Freedom should never be taken as an excuse to exploit the sensitivity of others, especially in matters of faith.
The controversy surrounding the cartoon depiction of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) is an eye-opening example of our need to better understand Islam. It also underscores our need to be responsible in balancing our freedoms with the fragile sensitivities of the People of this Great Nation, and the world at large.
Freedom should never be taken as an excuse to exploit the sensitivity of others, especially in matters of faith. Those images of the Prophet were insulting and forbidden in Islam. We believe this might not be widely known outside the Muslim world.
The Media is a powerful weapon. It can be used to build harmonious relationships, be they interfaith, international, or interracial. However, much in the same way, it can destroy them. I congratulate the American media that are taking a stand against Islamophobia — drawing a line between Muslims and terrorists who happen to identify themselves as Muslims. I’m pleased to see our local media capitalizing on building a stronger and better world through education and responsible dissemination of information. I wish I could say the same for some of our European counterparts.
Although we can disguise our prejudice as “freedom of speech,” responsible media challeng us to seek the facts in order to respect the sensitivities of all religions. These principles have nourished our Nation to be the superpower it is today. We live in a multi-religious society, and as world citizens, it behooves us to understand and respect our neighbors, if we seek to live with them in peace and harmony.
We believe members of all faith-based communities should stand together and condemn this type of profanity in our midst. No Prophet of God should be depicted in such an insulting manner.
According to Muslims, there is only one acceptable designation of Muhammad, peace and blessings of God Almighty be upon him, which comes straight from the Holy Qur’an, “Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets…” (33:41). This one sentence esteems him to the level most deserving of review and honest resolution.
Although he is not the physical father of any men who perpetuated his lineage, he is the spiritual father of well over a billion people. He is included among other holy recipients of Divine revelation and stands alone as their seal, attesting to the truth of all Prophets who were sent to various nations at various times, in accordance with the needs of those peoples. Muslims revere him as the best example of the most noble attributes ranging from kindness and generosity, to bravery and justice. We believe he brought the last and final law from God Almighty while being the threshold through which the Living God continues to communicate and guide. I state this so that those who put forth such assaults, be they in the form of misinformation campaigns or cartoon caricatures, should realize who they are insulting. It is far more than a man who lived 1,500 years ago — it is a group of 1.5 billion people who recognize and respect the Truth of all Prophets of all Faiths, peace be upon them all.
The well-known response of Muhammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him, to verbal and physical assaults was patience and forbearance. Despite a bitter 13-year persecution including economic boycotts, murderous plots, intrigues and cruelty against the weak and helpless; he remained firm on non-violent reprisals. He endured rejection, oppression, death threats and eventual migration, as did other prophets. However, once war was declared against his community, it was his duty as their leader to protect them, and employ every moral stratagem to ensure victory. This included taking up the sword in battles, and attacking the enemy’s caravan supply routes. When it was all said and done, Muhammad victoriously returned to Mecca, his hometown, with 10,000 soldiers, many of whom were eagerly awaiting their opportunity to avenge their previous persecutions. However, to the surprise of the Meccans, Muhammad had forgiven his most bitter enemies and granted a general amnesty.
Now is the time to revisit such forgiving platforms for all observing these recent incidents. Now is the time for conference, not confrontation; dialogue instead of debate; for engaging rather than enraging. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, from its international headquarters to Lake County recognizes the need for understanding and is prepared to support efforts towards tolerance and respect.
Again, we congratulate the American media for the responsible manner with which they have handled this hurtful incident.
Love For All, Hatred For None.
[Editor's note: this piece was initially submitted by Anees Ahmad as a Letter to the Editor.]
This column “Sensitivity Toward All Religions” by Sardar Anees Ahmad is a form column and propaganda. You can find the same letter attributed to Hasan Hakeem of the “Ahmadiyya Muslim Community – Lake County, Illinois” at http://www.freemarketnews.com/Analysis/158/3747/2006-02-10.asp?nid=3747&fb=1&wid=158&ntyp=E
and furthermore appeared in my local paper under yet another name.
The Muslim community has organized an attempt to force feed us censorship in the name of sensitivity. This is not a sensitivity issue, it is a submission issue. As has been pointed out repeatedly over the last few weeks, I don’t recall this outrage over “Piss Christ” or “Elephant Dung Mary” or the too numerous to name cartoons of evil Jews as depicted by Muslim cartoonists. Freedom of speech extends to speech that you disagree with and find offensive. If you only have freedom to talk about what the government wants you to talk about, then you don’t have freedom at all.
I also find it to be interesting that there are numerous examples of Muslim outrage over what are in fact fairly innocuous cartoons, but very little Muslim outrage over fellow Muslims committing murder and mayhem in the name of these cartoons.
