Cartoon Jihad 'Pits Muslim Against Muslim' :: Understanding Islam

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February 22, 2006

Cartoon Jihad 'Pits Muslim Against Muslim'

Seldom is the time that the New York Times get's it right, but today is one of those occasions. It's hard to believe that the NYT actually understands that there are Muslims "out there" that not only don't agree with the radicals and illiterates that follow directives from imams like cattle to slaughter, but they are scared as hell of speaking out.

Take a look at the following "cherry picked" excerpts that bring the point home:

(...) "What brings more prejudice against Islam, these caricatures or pictures of a hostage-taker slashing the throat of his victim in front of the cameras, or a suicide bomber who blows himself up during a wedding ceremony?"

(...) "Muslims had an opportunity to educate the world about the merits of the Prophet Muhammad and the peacefulness of the religion he had come with," Mr. Assadi wrote. He added, "Muslims know how to lose, better than how to use, opportunities."

(...) Mr. Momani and Mr. Assadi are among 11 journalists in five countries facing prosecution for printing some of the cartoons. Their cases illustrate another side of this conflict, the intra-Muslim side, in what has typically been defined as a struggle between Islam and the West.

(...) ... it has also underscored a political struggle involving emerging Islamic movements, like Hamas in Gaza and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and Arab governments unsure of how to contain them.
(...) "I keep hearing, 'Why are liberals silent?' " said Said al-Ashmawy, an Egyptian judge and author of books on political Islam. "How can we write? Who is going to protect me? Who is going to publish for me in the first place? With the Islamization of the society, the list of taboos has been increasing daily. You should not write about religion. You should not write about politics or women. Then what is left?"

(...) now there seems to be a growing concern and in some circles a degree of regret for unleashing a wave of anger that has claimed lives.

(...) "We appeal to all Muslims to exercise self-restraint in accordance with the teachings of Islam," the statement said. It added that "violent reactions" can lead to "our isolation from the global dialogue."

Maybe, just maybe, some of the radical Muslims might wake up to the fact that the rest of the world isn't buying the "outrage over the prophet" routine and recognizing that the real issue is their 12th century culture that is incompatible with the modern world. The time has come for all rational thinking (read moderate) Muslims to speak out and stand up against the jihadi crowd and the mosque system funded by the Saudis that has helped to spread and perpetuate radical Islam throughout the world. If an imam preaches violence, hate, or intolerance, the man is not a religious man, he is a political hack for radical Islam and the theocracy that is the Islam of hate, not the Islam of tolerance - as believed in by our Muslim neighbors and friends that share the disgust of non-Muslims for the Islamists that would have the world live in medieval times.

Posted by Richard at February 22, 2006 1:29 PM

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