Islamophobia and US politics

In Pakistan this morning, a liberal, Christian, government minister has been assassinated by members of the Taliban:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/03/world/asia/03pakistan.html?hp

Islam, whether commandeered by hooligans or steered by obsessive delusional adherents, has significant problems fitting in to 2011.

Farnaz!

What a bite you have of poor Arun Ghandi - You do like to play wolf in lamb's clothes.

Posted by: hitman2
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I am no lamb. Too many Jews have been murdered as a result of the kind of language bigots like this poor fool, evidently, an embarrassment to his native country, have spread throughout the world.

When it causes anguish to the father of that adored murdered Danny Pearl, the Gandhi's of this world get my attention.

Because it was antisemitism he foamed with and not Islamophobia, for instance, he is still here, albeit his university kicked his butt to the curb in disgust, and Meacham, for his part, said the piece "made him sick." Not Quinn though.

I am no lamb. Neither was David (PUBH) and neither was Moses (PUBH). Btw. PUBH is an ancient acronym, a Jewish acronym long pre-dating the arrival of Mohamed.

Meanwhile, I await the report of Arun Gandhi on what he learned from the aftermath of his wretched spewing.

I have not sat down with hypocrites. With men of evil I do not mingle.

--David

Farnaz!

What a bite you have of poor Arun Ghandi - You do like to play wolf in lamb's clothes.

That a nation supposedly broadminded in every sphere of life, should be so narrow-minded in religious matters is amazing and painful.
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Precisely. Now, if you, Arun Gandhi, know how to spell the word "hypocrite," we may aptly say bingo!

A glance in the mirror, and yourself as a case in point, in your essay, would make your argument stronger.

It is more than three years now since your antisemitic rant on this blog resulted in your being declared persona non gratis in every other respectable media venue. It also ended with your termination of employment at the unfortunate university which had hitherto housed bigoted you.

However, here you remain. Sally Quinn assured readers that she had asked you to report back to us on your filthy diatribe, relating what you had learned from the aftermath. I, myself, have been awaiting your response to the agonized letter of Danny Pearl's father, the father of the beloved young murdered Danny Pearl, murdered because he was a Jew.

In the months following the outcry, you seemed to learn only more hatred. You foamed in Indy blogs that "the Jews" had gotten you fired--"the Jews" and not your morally dead Hindu self.

Well, Arun Gandhi, have you learned anything? Three years is a significant length of time, even for the slow witted.

Lest you have forgotten, here is the link to your hateful diatribe:

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/arun_gandhi/2008/01/jewish_identity_in_the_past.html

I have not sat down with hypocrites. With deceitful men I do not mingle.

--David

As suggested, I would be happy to engage you in a discussion of Taqiyya, which I find broadly reprehensible and ethically bankrupt from a Western View. Of course, the Western view of religious deception and its use differs considerably from the Eastern view. This is at the base of the clash of civilizations. The essence of it, for readers not familiar, is that Islam legitimizes lying for tactical religious and political purposes. I do not know of any modern Western religion (save Scientology about Psychiatry) that even begins to engage in this kind of un-ethical (in my view) exhortation.

We are in a deep clash about the meaning of life, as I see it. Much of Islam sits on one side: Most of the West sits on another: The divide is whether life is a celebration of meaning, or a means to a divine end in the hereafter. Most of modernity has clearly concluded that we are responsible for our actions on this Earth. Not so Islam.

Bert8,
You must use references judiciously. For example, I wouldn't use Glenn Beck when discussing ethics and social justice, or David Duke on matters related to the legacy of Martin Luther King. Your use of Wafa Sultan as someone who has credibility on issues relating to islam is similar to Manji, Rushdie, Hirsi Ali, Spencer and Pipes. These individuals have long ago discredited themselves from any meaningful conversation about islam. If you look hard enough, you will be able to come up with credible sources

I can prove we are having an enormous problem in the US with misguided Islamics.

Read your newspaper today about the young Chemical Engineering Student arrested by the FBI in Texas. This is yet another example of a Jihadi. He wasn't produced by Christianity or Judaism.

Until Islam roundly condemns Jihad and all the other ills and bad teachings in the Koran (there are some bad teachings in the Bible that Judaism and Christianity long ago condemned), we will be seeing more of this awful stuff.