Actions speak louder than words. Until Islam can show that they are in fact a religion of peace, rather than simply mouthing the words between riots and suicide bombings, then Muslim op/ed writers need to avoid discussing tolerance in others. It’s just a touch hypocritical.
Addendum to my previous comment:
This article is also attributed to “Naseer Tahir” in the Tulsa World on Sunday February 26th.
IC invites Mr. Ahmad to respond to the allegation by Mr. McGill regarding the authorship of this piece.
Andrew Alexander
IC Co-Editor
Seems like more typical CAIR propaganda. The one thing muslims are good at is sterotypical lawyering and word smithing. Phrases like: “We won’t kill you or riot…” with the caveat “today” are left out and spewed by their rabble rousing leaders. Its sad and informative to see this on this but at least this site allows the reader to put in his or her two cents worth for others to read. If only other online pubs did this. The muslim world is a barbaric and all but useless entity that is an anchor on civilized humanity. Everywhere islam flourishes there is wanton violence and bloodshed along with general backwardsness and malaise dragging back the progress of western populations. Unfortunately its bloody tentacles will spread from the ME, throughout Europe and the Pacific Rim to America, both North, Central and South. It has proven its ability much like the lure of communism and socialism to attract the weak minded, lazy and destructive peoples among us. Unfortunately most of central and south america’s citizens fit that bill.
It is apparent that not only the content of the article’s truth is in question but also it’s authenticity.
The author(whomever they are) states that some have disguised their prejudice as freedom of speech. They then go on to say ” it behooves us to understand and respect our neighbors, if we seek to live with them in peace and harmony.” The word “if” should be your clue as to whom is decieving whom. The Koran states that jihad is the central duty of every Muslim. No if’s, ands, or buts.
Where exactly are the “moderate” Muslims? Don’t all raise your hands at once….
“When they came for the gypsies, I did not speak, for I am not a gypsy. When they came for the Jews, I did not speak, because I wasn’t a Jew. When they came for the Catholics, I did not speak, for I am not a Catholic. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak.” – On the Wall at the Holocaust Museum in Washington
So, where has this guy been? He doesn’t speak out until “they come” for him? Guess what. It’s too late.
One more thing. Any westerner who still thinks Islam is “a religion of peace” and believes that Mohammed was living in peace until attacked by “enemies” needs to read Andrew Bostom’s research on the history of Islam, jihad, and dhimmihood here http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=4467 , here http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=4470 , and especially here http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=4999 “The Legacy of Jihad in Historical Palestine (Part I)”, and here http://www.americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5003&search=bostom “The Legacy of Jihad in Historical Palestine (Part II)”
Every single member of the American Media should absolutely cringe at this statement near the end of the article:
“Again, we congratulate the American media for the responsible manner with which they have handled this hurtful incident.”
Congratulations, MSM, on your complete and total craven cowardice.
” The controversy surrounding the cartoon depiction of the Prophet Muhammad ( — ) is an eye-opening example of our need to better understand Islam.”
No, it is an eye opener for the need for muslims to better understand the Western world, where they should integrate into instead of trying to force it to adapt to Islam.
We already know a lot about Islam.
The cartoon incident only re-confirmed what we already know: muslims will be very violent towards us until we submit to Islam.
…
” …I congratulate the American media that are taking a stand against Islamophobia ”
It was not a stand against anything and you know it, it was the fear of violence from muslims.
The fear of violence is not a phobia, it is a natural survival instinct.
The fear of muslims rioting, burning your home or your work place to the ground, or the fear of having muslims treathning your family or killing you is not a phobia anymore than the fear of being eaten alive by sharks is
” sharkophobia “.
Wanting to stay alive is not a
a fear of death or
” deatophobia “.
I don’t want a muslim slashing my troath, doe that make me a
” slashtroathaphobic” ?
…
” …drawing a line between Muslims and terrorists who happen to identify themselves as Muslims.”
Not all mulims are terrorists, that is true, but hundreds of thousand of mulims – if not millions – are extremely violent rioters though…
You can lie trough your teeth and pretend otherwise but a very large proportion of muslims are violent, they may not be terrorists but they are very violent :
in England and Germany alone more than a hundred confirmed cases of ” honor killings ” …
How many Westerners kill their own daughters for religious “honor” principles?
How many Westerners have burned down Mosques?
And what about the millions of mulims that remain quiet about mulim violence?
No, they are not terrorist but they seem to approve the violence against non-muslims, if they disapproved of it, wouldn’t they protest?
Or are they afraid – just like us – of being killed by other muslims?
We know a lot of them are…
So if everyone is afraid of violent muslims – even non-violent muslims are afraid – isn’t there a problem with Islam?
Isn’t there a big violence problem with Islam?
…
“…and as world citizens, it behooves us to understand and respect our neighbors, if we seek to live with them in peace and harmony.”
WOW! You are kidding right?
You are lecturing us about living in peace in harmony???!!!
