This video is a Channel 4 (UK) news report on the Muslim inquisition currently being conducted by Peter King. [video=youtube;zsAP9_2wFRs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsAP9_2wFRs[/video] What I found very strange was the black people supporting King's radical stance. I would have thought the blacks in particular would know what it's like to be generalised and vilified by nutters and would have rallied against it rather than help them further their cause. Seems they're going along with it too. What do you think? Are Muslims good or bad for America? @ Obamanation & all US Muslims here: this is not an attack on you or your faith, nor is it a trolling experience. I just want to know if there's anything to all these reports I've seen today. Is this just a distraction from the (so called) attack on democracy being perpetrated in Wisconsin or is it a serious attempt to rid the US of its Muslim population?
When our law enforcement sends dogs to track down guys that have twisted Christian ideals far enough out of kilter that they decided to blow up abortion clinics or kill doctors associated with them, I don't consider it an attack on Christianity, I consider it a natural response to an obvious threat to society. The individuals that have employed violence supposedly in response to their faith have been met with the full force of the law... Despite the fact that this country historically being predominantly Christian. The radicals of that type are dealt with and we do not see any claims that doing so is "racist". Christianity isn't a race anyway, nor is Muslim. King is talking about the increasing amount of violence being committed by people of Muslim faith purportedly because of their religion. Like the abortion bombing Christians, these individuals act based on what is in their own mind the will of their god. Acknowledging and addressing that isn't an attack on all Muslims, it is simply a response to the violence being committed by some. It isn't "racism" to look at the problem any more than dealing with the abortion clinic violence was... Nor should it reflect poorly on the large numbers of perfectly good citizens of Islamic faith. Simply ignoring a problem for fear of being politically incorrect is a poor choice. The mass murder committed by Major Nidal Hassan was in retrospect a good example of where that kind of thinking leads. If king starts claiming Muslims are born evil I'll join you in considering him a nut job, but he's making no such claim. He's only talking about ways to avoid the cultural phenomenon by which some are being swayed to violence against their own country.
Ok. That's a fair enough argument if America has already done the same with Christians, whom, you rightly point out, commit many acts of, let's call it terrorism for want of a better word. I do remember someone here recently arguing that the amount of Muslim terrorist acts on US soil was minimal compared to the amount of acts perpetrated by the Christians in the last few years. I haven't seen reports of a senate inquiry (if that's what it is?) into Christian radicalism so that would be my comeback to that. Has the US looked as hard at the Christians? If not, and if the statement about the number of terrorist acts commited by Christians is greater is true, wouldn't it be fair to call it outright racism, as most of the news reports are saying?
Whoever quoted the numbers to you was either off or had a weird definition of christian... But the government already keeps stat on the abortion clinic types, and they're vastly outnumbered by the ones trying to kill folks off purportedly in the name of Allah. Both groups are outnumbered by the white supremacist nuts... And they're slightly less in number than anti tax anti government fanatics. I'm pretty sure all have been the focus of our government at one point or another. That's exactly why this is a bit weird for this topic to have people getting their hair on fire about. The following quote from the Washington post ( not a fan of the right wing) covered it pretty well. It included... Source- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...3/09/AR2011030902061.html?sid=ST2011031002070 Basically when a problem is identified it should be addressed. It's good to see tha a fair percentage of the plots foiled were assisted by tips from within the Islamic community. Incidentally, this is not the first such congressional hearing... There were 14 meetings of this nature between 2006 and 2009 labeled â€Violent Islamist Extremism and the Homegrown Terrorist Threatâ€.. But apparently since that party was called by a democrat it wasn't as newsworty. See http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Home.ViolentIslamistExtremism.
Well I've been searching and can't find the DP quote, in fact I found much is in agreement with your post, and you make some points there that I do agree with. I did find this interview. Seems the fundamental Christian there thinks Muslims need to be kicked out of the US as it's impossible for them to be a 'good' American and follow Sharia law at the same time. Do you think these hearings will go this far?
Fat chance the US will start mass deportations based on someones religion... violates the bill of rights. Not happening. As the Muslim activist at the end of the article stated, there's a possibility some good could come from the hearings if handled right. Of course IMO, expecting politicians to handle things right is not exactly a bet I'd care to make, but at worst nothing will be accomplished. Congressional hearings might be a place where something happens or they might be a chance for posturing and photo ops. Time will tell in this case.
I did have a chuckle at this (from above) The author adds two groups together to get a number greater than 1 group then goes on to make his point. Statements like this one though is what leads me to think King's a nutter;
I don't think Rep. King is a fundamentalist Christian. Sharia advocates want to establish a legal system outside the auspices of US law. It would be illegal whether it came from a self proclaimed Muslim, or Warren Jeffs and his wonderful polygamist compound. I believe they are stacking the extra pressure on Sharia to avoid the kind of problems the UK is experiencing. Generally speaking, I don't believe "good' Americans set up their own legal system that make things such as wife beating and polygamy legal, regardless of their faith. Your linked blog gave me a chuckle by referring to Joe Stack as a "right-wing extremist". Anyone who read the manifesto he posted on the internet prior to flying his plane into an IRS building would know his thinking was more left than right. They even claimed him at the Democratic Underground (leftist Forum). The thing glaringly absent from the "Think Progress" site you linked are the leftist Eco terrorist groups ALF and ELF who compete for the number one offender spot on the FBI's domestic terrorism list. (Yes they out perform the Neo-Nazis and anti-Govt folks. Wonder why they left that out? You really need to improve your sources of information.
This wasn't supposed to be a left/right thing as that still would make up the non-Muslim side. It's about the witch hunt on Muslims. FTR; from reading his wikipedia page I agree Stack would be on the left but I still don't think that's relevant to this topic. If that's the animal liberation people then whilst searching for the DP thread I mentioned earlier I read a comment from you or Rebecca saying those people haven't killed anyone. Maybe that's why?
That is true. Clearly, not all terrorists are created equal. A guy who flies his plane into a an IRS headquarters is trying to lash out at the government. A guy who blows up an abortion clinic is trying to stop abortion. A guy who blows up an animal testing laboratory is trying to end animal testing. The Islamists are somewhat unique in their efforts to inflict maximum damage on soft civilian targets. It strikes at the heart of the reason we are discussing congressional hearings on Sharia rather than congressional hearings on Scientology. It also makes the comparisons put forward by Think Progress somewhat ridiculous.
The worth of the American melting pot has always been for the finner attributes to prevail in becoming Americanized in spite of grandstanding politicians or any of the array of impediments encountered by the unsuspecting immigrants from distant lands. Of course King is grandstanding and in the usual manner of a reactionary against anything worth it to them in furthering their own goals at whatever the expense with no real regard for the outcome. Choosing the flawed religion of the Middle Eastern immigrants as a whipping-boy is as old as the Witch Hunts of Salem or Heathen Scares of the 1700s.