A "man of peace"
If you have ever listened to Faisal Abdul Rauf speak (as I have ), he can easily charm you to death with his soft manner and words of peace. Interviewer Michael Coren didn't let him get away with it in this Sun TV interview (Hat tip Jihad Watch). After challenging Rauf, Coren brought in Robert Spencer, who easily refuted Rauf's message.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2012/07/michael-coren-exposes-ground-zero-mosque-imam-rauf-robert-spencer-gives-postgame-analysis.html
One point that is significant in this interview; Rauf's theme is that all three religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) must join together to counter their "extremists". Coren immediately pounces on Rauf and challenges him to identify the Christian and Jewish extremists. Rauf has no credible answer to that. How can you compare some military officer who calls a religion "evil' or a pastor who burns a Koran with those that actually call for death to others, let along carry out those killings? Which Jewish or Christian groups compare to al Qaeda, or Hamas, or Hezbollah? Where in the world are Muslims being subjected to the horrific treatment they are doling out to religious minorities in countries like Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan and on and on? Where are mosques being bombed or burned down? The "extremists" that Rauf is talking about are those who speak out about what is actually happening in the world. That is not extremism. That is not hate.
Keep in mind that Rauf defends Sharia as being in line with the US Constitution. I personally heard him say that at UCLA. It brought laughter from an audience that was overwhelmingly favorable to him. He says it with a straight face ignoring the obvious contradictions when it comes to women, gays, apostates, and freedom of speech-to say nothing about freedom of religion.
In many ways, people like Rauf are more insidious than the Yusuf al Qaradawis of the world. With Qaradawi, you know he hates Jews and Christians because he says it. He talks openly about dying a martyr's death in battle against the infidels. He justifies the Holocaust as God's punishment against the Jews. In a sense, I wish Qaradawi could make his college tour in the US and tell all those college kids what he thinks. Wouldn't that wake up a lot of slumbering folks?
But Qaradawi is "over there". Rauf is over here. Rauf's job is to put us to sleep. He convinces the gullible that there is no threat. He tells them that all those horrors that happen daily around the world have nothing to do with Islam, and that they are simply extremists, just like our own "extremists" (those who speak out about it). He makes no sense.
But he does it in such a sweet manner.
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