Is This Muslim-Bashing?

I periodically do a check on myself to ask whether I am engaging in Muslim-bashing. It's a fair question because I know I am increasingly devoting more space here to Islam and what is going on around the world and here at home on this issue. I have often taken pains to say that I have nothing against Muslims as people. I have met too many of them whom I like and whom I know are good people to believe the worst of them as a group.

Yet, terrible things are going on around the world every day in the name of Islam, and they cannot be ignored. Too many non-Muslims are being persecuted and too many people are dying to ignore. In addition, we cannot ignore the mindless massacres that are occurring between Muslim sects, like Sunni and Shia-all over a disagreement over who should have been the lawful successor to the prophet Mohammad 1400 years ago.

Terrorism is the scourge of the world and it is being carried out almost exclusively by Muslims. The occasional demented acts by non-Muslims carried out for some obscure reason that has nothing to do with religion cannot change that fact.

In addition, we cannot ignore the efforts to incorporate sharia law into the West. Sorry, but the plain and simple fact is that sharia is not compatible with our laws in the West and the US Constitution. Once you get past the separate definitions of rights for women and non-Muslims vs men and Muslims respectfully, it gets worse. Under hudud sharia, which deals with "crimes against God', we find the death penalty mandated for blasphemy, apostasy, adultery, and homosexual acts, which are not even crimes in our society.

To speak out against what is happening in the world under the banner of Islam is to defend human rights. Are we to remain silent when Christians are killed and their churches burned in Muslim nations? Are we to remain silent as Baha'i are persecuted in Iran? Are we to remain silent when gays in Iran are hanged? Are we to remain silent in the face of what happens to many Muslim women? Are we to remain silent when imams scream their hatred of Jews and call for their extermination? If we do, then we are complicit.

In no way do I want to see our own Muslim citizens subjected to retribution and similar treatment in this country, and I have said that over and over again. Most Muslims do not engage in these acts and they should be allowed to live in peace. Am I disappointed in the silence and excuse-making that many of them engage in? Yes, but I also realize that for them to speak out and acknowledge that something is terribly wrong takes extreme courage, for they put their lives on the line, which in of itself is a cause for comment. Indeed, some like Zuhdi Jasser and Irshad Manji (a lesbian, no less) have taken that step while remaining within the religion. Others, like Nonie Darwish, Wafa Sultan, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, have left the faith and spoken out. They all live under death threats. What does that tell you?

I am going to continue to speak out as long as these horrors continue. I will also speak out against these false moderates and subversive organizations like CAIR, MPAC, ICNA, ISNA, and others as they spread their lies to gullible Americans and try to further the eventual goal of making Islam dominant in the US and the rest of the Western world. I will also speak out against the troublesome aspects of Islamic doctrine-especially the political doctrine because it affects the rest of us who are not Muslims.

The question is whether we are going to bend to intimidation both at home and around the world. Many of our leaders, both political and religious, are already bending to this intimidation. In Europe, those who speak out not only risk death at the hands of extremists (Theo Van Gogh, as one example), but civil or criminal prosecution at the hands of their own governments-in their own countries (Geert Wilders, Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff). We say that can't happen here with our First Amendment. We also have a Second Amendment, which many, including our own administration, want to restrict. In addition, this administration (represented by the State Department) has met with and placated the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, that 57-member bloc within the UN that wants to criminalize criticism of Islam. The statements of President Obama in this regard are troublesome. Keep in mind that the man who made that video about the Prophet Mohammad is in jail as we speak. Nonie Darwish has called him, "America's first real political prisoner".

So we need to keep speaking out and informing the public about the threat. That means reporting every act of terror, every church burning, every act of persecution, every lie, and every attempt to take away our freedoms. It should never be about hate. That is what we are fighting. It is for Muslims to confront their own hatreds. This is about human rights.