Is it Westerners that are walking around with signs that say :
” behead those who disrespect Christianity” or
” Islam your Holocaust is coming” ?
You are living in an imaginary world!
Snap out of it!
…
“…it behooves us to understand and respect our neighbors”
Oh yeah? And when will muslims understand and respect the fact that their neighbours are not muslims and don’t have to submit to Islam?
When will muslims start respecting our ways instead of demanding we change them to their liking?
And when will muslim tolerate christians in muslims countries?
And when will it stop being a crime in Saudi Arabia to carry a bible?
The day you tell your own people to stop their violence we will listen to you.
Until then we have nothing to learn from people of the most violent religion on the planet.
Stop being condescending to us, you are very dishonnest and hypocritical.
Stop insulting us.
How about this:
a Muslim demonstrator in Toronto:
‘’We won’t stop the protests until the world obeys Islamic law.’’
What we need is debate and study over “westernphobia” in order to promote awareness of the muslim inability to understand the concept of civilized (non violent) discourse on disagreeable ideas and subjects, ideas like: true equality for women and religious minorities, personal responsibility, self reliance, not self pity or victimhood, coping people with people of non muslim faiths, etc. Ideas that muslims seem to have a tough time dealing with. Maybe :) Dr Phil could have some Muslims on and ask them why they cannot seem to cope peacefully with those concepts.
A little additional information on this article
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phillyblocks/message/5846
in which a certain “Naser” states:
I just came across this email from esteemed brother, Amjad Khan. Congratulations goes to brother Sardar Anees Ahmad, who managed to get this article into the Anchorage (Alaska)Press.
It’s not too late to do this in your home states – let’s email it to as many newspapers as we can. Just coordinate so that you don’t have several people sending the same article with different names.
We really need to capitalize on these opportunities to get the message out with exposure to Ahmadiyyat. We don’t know how much time is left. (Last night my wife had a frightening dream in which a person said to her, “Qiyaamat is very near.”) Let’s not waste our opportunities.
WS,
Naser
Note the last sentence of the second paragraph.
“Just coordinate so that you don’t have several people sending the same article with different names.”
I wonder how many times this article has been printed in different papers by different “authors?” If we give Google a few days to index things, I believe that we’ll find that this exact same letter has gone out to dozens, if not hundreds, of newspapers and is attributed to dozens, if not hundreds, of authors.
Hint to Muslim Webbies. If you’re going to try to pull off a scammed letter writing campaign, don’t write about it on a message board.
You’ve been Google-Fu’d. Asshats.
A final comment on this matter. Mr. Ahmad’s group, the Ahmadiyya, are considered heretic by most Muslims. They are not allowed to undertake the Hajj, and are violently persecuted by the major Islamic sects, including Sunni and Shia.
I mean no disrespect towards Mr. Ahmad in this post, but even if he is perfectly sincere in his feelings regarding all religion, and that no religious figure from any religion should be persecuted, and if you furthermore ignore the letterwriting campaign and the unsubtle hints toward sharia, unfortunately he belongs to a group of Muslims that are generally despised by other Muslims, so therefore he is not speaking for the religion as a whole, but only for his group, which has been declared heretic.
More information can be found here::
http://www.janes.com/regional_news/africa_middle_east/news/jiaa/jiaa060131_1_n.shtml
Here is an abridged version of the letter by Jalaluddin Latif: http://www.newsobserver.com/690/story/401856.html
Mr. Ahmad has responded with the following comment:
To Whom it May Concern:
The article was written by Hasan Hakeem. This is absolutely correct. We tried to send it out to as many papers as possible.
Very dissapointed with the lack of knowledge on Islam though. I guess Christ was right, “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet” (Matthew 7:6)
Anees Ahmad
So Mr. Ahmad’s thought out, balanced and peace loving response is that we are dogs and pigs for pointing out that he is a plagiarist and part of an organized propaganda campaign that is attempting to displace constitutional freedoms with sharia law.
Mr. Ahmad, before he went into his snit, said that “Freedom should never be taken as an excuse to exploit the sensitivity of others, especially in matters of faith.” To this I would respond that he’s got it backwards. That in fact faith should never be taken as an excuse to exploit freedoms.
With regard to the pigs and dogs crack, I would respond “neener, neener, neener, pbbbbbth!”
I’m sensitive to scary muslims. But what about my feelings. I was really hurt to see the image of colonel Sanders (Mr. Kentucky Fried Chicken) going up in flames in Pakistan. Burning flags were used to, but for God’s sake don’t mess with our icons!
“… the march of resistance will continue until the Islamic flag is raised, not only on the minarets of Jerusalem, but over the whole universe…” – Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar, January 13, 2005
…
“We have ruled the world before, and by Allah, the day will come when we will rule the entire world again. The day will come when we will rule America. The day will come when we will rule Britain and the entire world…” Sheik Ibrahim Mudeiris, May 13, 2005
…
“Bin Laden our beloved, Denmark must be blown up,” protestors in Ramallah shouted, Associated Press reported Feb 3 2006.
