Powell attacks Christian right

Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, condemned America's Christian right yesterday for propagating hatred against Muslims, in what appeared to be a coordinated White House campaign to confront anti-Islamic rhetoric from a constituency that includes some of the Bush administration's staunchest supporters. Days after the televangelist Pat Robertson said on his Christian Broadcasting Network that "what the Muslims want to do to the Jews is worse" than the Holocaust, Mr Powell told a gathering in Washington: "This kind of hatred must be rejected."

The escalation in anti-Muslim comments from conservative Christians includes a recent claim by Jerry Falwell, the country's leading rightwing Baptist, that the prophet Mohammed was "a terrorist".

Veteran evangelist Jimmy Swaggart followed that this week by calling Mohammed a "sex deviant" and a pervert and demanding that Muslim students in the US be expelled. "We ought to tell every other Muslim living in this nation that if you say one word, you're gone," he said.

As the likelihood grows of a war in Iraq there are strategic benefits for the White House in convincing Muslims that it would not be a war against their religion.

The administration's increased willingness to confront the Christian right reflects the Republicans' sweeping victories in last week's mid-term elections, reducing Mr Bush's reliance on the extreme fringes of his supporter base.

I hate to tell you what is really at work here, but with nothing else to do for the moment... here goes. First and foremost the muslims in your neighborhood are NOT, and this bears repeating, are NOT the majority of muslims. What you fail to see, hear, and most importantly understand is that the majority of muslims live outside the United States. They live in other countries where they show open support for terrorists as well as aid them in any way they can. In fact, that is exactly what the "good" muslims do even in your neighborhood!! ie: phoney muslim charities. WAKE UP!!!! They don't just hate Jews and Christians... if you are not one of them then they want to kill you too!!

I think Bush is trying to make a distinction between the average everyday Muslim who just goes about his every-day life, trying to make a go of it in America as opposed to terrorists who under the guise of Islam or any other ideology practise violence against America and the world.

I think though he may be mistaken about the depth of the anti-Americanism that runs thru the Muslim community. They by and large are a well disciplined group that "keeps the family secrets" to themselves. While the majority may never pick up a bomb or rifle, and there may be differences in dress and practise, in their heart of hearts, they would cry tears of joy should the US become an Islamic republic. That black males are gravitating to Islam should be a clue to that sense of personal empowerment that Islam provides to males, as well as providing justification and a channnel for directing rage and violence against a specified enemy..all infidels!

Sugar coat it all you want, Mr. Bush. I can sympathise with your desire that America remain mellowly tolerant of all faiths and creeds, but we must be cautious of clasping a viperous ideology to our breasts. The devastation to our country would be too bitter to contemplate. Islam does preach violence, and forced violence is how it historically has spread, when weaker nations have "voluntarily" refused its embrace. Many Moslems I have talked too exhibit a sense of abrupt "rightness", many of the most polite of them simply nod at your disagreement with them as a parent would with the childish assertions of a 3 year old child. The worst of them await only the word of their local Imam to cut your heart out. They are "right", the rest are all wrong.

Feminists should be especially worried about the inroads that radical Islam is making, especially among fatherless black males. Yet they are so busy railing against the so called "slavery" that our judeo-christian traditions have have "chained" them too, they have not even considered the utter brutality and repression that Islam would subject them to. An Islamic male sees himself as all powerful, totally in control of the women and daughters in his life. The religion teaches him to be brazenly intolerant of all other religious views and opinions and it teaches him that all women are chattle, to be used and abused as is his want! The religion gives him direct justification for his abuse of his women and what is worse, Islamic women en masse suffer a kind of Stockholm syndrom, having come to believe that it is right to suffer the indignities that they suffer...in order to survive it!

This loathsome philosophy needs to be stamped out of our American system like a serpent under our heels...though we must be prepared to be bitten in our heels while we crush its head!

Having followed each of the links you posted, and read each site for a few minutes, I found no unequivocal condemnation of terrorism. I did find interesting anti-wahhabi and anti-Nation of Islam writings, which I suppose have their own value.

But just like every other effort at portraying Islam as a Religion of Peace (TM), none of the web sites to which you steered me unequivocally condemn terror.

I believe that a majority of muslims are peace loving anti-terrorists. My beef is that they are silent. Who will lead Islam in a moral direction? They are silent. Who will condemn the slaughter of innocents? They are silent.

After 14 months of waiting and watching for unequivocal condemnation of terror from Islam, I'm getting tired of waiting. Is my belief in the anti-terror majority of musilms wong? I'm running out of patience waiting for the silent majority to SAY SOMETHING!

Chill for a minute, kid. You stated that the muslims in your area are supportive of the US, but you didn't state how you know that. Have you talked with them individually, in depth, and heard each of them state that they'd fight as Americans, for America? Or do they just nod their heads and smile politely at you? I think what some have said to you here are simply trying to see if you're making your statements based on assumptions or actual facts. That's all.

I'm a conservative Christian and I can't stand Pat, Jerry and Jimmy. I refuse to give them the time of day, so I understand your feelings about their latest statements. But I also understand why many Americans are somewhat suspect of people who practice the muslim religion.

Islam is not Christianity. Wishful thinking cannot change reality.

In matters political Islam is a system of despotism at home and aggression abroad. The Prophet commanded absolute submission to the imâm. In no case was the sword to be raised against him. The rights of non-Moslem subjects are of the vaguest and most limited kind, and a religious war is a sacred duty whenever there is a chance of success against the "Infidel". Medieval and modern Mohammedan, especially Turkish, persecutions of both Jews and Christians are perhaps the best illustration of this fanatical religious and political spirit.

"You don't tar and feather a whole religious group for the actions of some rogue people who use the religion as a shield for what they are doing. "

the reason why so many people on freerepublic have a negative view towards muslims is because it's more than "some rogue people " involved in anti american, anti semetic, activities. just because the muslims you see everyday smile and wave doesn't mean the majority of them are non-hostile. 1 good muslim out of 10 does me no good, and this ratio is not unrealistic when you consider all the muslims across the world. think about the muslims as a whole and remember that many more millions than the ones that smile and wave in this country are spreading hate and participating in terrorism in the world. I know alot cool muslims, but we can't go tippy-toeing around because we don't want the good muslims to get their feelings hurt. this is war and we must protect ourselves. if the muslims in this country are REAL americans, they will put up with necessary tasks by the government, i.e. reducing immigration from muslim countries and cracking down on student visa violations. also, the truth is the truth, and "good muslims" shouldn't be offended by what people say about the bad muslims.

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