[Latest e mail from editor of ProIslam.com]
Interestingly enough, i registered at freerepublic as proislam_admin,
and my posting priveliges were "revoked" before I had replied to even
one of the posters on the threads which you linked me on. I was
disappointed, but not surprised. I was surprised, however, to learn that they
did not pull your post immeditely, although I did notice there were no
live links to it, and it was only accessible (to me, at least) by a
direct html address.
I read through the posts (on both threads), and I was very disappointed
to see the level of vitriol and narrow-mindedness among most of the
members of freerepublic. I had a dozen responses to post, but I will not
be able to do so. It is unfortunate that you cannot get a moderate
muslim perspective on that board, and that you must rely on your own
limited understanding and impressions of islam, no doubt nurtured by a
hostile media.
Also, I am awaiting your response to my last email. I hope that my
efforts to persuade you that cut-and-paste "proof" of quar'anic verses is
an unjust way of portraying the religion. I am wondering what you
thought of my comments.
In any case, good luck in your search for the truth.
Peace.
Regards,
Editor, ProIslam.com
Sir,
In regards to your posting privileges being suspended, while only the admins know for sure, I suspect your IP address was recognized as that of someone who has been banned several times before. As you can see, there are indeed dissenting opinions on FreeRepublic, but as one would expect, a majority hold a similar opinion.
I do want to compliment you on your being able to maintain a civil tone while defending your faith (not an easy thing to do by any stretch). However, as I've previously mentioned, a rational, civil, non-violent muslim, who wishes to live in harmony with those of other faiths is indeed fighting an uphill battle. The perception that islam is a religion of hate and violence is not only reinforced by the many quotes I listed, but again and again when acts of violence are committed in the name of the religion.
I, for one, would suggest condemnation by the muslim community of such acts, but we see few. Instead we see calls for increased protection of muslims from hate crimes (as CAIR is doing even now). That's certainly not the way to win acceptance from an already leery American public.
If your aim is to promote a civil, peaceful, harmonious vision of islam, as your text on the koranic verses implies, then I wish you the best of luck. However, I'd suggest establishing this idea, irrefutably within the muslim community before trying to convince the rest of the American public of its legitimacy.
Regards.
Owl_Eagle
”Guns Before Butter.”
I received another message from proislam.com
Thank you for you comments. I would like to address some of your concerns.
We would like to point out that we are not doing anything to Ann Coulter. We are merely offended by her comments. We find them to be bigoted and disingenuous. Therefore,
we are suggesting a boycott of her column.
This is not a suppression of the right to free speech.
The First Amendment provides for the right to say whatever you like. It does not guarantee the right to have that opinion of statement published. In addition, the First Amendment does not require advertisers to continue to provide patronage if your comments are found to be bigoted or unpopular.
Also, there is no such term as "Islamofacist." That
has the moral equivalent of "Christianonazi." You are
under a misimpression if you think Islam has anything
to do with fascism. I suggest you take the time to
learn a little bit about Islam. Here are two very good links:
a primer about Islam:
http://www.proislam.com/dawah_intro.htm
islamic moral code:
http://www.proislam.com/column_moral_code.htm
islamic quotes and how they are twisted by the right:
http://www.proislam.com/column_moral_code.htm
i replied to him:
I use the term "islamo-fascist" to differentiate between peaceful, America loving muslims versus the likes of OBL. If you think there are no "muslim" fascist countries in the middle east, you have blinders on.