…
“In order to establish its dominion over the Earth, Islam will threaten, blow things up, burn, pillage and murder everyone who gets in its way — including its own people.
[...] the Muslim prophet Muhammad (from the Koran) tells them to do it, when he commands:
“Therefore when ye meet the unbelievers’ in fight, smite them at their necks (047.004)”
and
“We would surely have punished those who disbelieved from among them with a painful punishment (048.25).”
(Taken from renewamerica.us Feb 5 2006.)
…
Mullah Dadullah, one of the Taleban’s most senior military commanders, said his Islamic militant group had also offered a reward of 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of gold to anyone who killed people responsible for the drawings.
( FrontPageMag Feb 11 2006)
…
Mohammed Yousaf Qureshi, prayer leader at the historic Mohabat Khan mosque in Peshawar, announced he would give a 1.5 million rupee ($25,000 US) reward and a car for killing the cartoonist of the prophet pictures that appeared first in a Danish newspaper, The Associated Press reported. ( Feb 17 2006 )
…
“Indian female tennis player Sania Mirza, 19, who is ranked 39th in the world, announced that she would not play with Israeli up and coming tennis star Shahar Pe’er in the doubles tournament of the Bangalore Open for fear of violent protests by India’s Islamic community.
[...] Mirza, a sports hero in her country, was recently chastised by Muslim groups in India for wearing a sleeveless top and a mini-skirt during her matches. Local Muslim groups claimed that her attire degrades Islam, and some even threatened to kill her.”
Ynetnews Feb 17 2006.
…
And a little Ann Coulter on the cartoon riots to top it off:
“In order to express their displeasure with the idea that Muslims are violent, thousands of Muslims around the world engaged in rioting,
arson,
mob savagery,
flag-burning,
murder and
mayhem,
among other peaceful acts of nonviolence.”
…
And that is the truth about Islam.
Pardon me, I believe you meant to post this on MoveOn.org. Those delusional idiots will swallow this steaming pile of camel crap in one gulp.
Mr. Ahmad’s disappointment is undoubtedly due more to our KNOWLEDGE of Islam than to the lack of it. And since he likes to impress us by HIS knowledge of the Bible by quoting Mathew 7:6, perhaps he could read a little further to Mathew 7:16 which states “by their fruits shall you know them.” Here are only some of the fruits of Islam, as observed by President John Quincy Adams, that have not changed in over 1400 years:
“THE ESSENCE OF THIS [Christian] DOCTRINE IS, TO EXALT THE SPIRITUAL OVER THE BRUTAL PART OF HIS [man’s] NATURE. (Adam’s capital letters) . . . THE ESSENCE OF HIS [Mahomet’s] DOCTRINE WAS VIOLENCE AND LUST: TO EXALT THE BRUTAL OVER THE SPIRITUAL PART OF HUMAN NATURE (Adam’s capital letters)….The precept of the Koran is, PERPETUAL WAR against all who deny, that Mahomet is the prophet of God. The vanquished may purchase their lives, by the payment of tribute; the victorious may be appeased by a FALSE and delusive promise of peace; and the faithful follower of the prophet, may submit to the imperious necessities of defeat: but the COMMAND TO PROPAGATE the Moslem creed BY THE SWORD is ALWAYS OBLIGATORY, when it can be made effective. The commands of the prophet may be performed alike, BY FRAUD, OR BY FORCE . . .
“And Adams captured the essential condition imposed upon the non-Muslim dhimmi ‘tributaries’ subjugated by jihad, with this laconic statement,
‘The vanquished may purchase their lives, by the payment of tribute.’ [what we would call a criminal ‘PROTECTION RACKET’]
Indeed, the famous Shafi’i jurist of Baghdad, al-Mawardi (d. 1058), highlights the most salient aspect of the consensus view of classical Islamic jurisprudence regarding the vanquished non-Muslims ‘tribute’, i.e., the jizya: the critical connection between jihad and payment of the jizya. He notes that ‘THE ENEMY MAKES A PAYMENT IN RETURN FOR PEACE AND RECONCILIATION.’ Al-Mawardi then distinguishes two cases: (I) Payment is made immediately and is treated like booty, however ‘it does, however, not prevent a jihad being carried out against them in the future.’. (II). Payment is made yearly and will ‘constitute an ongoing tribute by which their security is established.’ Reconciliation and security last as long as the payment is made. IF THE PAYMENT CEASES, THEN THE JIHAD RESUMES. A treaty of reconciliation may be renewable, but must not exceed 10 years. The nature of such ‘protection’, i.e., A BLOOD RANSOM, is reinforced in this definition of jizya written by E.W. Lane, based on a careful analysis of the etymology of the term:
‘The tax that is taken from the free non-Muslim subjects of a Muslim government whereby they ratify the compact that assures them protection, AS THOUGH IT WERE COMPENSATION FOR NOT BEING SLAIN.’” – Andrew G. Bostom, “John Quincy Adams Knew Jihad”
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=15201
While a case can be made that Christians were no less brutal in their crusades, the case cannot be made that conquest and blood ransom were ever part of Christian doctrine, as it is with Islam. To paint a picture of Islam being any more than a Mafia with a so-called holy book is the height of fraud, as Adams observed 200 years ago.
