One of my anonymous respondents properly challenged me to say something about yesterday's attack on a Muslim cab driver in New York. The victim received stab wounds, and a man has been charged with attempted murder. The incident merits a response since I have been writing about the mosque issue and taking the side of the protesters.
First of all, the attack must be condemned. I have written a few such articles before condemning any acts of violence directed toward Muslims or Muslim sites. This is hardly the first time I have stated that such acts are wrong.
Having said that, I don't feel it paints the protesters who have turned out at Ground Zero to protest the proposed mosque. That is legitimate protest. What happened to the unfortunate cabbie happened apart from any mosque protest.
I don't deny or doubt that many in America have come to hate Muslims in recent years. To do so is wrong. Most Muslims in America are simply trying to get along as best they can and have no desire to engage in Jihad, depending how you define that term. In a sense, I suspect that many of them have been victims of the militant forces that seek to control thought and speech within that community.
The incident in New York reminds us that no matter our feelings about terrorism, Jihadists, shariah and all that, there is no reason to direct anger toward the innocent. We can stand up to the Islamists and those who want to impose Islam as a political ideology on the rest of us without resorting to violence or acts of hatred. The Islamists and the news media are itching to jump all over stories like this in an effort to discredit anyone who speaks out about the undeniable evils that are being committed in the name of Islam, Allah, Jihad or whatever you call it.
Good article Gary. I would expect you to condemn the stabbing of the cab driver, and you did.
ReplyDeleteYou are also correct that the protesters at the site of Cordoba House are not guilty by association one step removed of the stabbing of the cab driver. The man who did the stabbing is guilty. (The man accused of the stabbing is entitled to presumption of innocence.)
There are some violent elements among the protesters. This is demonstrated by the idiots who were going to beat up the two Coptic protesters, overheard talking in Arabic. You would have known better. I might have too - I don't know Arabic, but I did have a Coptic passenger once when I drive a paratransit bus.