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November 02, 2003SAUDI MORALS Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, in his recent, and now infamous, leaked memo, pointed out that we are engaged, not only in a shooting war, but also in a war of ideas. In such a war, clarity is important. We are not in a war against terrorism. Terrorism is a tactic; we are fighting a war against totalitarian Islam, a worthy heir to twentieth century totalitarian ideologies like Nazism and Communism. Arab-American author Joseph Farah points out the sickening consequences of a utopian insistence that Islam means peace. After noting President Bush's welcoming White House Ramadan message to Muslim clerics, Farah comments: "Saudi Arabia doesn't welcome other faiths. It persecutes them. Sudan doesn't tolerate other faiths. It persecutes them. Iran doesn't honor other faiths. It persecutes them. Even Egypt doesn't value other faiths. It persecutes them – along with many other Muslim countries. So why do we pussyfoot around with Islam? Let's at least agree that Islam, where practiced as the official religion, is as intolerant of Christians and Jews and others as any ideology or dogma on the face of the earth. After more than a year the Ministry of Commerce sent us a letter which stated that a year before — this shows the dynamism of the ministry — the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice had objected to the brand name and therefore the ministry refused to register it. You see, the name of the product is Explorer, which is a direct translation of the Arabic name. The learned scholars of the commission rightly noted that the letter X in the name was a cross, and this aroused their delicate Islamic sensibilities and they banned the registration. I am greatly relieved that thanks to the vigilance of the commission a great tragedy was avoided. Until then I had innocently and, I must admit, naively assumed that the letter X was just that, a letter of the alphabet, not as it turns out a cunning and dastardly plot by Christians to corrupt our Muslim faith..."
Posted at 07:26 PM by
 
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I am sure it must occur to many non-Muslims that there is, shall we say, a disconnect between those who would view Islam as a religion of peace and those who would cite it as justification for war.
In the aftermath of 9/11, it seemed almost a certainty that the overwhelming majority of Muslims, appalled by what had been done in their name, would wish to distance themselves from those who had perpetrated this attack. It seemed reasonable to assume that Islamic clerics everywhere, but especially those here in the States who knew first-hand the true nature of the 'infidel' that bin Laden so hated, would surely speak out against him. Alas, that turned out to be a forlorn hope, and remains so to this day.
To this point, criticism of Muslims has been muted and directed primarily towards those who have 'hijacked' the religion for their own evil purpose. But it seems only a matter of time before non-Muslims become more and more frustrated and critical of what seems an abrogation of Islamic responsibility to reign in their own.
Posted by: Bernard on November 5, 2003 10:40 PM