Why do we allow this (Muslim intolerance of the West) to continue? Have we lost our ability to stand up for ourselves?
We have lost it. We have allowed the present administration and the Congress to publish the photos of “torture” (if it was torture then we would have let the dogs bite them and allowed electrical current to flow through them…please a little humiliation is now torture, dear god what wussies we have become!) thus adding to the Muslim excuses for violence, continue to keep our troops in Iraq while there is a civil war going on there, and who knows what else!
If we are to fight this concept of intolerance that the Muslim world keeps trying to “explain” to us, then we first need to clean up our own house and “fire” all of the congress and the present administration and “hire” us some American folks who are not afraid to tell the Muslim world to piss off or else. We all know why Iran wants nukes! So it can tell us to piss off or else. I say do it to them before they do it to us because they have already said they would. 9/11 was enough to convince me they are serious, why hasn’t it convinced the rest of America or Europe for that matter?
Wake up America before it is too late, the Muslim world has declared jihad against us numerous times, let’s nuke them flat now and get it over with. Or if you’re opposed to nuclear weapons and the mess they make, then let’s start building more B1-B & B2 bombers and more 2000lbs bombs to help keep the Air Force employed; send more of these worthless violence loving Muslims back to the Stone Age or to Allah if they are not already there.
I also recommend keeping the land we conquer in the Middle East and use the oil in Iraq for American and not for any Muslim who declares jihad against us or allows it to be said for that matter. Enough is enough! Thanks for listening to my little tantrum.
I am not sure I understand your point Mike. You seem to be so excited about unearthing a letter campaign. Isn’t that what most Americans do when they want to protest an issue? So what if there is a concerted letter writing campaign organized by a group of Americans? Isn’t that what it’s all about? As long as they’re peacefully protesting an issue that’s dear to them, all the blessings to them. Further, if the original author of the letter is not complaining about others using his/her letter, why are you? Take it easy & focus on the real issues at hand…jeez!
Julian,
Read the letter. Pay attention to what it says. Put it into context with the current sociopolitical situation, and finally note that the (thin) veneer of politeness and all the “Love For All, Hatred For None” (his quote) stuff turns into “You are all dogs and pigs” (paraphrase from comment #14) as soon as you question the motive behind the letter.
This is nothing other than another facet of the “real issue.” I’d be interested in what you perceive the issue to be though. So, Julian, what is the real issue? Enlighten me. Before you do, go look up dhimmitude at Wikipedia, because that is what Mr. Ahmad is hinting at.
Hey Mike,
I’m so glad you’ve given me an opportunity to address the “real issue” since your claim of an organized letter campaign seems to have lost traction as the sinister “undercover” plot you thought you were exposing.
And “no”, the real issue here is not “dhimmitude” if that’s even a word. Tributes were levied as authorized by Y-weh in the Old Testament as well. It was a tax for protection and public services for non-believing citizens. See I Kings 9:20 to 22; II Chron 8:8; and Josh 16:10. So before you start attacking Muslims for this tax for non-Muslims or “dhimmis”, you need to justify it first from the Holy Bible. There are always suspicions, prejudisms, and/or phobias related to organized minorities living under the government of another dominant group. However, you shouldn’t take your fears of people & attribute it to the masses – that’s weak intellect and McCartheism – which you seem to be reviving.
The real issue here is that there is a group of American Muslims who are offended by the cartoon caricatures of their prophet and they are engaging in a letter writing campaign to appeal to other Americans to understand that this is a sensitive issue to them. They are educating us. Is that so wrong? No, they are not parading through the streets, burning effigies, nor chanting “death to America” slogans like some crude Muslim thugs I’ve seen – yet all you can say is that they are not “real” Muslims. Not only are they defending their own prophet but they despise such offenses to all Holy Men of God. Is that so wrong? On top of that they are making a declaration of “Love for all & hatred for none”. Is that so wrong? I wish you would stop telling them what their religion is…let them speak for themselves and put to sleep the conspiracy complex you’re dreaming of. You don’t know their motives so give the accusing jabberjaw a time out.
