Comments on: Everybody Chill! Islam Does Not = Extremism…

By: AKjah

AKjah — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:05:32 +0000

When this story broke i immediately thought of you Leah. This is not something to take lightly.
I doubt that i will believe the armys discription of what happened. I am very scared for those in the Islamic communities across the US. I do not follow a religion. But those that do should not be hurt by media hype.My heart goes out to all.

By: leahburton

leahburton — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:37:05 +0000

Very scary! And you are right, there is no difference. That is what I was trying to point out – that there are extremists in both religions. This is why I constantly say that I am not anti-Christian…I am anti-extremist! And I fear for the safety of innocent Muslims when something like this occurs. The level of ignorance in some fringes of our country don't understand anything about other faiths, and buy into the dangerous rhetoric that all Muslims are evil.

Wouldn't it be great if we could sequester the extremists on both sides and let them battle it out with each other where none of the rest of us would get caught in the crossfire?

By: KaJo

KaJo — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:33:15 +0000

Leah, I was reading the story on HuffPo written by Kamran Pasha, a filmmaker who interviewed "Richard", a Muslim soldier at Ft. Hood TX who knew the shooter Nidal Hasan.

About a third of the way down the online story, Pasha writes of Nidal Hasan's political views, and Hasan's association with a mullah who's "been accused by the Congressional Joint Inquiry on 9/11 of serving as a 'spiritual advisor' to two of the September 11 hijackers" — the Yemeni scholar Anwar Al-Awlaki.

This part of Pasha's article struck me, as to how much it reads like what we've seen of the dominionists you've written about, the right wing fundamentalists who have been tunneling their way into positions of power in our country:

"While Richard is careful to say that he respects much of Awlaki’s historical scholarship, he rejects his political ideology, which posits a black-and-white, us versus them, view of America’s relationship with the Islamic world.

Richard’s own study of Islam has revealed that such a harsh dualistic approach to religion is very much against the history of Islamic thought and practice. Indeed, debate is central to the Islamic tradition, and mainstream Muslims have always understood that true faith requires openness to nuance and subtlety."

"…this kind of subtlety is anathema to fundamentalists of any religion or ideology, who are incapable of seeing other points of view. And the backlash against my book by Muslim fundamentalists reveals the deep-seated fear that such people have of mainstream Muslims’ efforts to take back the discourse from those who cannot accept shades of grey in life and faith."

Scarily similar, eh?

By: majii

majii — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:55:49 +0000

Great comment, silverspirit 2001! What these individuals do is use the Koran and the Bible to promote their personal agendas.

By: fromthediagonal

fromthediagonal — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:52:09 +0000

OT, but not… there is a very thoughtful post on Frozen Justice which ties in with the expected spin by the military on the Ft. Hood shootings. The shooter, a psychologist, was born Palestinian and is a moslem. May logical thought processes prevail within those in the military who will handle this disaster.
Yes, something like this could become one of those horrific triggers you/we fear. May I be wrong.

By: leahburton

leahburton — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:51:08 +0000

OH! Let's do this together! I am soooo with YOU!! Thank you…thank you…

By: silverspirit2001

silverspirit2001 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:14:02 +0000

I am fed up of christian and muslim apologetics claiming that there religion is not evil. Just read your holy books people, to see what type of god you are following . How often do you see them standing up to the extreme fringes – never, because the holy books are not on their side. So you get people saying its apocryphal, and you need theology to discern the truth (putting power into the hands of priests and clerics – which the koran explicitly bans.) Please banish this mindless drivel back to the dawn of man.