried up, mothers are counselling their firebrand zealot sons not to strap on the martyr's vest and blow themselves up in a crowd of Jews, as the family will get no bounty for that any more.

[AppyPappy]

Satan will find someone else to provide the money.

[Remedy]

Comments on the PBS special - "Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet"

On 19 Dec, 2002 PBS aired a two hour film on the life of Muhammad. There was noteworthy Islamic funding for this show. The film told the story of Muhammad's life and included most of the important events that affected his life and the lives of his followers. Throughout the film various Muslims or sympathetic academics commented on these events. Muslims from various walks of life spoke highly of Muhammad and presented him in a lustrous light.

However, significant details were omitted or glossed over. This includes many of Muhammad's violent acts. Additionally, many of the comments were inaccurate according to the Islamic source materials. When the film is put to the test, against the real Islamic source materials, it is obvious that this film was nothing more than Islamic evangelism of an ignorant and naïve American public.