Now the point about him referring to you as a pig or a dog…well…look at your conduct (yes, these are the “fruits” Rabbi Jesus spoke of) and judge for yourself. I’m hoping that you choose to stop insulting us, and understand you’re doing exactly what the terrorists want…to show Muslims that Americans are the hateful, accusing, ignorant aggressors (especially when they can hide behind computer screens in your case) they’ve painted us to be. Thanks for falling right into their trap ;o)
Julian,
1. Mr. Ahamad took credit for a letter he didn’t write. That’s plagiarism, pure and simple, no matter how you try to spin it.
2. He is part of a group of people that sent this letter to many different publications under many different names, and coordinated the effort so that they wouldn’t get caught submitting the same article and attributing it to multiple people. That is a scam, no matter how you try to massage it.
3. Nowhere in the Koran does it say that drawings of Mohammed are prohibited and in fact there is a long history of muslims drawing pictures of Mohammed that goes back to the time of Mohammed and continues to this day.
4. Even if the Koran did say that you can’t draw pictures of Mohammed, the first amendment of the US Constitution trumps the Koran, at least for now.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; etc…
5. I have provided links to statements I have made, and I stand by the statement that the Ahmadiyya are considered heretic by both the Shia and Sunni. I didn’t say they weren’t real Muslims. The Sunni and Shia say that. I just pointed out that they could hardly be considered a voice for mainstream Islam. It’s really no different than a Jehovah’s Witness claiming to speak for the Catholic Church.
6. The letter is hogwash. It’s not the only letter of the type to have gone out over the last couple of weeks. It’s one letter of a public opinion massaging campaign to try to shift blame for the outrages committed by followers of Islam all over the globe in the last couple of weeks. If you insult Buddha, East Asia doesn’t go up in flames. Insult Jesus, and the Pope won’t issue a fatwa on you and all your generations. Draw a picture of Mohammed and the Muslims commence murder and mayhem that goes on for weeks. Write a book or make a movie that Muslims don’t like, and the Ayatollas, or Imams, or Mullahs, or whoever put a hit out on you. Don’t try to force feed me the moral equivalency argument that the Bible says this or that as well, because Christians don’t go on multi-continent rampages of death and destruction. They don’t slit your throat and leave you to choke on your own blood for making “The Last Passion of the Christ” or “Piss Christ.” Don’t even try the “Yeah, but what about the Conquistadores” argument or any variation thereof. This isn’t history we are talking about. This is current events.
This letter, while it is couched in polite terms, is simply stating that we should conform to Sharia in this matter. Of course it’s just a littly-bitty step and what would it hurt, right? We’re just being sensitive right? Once you take this step, there’ll be another, and then another. Don’t believe for a second that this is the beginning or the end of the matter. You say they were only educating us by pointing out that these cartoons are a sensitive issue to Muslims. No kidding… I already kind of got that.
You point to my conduct at this blog. Other than systematically pointing out that Mr. Ahmad was full of crap, I was fairly polite about it, with the exception of the use of the term “Asshats.”
You accuse me of “hiding behind my computer screen.” As do we all. Me, you, Ahmad…all of us. As far as it goes, I at least showed the brass to use a full name. So did Mr. Ahmad. I don’t see your last name anywhere on here.
As a complete side issue, though you brought it up, whether you want to believe it or not, McCarthy was right. documents that have been declassified since the fall of the Soviet Union vindicate Ole Joe nearly 100%, so you can accuse me of McCarthyism all day long.
Finally, your last paragraph is absolutely ludicrous. You’re hoping that I “choose to stop insulting ‘us.’” Who the hell is ‘us?’ You say that I’m doing exactly what the terrorists want… show(ing) Muslims that Americans are the hateful, accusing, ignorant aggressors (insert gratuitous insult here) they’ve painted us to be.
When exactly was it that the Religion of Peace ptrumped us on being aggressors? When they invaded Europe a thousand years ago to try to convert it by the sword? That’s history you say? OK. We’ll stick with current events. We’ve been fighting a defensive fight against Islam for three decades. They’ve been killing us with impunity since the 1970′s. It’s about time that we got belligerent and aggressive. They’ve been belligerent and aggressive for millennia. Remember September 11th 2001? Huh? Ring any bells? Who committed the act of aggression then? Or Khobar Towers, or our embassies in Africa, or the Cole, or the Marine Barracks, or Munich, or Mindanao, or you name it. There are literally thousands of examples from just the last thirty years. The Israelis get “exampled” multiple times a day, every day.
Quit worrying so much about their damned feelings.
Mike,
I really can’t afford to waste much more time talking to you so I’ll have to ignore you after this:
1) Mr. Ahmad sent a letter that was part of a campaign where they consciously sent out a form letter to get their point across the US – that’s NOT plagiarism. Plagiarism is literary “theft” (btw, any other basic words you’re not aware of might be satisfied by consulting your friendly dictionary), but to reiterate your point, let’s focus on the “real” issue.
2) Once again…irrelevant point…they organized this so that there wouldn’t be confusion of having multiple authors in local areas, but then again, I know you want to focus on the “real” issue.
