Of course, the great majority of Muslims are peaceful -- so what?

Jewish World Review ^ | Nov. 5, 2002 | Dennis Prager

[SJackson]

Whenever the question of Islam and violence, specifically terror, is raised, we are repeatedly told that "the vast majority of Muslims in the world are peaceful people" who never engage in terror. This is entirely accurate.

And entirely irrelevant.

The vast majority of Germans living in the Nazi era were also peaceful; very few ever so much as laid a hand on a Jew. So, too, the vast majority of Russians never killed anyone while 20-40 million of their fellow citizens were murdered by their Communist regime under Stalin. The point here is that the threat to civilization emanating from within Islam is no more obviated by the fact that the great majority of Muslims are not violent than the threat that emanated from Nazism was obviated by the peaceful behavior of the great majority of Germans or the threat from Soviet Communism was nullified by the nonviolence among the great majority of Russians.

Germany was a threat to civilization because Nazis and their ideology took over German society while the majority of Germans (the "good Germans") either supported Nazi ideals or did nothing. Russia was a threat to civilization because Communists took over the country, and the great majority of Russians either supported Papa Stalin or did nothing. Some Islamic societies are today becoming a threat to civilization because Islamic totalitarians and terrorists are taking over those societies while a majority of Muslims either support their ideals or do nothing.

That is why it is meaningless at best and dishonest at worst to deny the threat to civilization coming from various Muslim countries by noting that most Muslims are not violent. Only a handful of Saudis terrorized America on 9-11-01, but a large majority of Saudis support Osama bin Laden. Few Palestinians strap bombs onto their children's bodies, but the majority of them support such evil and none others publicly morally condemn it.

At this moment, the dominant strain of Islamic thought is totalitarian, meaning that wherever possible, a government should be Islamic and govern according to a strict interpretation of the Sharia (Muslim religious law). Furthermore, when necessary and when possible, the Islamists believe these religious laws should be imposed violently -- as in Sudan, Nigeria, Afghanistan and elsewhere. In addition, the dominant ideological trend in much of Islamic society is hate-filled. What is said daily about Jews in Middle Eastern mosques rivals what the Nazis said about Jews. And not only in mosques. During Ramadan, Egyptian television is running a 41-part series based on the anti-Semitic forgery "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion."

For all these reasons, one's moral assessment of what is taking place in the Muslim world must be made independent of the fact that the great majority of Muslims are peaceful people. Their peaceful lifestyle is not influencing the bellicose trends in their religion.

continued..........

[PGalt]

Interesting article, thanks for the post.

[Yardstick]

*Bump* for clarity. To say "well, most Muslims are peaceful" is a dodge and clouds the issue.

[Mudboy Slim]

We must aggressively beFRiend the Moderate Muslim-Americans (or Islamic-Americans) and further isolate the Radicals who use violence as their means of communication...MUD

[F-117A]

bump!

[palmer]

someone needs to post this at wewantourowncountrynow.com

[bluester]

I really don't know what is there to understand. If someone does not commit criminal/terrorist acts and does not harm others he/she cannot be a criminal/terrorist, so why should the person take the blame for the actions of others?

Then we should probably start sentencing families of all those criminals around the world (from whatever part of the globe) for "creating" them, the society in which they were brought up, not just in the Muslim world. Such logic is beyond me.

And Muslim is not a nationality. It consists of numerous countries throughout the world with big differences. Comparing Muslims as a religious group of people living in so many countries that consist of around 1 billion people worldwide with the Nazi's or Stalin's Russia is absurd to say the least. Ah well...

[akash]

Ping !!!!

[alex]

The threat to civilization is emanated from intelligentsia.

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on or off this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

[GeekDejure]

We must aggressively beFRiend the Moderate Muslim-Americans (or Islamic-Americans) and further isolate the Radicals who use violence as their means of communication...MUD

Befriending Muslims does not concur with their Koran !!! You would merely be kissing the arse of a Muslim Trojan Horse !!!

"O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people." - Koran 5:51

"So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful." - Koran 9.5

"Garments of fire have been prepared for the unbelievers. Scalding water shall be poured upon their heads, melting their skins and that which is in their bellies. They shall be lashed rods of iron. Whenever, in their anguish, they try to escape from Hell, back they shall be dragged, and will be told: 'Taste the torment of the Conflagration!'" - Koran 22:19,22,23

[FreeTheHostages]

"We must aggressively beFRiend the Moderate Muslim-Americans (or Islamic-Americans)"

Agreed. There are plenty of politically conservative Muslims. Many more American Muslims now are second-generation, so they are becoming more comfortable with political activism than their parents (who came from countries where they were taught that political activism was bad or dangerous).

