Muslim Leaders Need to Condemn Violence
By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
I received a call from the Gallup Organization a few nights ago, conducting a poll on various world religions. They asked if I knew the name of the holy book of Islam (the Koran) and the name of the prophet of Islam (Muhammad). But here's the sad part: they asked me if I agreed that Islam is a religion of peace. I thought about it, and said I had to disagree.
The reason I don't think Islam is a religion of peace is that I am not aware of a single Muslim cleric stepping forward to denounce acts of violence committed in the name of Islam. This has happened over and over, and yet the mainstream Muslim leaders—presumably peaceful religious leaders who are not radicals—never step forward to call for an end to murderous rampages and terrorist acts committed in the name of Islam.
Why not?
Some say it's because unlike say, Catholics or Protestants, Muslims don't have a central leader like the Pope or the Archbishop of Canterbury. The religion is very decentralized, and so there is not central command of church hierarchy. That's fine. But then why doesn't the leader of the most visible mosque here in Washington, D.C.—the one in the middle of embassy row on Massachusetts Avenue—step forward to denounce what happened? Most people in Washington can name the Episcopal Bishop of Washington at the National Cathedral, John Chane, and certainly Cardinal McCarrick was a household name, and not just among Catholics. But I'd bet 9 out of 10 Washingtonians couldn't name the imam at the main Washington, D.C. mosque. I'm sure that's the case in many other towns in the United States.
Mainstream leaders of the Muslim faith need to start a conversation with the American people...on the Internet, on television, in newspapers...and explain what their religion stands for, why Americans should not feel threatened by their mainstream Islam, and how most Muslims are peace-loving people. Right now most Americans don't know what to think about Islam.
It's not racist to talk about the religious beliefs of the alleged shooter at Fort Hood. You cannot choose your race, but you can choose your religion. Islam is a choice. Radical Islam is a choice, too. Discussing those choices is not being racist. Not enough Americans understand the difference between the two. Islam's leaders need to speak out.
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Reader Comments
We hear what we like to hear (they HAVE condemned violence since 9/11/01
I have pasted some links to show that the Muslim leaders (both Sunni and Shia) have done all they could to express their opposition to acts of violence by a minority bunch of criminals. We rather not to see this either because we are too lazy to look for it or it doesn't make sensational news (or worst because we are biased!)
http://www.cair.com/AmericanMuslims/AntiTerrorism.aspx
http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/muslims_must_condemn_religious_extremists1/0017733
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yousef_Sane%27i
Muslim leaders must speakout if it is a peaceful religion
Islam is a violent religion and that is the way it started and murdered millions from the beginning in the mddleleast and around the world and conqured countries and force people to convert and destroyed their religion and loot all the wealth. They are worse than colonialist. Read the book of Robert Spencer "The truth about muhammad". Islamic clerics will not condemn the acts
and this is what they want and to create instability of other countries by their acts and they believe eventually will suceed islamization of the world. It has been their long term plan. The main culprit is saudi arabia from the very beginning supporting financially the extremists in the name of islam to reach this goal.
religion of violence has declared war on us
Mainstream Islam is a religion of violence. See www.thereligionofpeace.com for verses in the Qur'an that promote violence, and also a listing of multiple deadly attacks each day reported in international media as being committed by muslims out of religious duty. The parts of the Qur'an that talk about peace and tolerance came from the time when Muhammed was still politically and militarily weak and he had to cooperate to gain influence. Those parts are abrogated by his later teachings of violence when he was militarily strong. There is no other religion whose adherents commit anywhere near the violence and killing that muslims do. The history of Islam is one of violent conquest, subjugation, murder, rape, and deception. Muhammed was a fat, power-hungry sex hedonist who had numerous sex slaves, married a 9-year-old girl, and married his adopted son's wife. There is no freedom of speech or religion and no tolerance in Islam. The Qur'an teaches that all non-believers are to be either forcibly converted, killed, or subjugated to third-class status where they pay protection money, the jizya. The fact that most muslims are not violent may indicate a lack of knowledge on their part of their own religion and the influence of Judeo-Christian traditions and values. There are moderate muslims, but there is no moderate Islam.
The goal of Islam is world domination. Those muslims who recognize this have declared war on Western Civilization and all non-believers, and we need to recognize that fact.
The Fort Hood shooter may seem psychotic to us, but to him, it was a perfectly normal way to obey his religion.
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