3) Irrelevant point…it’s still offensive in their opinion. Focus on the “real” issue.
4) Irrelevant point…they’re not stating it’s illegal, but only offensive to them. Focus on the “real” issue Mike.
5) Irrelevant point…they openly identified who they are and they do share the same sentiment with ALL Muslims across the globe – they simply chose to peacefully protest with this form letter…uh Mike, “real” issue addressed anywhere…any day now?
6) ALL irrelevant points…nice try though. Once again (broken record), focus on the “real” issue.
My condolences Mike, you’ve proved yourself a failed bigot. In all seriousness though, it was a nice try…keep up the good work…
Julian,
It didn’t take you long to get into the name calling either did it? At least you didn’t call me a Nazi. I’d have to invoke Godwin’s Law at that point.
So your response is to put your hands over your ears and shout “I’m not listening to you, blah, blah, blah, blah…bigot.” You say that my points are irrelevant. Not at all. They, each and every one, are directly relevant to the subject at hand. You need to troll back on over to MoveOn or Kos or wherever you came from. They’ll buy your moral equivalence crap and sensitivity garbage over there. Troll.
Mike,
In all fairness to Julian, you have been seriously outclassed.
It’s time you withdrew from this one, and stopped wasting our time.
At least, your puerile arguments do justice to your ignorance.
p.s. There’s only one thing worse than a loser….it’s a loser who thinks he’s winning.
Marty,
You got anything specific, or did you just want to talk trash? I’ve got a pretty solid case here. I’ve included links where I can, and cross-referenced my claims. Where have I wasted your time? Julians entire argument is based on multi-culti “sensitivity.” What’ve you got?
You’d have to be a fool (and you may well be one) to believe that we aren’t in the midst of a clash of civilizations.
No matter what the tone of the letter happened to be, the intended result was to say that in some small way all the rage and violence is at least partially justified because these simple line drawings are oh so offensive. Sorry, I call BS on that. It’s a diversion.
Instead of talking trash, why don’t you try to refute some of my points? What have I said that is factually incorrect?
To Mike’s defense in this matter, Julian needs to “read” the letter. In the second paragraph of the letter, there is an accusation that freedom is taken “as an excuse to exploit the sensitivity of others”. What am I missing here? The cartoons’ original publishing had nothing to do with exploiting anyone’s sensitivities. The newspaper published the cartoons when a Danish author complained that he could find no-one to illustrate his book about Muhammad. Jyllands-Posten wondered whether there were more cases of self-censorship regarding Islam in Denmark and asked twelve illustrators to draw the prophet for them. Carsten Juste, the paper’s editor, said the cartoons were a test of whether the threat of Islamic terrorism had limited the freedom of expression in Denmark. I guess he proved his point.
This does not reflect the author’s persistence in his accusation that the cartoons were published as a prejudice under the guise of freedom of speech, saying that “responsible media challenge us to seek the facts in order to respect the sensitivities of all religions. These principles have nourished our Nation to be the superpower it is today”. Whitewash. In my humble opinion, the freedom to question and speak our mind is what truly sets us apart in our strength.
The author then goes on to congratulate the American media for taking a stance against Islamophobia, which Julian has essentially accused Mike of more of the same. In the view of many Americans, myself included, the U.S. MSM’s decision to avoid the controversy shows nothing more than pusillanimity. Whitewash again.
Julian says that the letter campaign was assembled to appeal to American’s that this is a sensitive issue to them. In my view the letter campaign was assembled to reproach rather than appeal. Whitewash upon whitewash.
For future reference for lurkers:
From Dictionary.com
plagiarism
n 1: a piece of writing that has been copied from someone else and is presented as being your own work 2: the act of plagiarizing; taking someone’s words or ideas as if they were your own.
I repeat. Mr. Ahmad is a plagiarist.
Good post Rainwolf.
I suspect that Marty and Julian are one and the same. The writing style and use of punctuation is almost identical.
I also suspect that Julian / Marty is Muslim. In addition to the old “Methinks they doth protesteth too much” there is certainly a defense of Jizya and Dhimmitude in an earlier post and when talking about Muslims, he/she also slipped from 3rd person to 1st person when he/she stated “I’m hoping that you choose to stop insulting us.”
That’s all just speculation though.
Im not comfortable with Islam & I do feel there is a clash of civilizations. If Ilsam is to be defeated it cannot be on teachings taken out of context and fear. I feel that is what is happening here. My stroner fear is that this is going to stir more interest in Islam and people will begin to see the apologetic side to it. I’m wiht the majority of u in this discussion, but I would caution against all the speculation. It takes away crediblity. Why set urslf up as someone who chases conjecture? I cannot say if Marty or Julian are Moslems or if they are the same person bc they use the same punctuation/grammar – so i am not going to spend much time stating things for which I ahve no proof bc it could backfire my purpose.
