I regularly receive announcements from Brigette Gabriel's organization, ACT for America, an organization which I support. Today I have received one I think merits being posted on this site.
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ACT! for America Denounces Koran Burning
A message from Brigitte Gabriel, President
and CEO of ACT! for America
Dear Gary,
We at ACT! for America denounce and condemn, in the strongest terms, the upcoming Koran burning event organized by Pastor Terry Jones and members of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida. Their proposed event is ill-conceived, counter-productive and unwelcome in a world where ideas and philosophies are best debated in the context of the issues and the facts. We find this an archaic act that serves no useful purpose, and as such is a regrettable instance of an inability or unwillingness to discuss the issues facing us in a reasonable and constructive manner.
ACT! for America is, and has always been, committed to exposing the threat of the political ideology of radical Islam and its sharia law through constructive debate, illumination of the facts, and a reasoned analysis of the implications of the threat.
Pastor Jones and his congregation are stooping to the tactics of and joining the inarticulate who express their anger and opposition through destructive and spiteful acts of denigration. What is the difference between his actions and the actions of Islamists destroying synagogues in Gaza or churches and Bibles in Lebanon, Bosnia and Egypt? We are better than that as Americans.
Always devoted,
Brigitte Gabriel
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I am gratified that ACT has stated this position. I have previously written about the planned Koran burning by Pastor Jones in Florida on September 11. I condemn it because it is a needlessly provocative act that will harm the feelings of all Muslims including the peaceful ones. Make no mistake, this act will be a YouTube moment in Muslim countries and foster the impression that Americans do not support freedom of religion.
While I am on the subject, there is also a planned protest at Ground Zero on September 11. That I do support. If it is like the previous one, it will be peaceful and responsible. The message should be, "you have the constitutional right to build the mosque, but it would be wrong at this location. Do it somewhere else".
Some on both sides will say there is a contradiction in my condemning one action while supporting the other. Not at all. It is one thing to demand some consideration for our sensitivities and warn the Islamists that we will not submit to becoming part of a world-wide caliphate under shariah law and quite another to burn some one's holy book. Pastor Jones should re-think his action. It would be a black eye for Christians.
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7 comments:
I did some reading-up recently on what Rauf said regarding Shariah law. Seems that folks like Sean Hannity are misquoting him (big surprise). According to Rauf, the United States IS Shariah compliant. Not that it SHOULD be or that he wants to MAKE it Shariah compliant. To him, it already is.
That kind of thing makes this statement:
we will not submit to becoming part of a world-wide caliphate under shariah law
kind of nonsensical considering that's hardly what the guy seems to be endorsing.
Well Lance, maybe Rauf knows something I don't, but if that's the case, we need to make America non-shariah compliant again.
Or maybe, as you've had pointed out to you time and time again, this word "shariah" seems to mean different things to different Muslims. Perhaps when Muslims talk of Shariah, our reaction shouldn't be an exclamation but rather a question. The question being, "What do you mean by that, exactly?"
The six principles of shariah:
1. The right to the protection of life.
2. The right to the protection of family.
3. The right to the protection of education.
4. The right to the protection of religion.
5. The right to the protection of property (access to resources).
6. The right to the protection of human dignity.
Read more here. Lance, I highly suggest reading that article, it's a great write up and a good debunking of the hysteria over "shariah law."
"Assuming all Muslims follow medieval Islamic rules today is like assuming that all Catholics follow 9th century canon law. Islam, like Christianity, has changed many times over the centuries, and it continues to change. Focusing only on the nutcases who advocate a return to medieval times is ignoring the vast majority of modern Muslims."
Anonymous,
Thanks for your comment. I took the time to read the article in Loonwatch (obviously a biased source, but I guess I am too.)
Do you think it is how one interprets those "rights to protect" this and that which leads to a lot of trouble?
The fact is that shariah is the legal arm of Islam as a political ideology and that is why we resist it. We value the separation of church and state even if the church would be Christian. Islam as a religion is one thing-as a political ideology another.
As to the peaceful passages in the Koran, yes they are there. However, perhaps you can address the theory of abrogation, which means that those passages written later in the Koran abrogate conflicting passages written earlier in time. Does that corresspond to the years when Mohammed became a warrior as opposed to preacher?
Once again, I affirm that most Muslims are peaceful, yet we cannot simply ignore world events. Bombs go off every day. Hateful rehetoric comes out of mosques every day. As we speak, a woman faces stoning in Iran-not by some back-country villagers, but by the government.
What we would like to see is more Muslims in America and the West standing up and taking on the haters and the Jihadists. A handful, like Zuhdi Jasser do. They are too few.
I definitely appreciate ACT's letter. It means they are reasonable people with a viewpoint I don't entirely share, rather than screaming maniacs bereft of reason. The distinction is an important one.
Gary, I've said much the same as Lance before. If what we ARE, what we love about America, is, in Rauf's view, MORE Shariah compliant than many nations in the Organization of the Islamic Conference, that says a great deal that is positive about America, about our way of governing, and about Rauf, which you are totally missing. Also, it is a stick in the eye to the OIC and the way it throws its weight around. You know, take the beam out of your own eye before you complain about the mote in ours?
To burn anyone's holy book is a moral wrong. Just as building a Mosque at or near Ground Zero is a moral wrong.
Jesus (from what I've read.) was a Man of Peace. His followers should be the same. This one is not and should not be called a Christian for this very reason.
L'shanah tovah tikatev v'taihatem.
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