Posted on 11/19/2003 2:52:20 PM PST by knak
WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 /U.S. Newswire/ -- A prominent national Islamic civil rights organization today called on nationally-syndicated radio talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger to apologize for what the group called an "anti-Muslim tirade" on her Nov. 17 program. ("Dr. Laura's" radio program is heard by 12 million listeners on some 270 stations nationwide.)
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it received a number of complaints from Muslims who said Schlessinger's remarks crossed the line from legitimate commentary on terrorism to Islamophobic bigotry.
The offensive comments came in response to a mother who asked whether her 16-year-old daughter should take part in a Catholic High School class field trip to a local mosque. The purpose of the field trip was to have the students in a "moral themes" class learn how "Muslims are treated" in America.
Schlessinger said in her response: "This is a class on morals. What is the point of going to a mosque?...You're joking of course...How many Americans have tortured and murdered Muslims...I think you ought to stand up against this class and this teacher. This is despicable. You tell him you are willing to go to the mosque only if it is one that has done its best to route out terrorists in its midst...instead of complaining...I am horrified that you would let her go...I am so sick and tired of all the Arab-American groups whining and complaining about some kind of treatment...What culture and what religion were all the murderers of 9/11...they murdered us...That's the culture you want your daughter to learn about?"
(To listen to Schlessinger's response, go to: http://www.drlaura.com/listen/ Click on Nov. 17, and then on "Dr. Laura 9." There is a charge for access.)
"Dr. Laura's anti-Muslim tirade demonstrates a level of hostility toward Islam that should be of concern to her program's audience and sponsors," said CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper.
"It has been our experience that one-on-one interactions with ordinary American Muslims are the best way to dispel Islamophobic stereotypes and promote religious tolerance. It is a pity that Dr. Laura would interfere with that learning process by dissuading a student from visiting a mosque." Hooper noted that Schlessinger also confused Arab-Americans and Muslims in her comments. (Many Arab-Americans are Christian.)
In 2002, CAIR sent a letter to Schlessinger asking for a clarification of her on-air claim that there is a "Muslim plan" to take over the world. When Schlessinger's extremist views have been confronted in the past, she has often responded by attacking the source of the challenge, instead of dealing with the substance of the complaints.
CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has 16 regional offices nationwide and in Canada.
NOTE: CAIR offers an e-mail list designed to be a journalist's window to the American Muslim community. Subscribers to the list, called ISLAM-INFONET, receive news releases and other materials dealing with American Muslim positions on issues of importance to our society.
BRAVO, Dr. Laura!!!
I still can't stand to listen to her show...mostly due to her idiot callers...but I gotta give it to her here. I agree with her entirely, except that she should perhaps limit her disdain for arab Americans to muslim Arab Americans.
I think it's called the Koran.
"Muslim murderers killing multiple thousands of our ordinary American people peacably going about their daily affairs demonstrates a level of hostility toward Christianity and the West that should be of concern to CAIR and it's Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper," said Mr. Valentine.
Most sincerely,
TexasRepublic
"The month of Ramadan is not only a time of fasting, but also a period of intense prayer. I wish to assure you, my Muslim friends, that we are united with you in prayer to the Almighty and Merciful God," Archbishop Fitzgerald wrote.
(...the president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald,...)
See earlier post:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1025050/posts
First misrepresentation: It was a tirade against America-bashing types, the Muslims who perpetrated 9-11, and the dearth of Muslims who have stepped forward and condemned the terrorists.
The purpose of the field trip was to have the students in a "moral themes" class learn how "Muslims are treated" in America.
Misrepresentation number two: It was a social justice class, not a moral themes class.
Schlessinger said in her response: "This is a class on morals. What is the point of going to a mosque?...You're joking of course...
Misrepresentation number three: The way these quotes are excerpted it makes Dr. Laura appear to be implying that Muslims have no morals. I heard this show - this is NOT what she was saying or what she meant.
"Dr. Laura's anti-Muslim tirade demonstrates a level of hostility toward Islam that should be of concern to her program's audience and sponsors," said CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper.
Nice try, Ibrahim. If you listened the the ENTIRE conversation, you would have understood that her anger was directed at the blame-America crowd and the COMPLETE ABSENCE of Muslim groups, in particular the ones who enjoy the freedoms of America, who have stood up to condemn the 9-11 terrorists and the radical Muslims who supported them.
"It has been our experience that one-on-one interactions with ordinary American Muslims are the best way to dispel Islamophobic stereotypes and promote religious tolerance.
...and to pretend that killer radical Muslims somehow don't exist, and that the Koran is all about peace and love and NOT about killing infidels, gays, etc.
It is a pity that Dr. Laura would interfere with that learning process by dissuading a student from visiting a mosque."
Again, another misrepresentation: She was dissuading the student from visiting that mosque IN THE CONTEXT OF ANTI-AMERICANISM and in the ABSENCE of condemnation of Muslim terrorists by the Muslim mosque itself. Are you so stupid you don't see the difference?
In 2002, CAIR sent a letter to Schlessinger asking for a clarification of her on-air claim that there is a "Muslim plan" to take over the world.
Uh...isn't that written in the Koran in so many words, to kill the infidels and make the world Islamic? Like this is a secret?
When Schlessinger's extremist views have been confronted in the past, she has often responded by attacking the source of the challenge, instead of dealing with the substance of the complaints.
Oh, you mean like calling people 'extremists' instead of addressing the substance of her complaints, like why haven't any Muslim groups in America come forth and condemned the Muslim terrorists and Muslim fanatics who want to kill infidels? You mean stuff like that?
Apparently the drive for understanding is a one-way street.
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