Wake up America and smohame! Islam is not just another religion or culture: It is a political and religious belief system that has not yet matured enough to accept others and proclaim that life is more important than the (misunderstood or misinterpreted) teachings of the Koran.

Moderate Christianity does not seek to put Jews in Hell. Modern Islam still condemns and devalues Jews. This is one measure by which it is morally bereft, another measure is Taqiyya. Let us discuss the ethics of THAT!

BERT8

You are either misguided or trying to misguide people. Why would you say "Islam is perhaps less perfect", stop having negative perception, don't get caught up in the anti-Muslim propaganda.

U.S.A. is home to hundreds of thousands of Muslims, can you proof Muslims commit more crimes as compared to other religions?

@kingofkings1,

Postulating current-day moral equivalence between Islam's foibles and older injustice and racism is a confused reading of the present. You don't seem to understand your current reality.

The conversation about Islam, Sharia and reconciliation between North Africa and the West has not even begun. It has not begun in Europe and it has not begun here in the US. It will likely take 100 years. Listen and watch Wafa Sultan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0OgpUjPU-E

Also, please explain how any branch of Islam can legitimize this kind of behavior in 2011 to me:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071221232108AAppsxu

Thanks,

Bert8,
Strange that you and Huckabee make for an interesting pair of bedfellows. If islam was the only religion that had problem with violence, I could let your comments play out with time and ignore that as a mark of ignorance. But your comments go beyond ignorance into propaganda and hate because you don't appear to be an individual whose highest capacity is the ability to formulate a few legible sentences. Surely, you realize all religions, including atheism, have the capacity for violence. Perhaps these names could stimulate your thinking:
Hitler (christian), Milosevic (christian), Stalin (atheist), Modi (Hindu), Avigdor Lieberman and Benjamin Netanyahu (jewish).

Huckabee is a wannabee who wishes to join the above named demagogues. Are we going to enable him?

Mr. Ghandi,

Americans ARE accepting. After several hundred years of Jews in America, most blatant antisemitism has ceased, and now we Jews only worry about being proselytized by Southern Baptists and Jehova's Witnesses.

It's funny, but I've made my point: Americans are not an accepting bunch. We are a melting pot that only partly melts. You probably have some of the same kind of melting in India.

As far as Muslims are concerned: America is very accepting until a 'religion' advocates violence. We don't accept it in Branch Dividians, nor in Jim Jones' followers, nor do we accept violence from Islamics.

In Islam there is a large problem with violence that perhaps you are familiar with in India. Last night, I watched the film, Khartoum. In it, a charismatic Mufti "thinks" he is he Mehdi and therefore should conquer land (through Jihad) for the honor of Allah (Alu Akbar). Maybe you have seen this film? I wish it were all fiction, but it is not.

Islam has a problem. We see it in Lawrence of Arabia, and again in Tobruk.

We understand that it is a religion and political movement that unified much of North Africa. But, it must learn to honor human life.

There are denominations of Islam that do, in fact, honor human life.

But, these do not mainly prevail. Even here in America. There is much too much emphasis on Jihad, too little conversation about the ethics of 'Taqiyya' (Islamic Deception), and much too little conversation about the ethics of Islam with respect to Jews, ('the Dhimmi').

Jews were forced from many Islamic countries during the twentieth century. American Jews know this. Many have seen this film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nwI2hzPjrA

Islam has a great deal of violence to apologize for. Many Americans know and understand this.

http://www.jewishfederations.org/page.aspx?id=35919

No culture is perfect when it comes to the treatment of other cultures. That is the basis of my introductory joke. But, Islam is perhaps less perfect than some other cultures at honoring and respecting life.

Americans understand that.

From A.P. Feb 23, 2011: A Coptic Christian priest has been killed in his home in southern Egypt. Neighbors reported seeing several masked men leaving the aprtment and shouting "Allahu akbar".

Is there a solution to the problems of Islamophobia and US politics? Maybe we need an antidote to the Islamophobic political talks.

Anyway, religion is the most important subject in American politics. I hope this Answered your question "Should Islam be debated on the campaign trail? Are religious issues in danger of being exploited"?