[T'wit]

> and pay the poor-rate,

There's the real gimmick. Pay us or we'll kill you. The Koran's justification of slavery (or if you prefer, the old protection racket).

[flyer182]

The only problem is the worst of the muslims are coming from western nations were they are second-generation. Old Ghadaffi himself said if the US really wantd to stop islamic radicalism we would bomb London first.

[flyer182]

Just as being jew or christian is not a nationality, or communist, or socialist. The rise of the western state is of very recent history. What makes a culture is common thought. Wouldn't you agree those groups have more in common in thought than a line on a map drawn by the british during the colonial times and more recently. I share more in common with a conservative chrstian than I do with a muslim american.

[freebilly]

In recent surveys, the majority of Muslims said they did not support terrorist activities by those who claim to be acting with Koranic justification.

The remaining 49% said "Go, Al-Qaeda, go...!"

[Mudboy Slim]

Use that tone with me again, GeekBoy, and you'll feel the back of my hand...MUD

[William Terrell]

Of course, the great majority of Muslims are peaceful -- so what?

http://www.jewishworldreview.com | Whenever the question of Islam and violence, specifically terror, is raised, we are repeatedly told that "the vast majority of Muslims in the world are peaceful people" who never engage in terror. This is entirely accurate.

And entirely irrelevant.

The vast majority of Germans living in the Nazi era were also peaceful; very few ever so much as laid a hand on a Jew. So, too, the vast majority of Russians never killed anyone while 20-40 million of their fellow citizens were murdered by their Communist regime under Stalin. The point here is that the threat to civilization emanating from within Islam is no more obviated by the fact that the great majority of Muslims are not violent than the threat that emanated from Nazism was obviated by the peaceful behavior of the great majority of Germans or the threat from Soviet Communism was nullified by the nonviolence among the great majority of Russians.

Germany was a threat to civilization because Nazis and their ideology took over German society while the majority of Germans (the "good Germans") either supported Nazi ideals or did nothing. Russia was a threat to civilization because Communists took over the country, and the great majority of Russians either supported Papa Stalin or did nothing. Some Islamic societies are today becoming a threat to civilization because Islamic totalitarians and terrorists are taking over those societies while a majority of Muslims either support their ideals or do nothing.

That is why it is meaningless at best and dishonest at worst to deny the threat to civilization coming from various Muslim countries by noting that most Muslims are not violent. Only a handful of Saudis terrorized America on 9-11-01, but a large majority of Saudis support Osama bin Laden. Few Palestinians strap bombs onto their children's bodies, but the majority of them support such evil and none others publicly morally condemn it.

At this moment, the dominant strain of Islamic thought is totalitarian, meaning that wherever possible, a government should be Islamic and govern according to a strict interpretation of the Sharia (Muslim religious law). Furthermore, when necessary and when possible, the Islamists believe these religious laws should be imposed violently -- as in Sudan, Nigeria, Afghanistan and elsewhere. In addition, the dominant ideological trend in much of Islamic society is hate-filled. What is said daily about Jews in Middle Eastern mosques rivals what the Nazis said about Jews. And not only in mosques. During Ramadan, Egyptian television is running a 41-part series based on the anti-Semitic forgery "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion."

For all these reasons, one's moral assessment of what is taking place in the Muslim world must be made independent of the fact that the great majority of Muslims are peaceful people. Their peaceful lifestyle is not influencing the bellicose trends in their religion.

Thus, what is most frightening is not that there are Muslim terrorists, but by how little criticism of Islamic terror emanates from normative Islamic groups. While some Muslim groups have condemned individual acts of Islamic terror such as 9-11, not one significant Muslim group in the world, including here in free America, has condemned Islamic terror generally. And the leaders of Al-Azhar University, the most prestigious institution of Islamic learning, have actually morally and religiously come out in support of Islamic suicide terror against Israelis.

So the fact that the majority of those living in the Islamic countries are good people is of no consequence. Unless they do something to condemn and to isolate the Muslim totalitarians and terrorists in their midst, history will judge them as it has all the good Germans during the Holocaust.

[Mudboy Slim]

"There are plenty of politically conservative Muslims. Many more American Muslims now are second-generation, so they are becoming more comfortable with political activism than their parents (who came from countries where they were taught that political activism was bad or dangerous)."

Ain't that the God's honest Truth?! I believe a lot of those Muslims who attended our Rally last Saturday were innately fearful that they would be punished for arguing against totalitarianism...but they joined in anyway, and we became brothers fighting for a common cause...Liberty and Justice For ALL!! I tip my hat to them, and defy any idiot geeks out there to explain how that was a bad thing!!

FReegards...MUD