I will start off by saying that I wish that the cartoons hadn’t been printed. I wish the pictures of the “Piss Christ” weren’t shown either. I think it’s in bad taste to mock someone else’s religion or religious figure. HOWEVER, living in free societies, the editors, artists, etc. have the right to publish or create things that are offensive. With the good, you have to tolerate a little of the bad. Considering the depiction of Jews and Christians in the arab press, I find the hypocrisy a bit odd. That’s not even considering the laws in those countries regarding non-muslims. And yet WE are supposed to be sensitive and accomodating to those of the muslim faith? How about a little reciprocation here?
What I find ironic is that the pictures were run in the Danish paper in, what, September or October? There was no outcry. No one even seemed to notice. The problems started when some clerics started shopping the cartoons around in M.E. countries. Only then did we see all the violence. Why aren’t there any repercussions for those clerics?
As a side note…
“Freedom should never be taken as an excuse to exploit the sensitivity of others, especially in matters of faith. Those images of the Prophet were insulting and forbidden in Islam.”
I’m not a muslim, so what’s forbidden in Islam has no relevance to me. We are not in an Islamic state, so muslim laws aren’t even an issue. Saying that it’s against the Koran or Islamic tradition is like saying that it’s against the Intergalactic Confederacy Laws. They don’t apply to me and I don’t care.
As for the media… If a newspaper doesn’t show other offensive material I’m with them on not showing the Danish cartoons. For the ones who showed things like the dung virgin mary and the piss christ stuff and then refused to run the cartoons out of “sensitivity” (the NY Times comes to mind) I have nothing but disdain. At the very least they could have said “Well, we aren’t printing the pictures because we have correspondents in arab countries and if we print them we are afraid they will be in danger”. ANYthing except this lame sensitivity thing that seems only to apply to muslims.
About “moderate muslims” and their silence on the extremists “hijacking” their religion (if indeed they did)… If I’m this moderate muslim, what benefit is it for me to speak out? I and my family get targeted by fanatics, that’s what. However, if I keep my mouth shut I find myself in a win-win situation. If the fanatics lose, I can just tell everyone “That wasn’t me. I’m with the Religion of Peace and those crazies have nothing to do with me or my religion.” Or, if the fanatics win, I get to live under the laws of my religion which is what I want anyway. (“Hey, you can’t kill me, I’m a muslim like you.”) When I find out that my rights and privileges get severely curtailed as a result of shari’a, I might have second thoughts.
What the writer of this piece (whomever that may be) is hinting at is appeasement. This is unacceptable. To paraphrase what someone else already wrote, if we submit here, we’ll be asked to submit about something else. It won’t end. It never does. The people asking for appeasement are actually to be feared more than the bomb-throwers. More to the point, the biggest weapon of Islam isn’t a bomb, but immigration laws. It seems that, in Europe especially, there are more and more muslim immigrants. You get a muslim majority in a European country and they can gradually vote in laws that we in the west currently find abhorrent. Is this overly simplistic? I don’t know. Is this some sort of master plan of Islam? Doubt it. It just looks like a natural progression to me.
One last rant. Yes, our free societies have problems. We have sex shown everywhere and moral principles are lacking in many places. The Islamic world has a point there. HOWEVER, it is OUR society and we, as individuals have the right to ignore or even try to change things that aren’t good or right and we can do it peacefully. This is not so in the arab countries that denounce us. They don’t make changes without bloodshed. I’m not sure they even know how. Is that the kind of country I want to live and raise a family in? I don’t think so.
Mike McGill, I think you did an excellent job ( re:comment #24)
You use logic and facts and you are honnest,
but Julian on the other hand uses distortions of facts and “feelings” arguments, and what kind of argument is
” irrelevant” ?
Sadly people like Julian – no matter how many times you show it to them, no matter how many times you prove it to them , no matter how many links you provide – will keep refusing to see what is there in front of their eyes.
…
And to anyone against the cartoon publication,
We should understand that those cartoons have hurt muslims?
Oh yeah?
And how should we feel when muslims burn down our embassies and our Catholic churches, not to mention when they behead innocents?
Ever since 9/11, we have witnessed so much hypocrisy from muslims that it must be some kind of world record that should be in the Guinness book of world records.
Some call it the religion of peace,
and some call it the religion of pieces…
Well I call it the religion of hypocrisy.
Assalamoalaikaum and hello to all,
I haven’t checked this page in a while but there’s a good amount of responses (mostly negative, lol) to my piece. To Julian, I appreciate your support and would like to discuss with you further if you would like
To those who were offended/disagreed with what was in the piece, you are also most welcome to email me. I really would like to establish some sort of dialogue with you
wasalaam
Anees Ahmad
indian nuclear test…
Brain scans of those with the condition show that they place excessive reliance on the region of the brain that analyses images……..