Response To A Reader’s Email

February 28, 2007by Infidelesto on · Comments

This is an email we received today, and my response follows. It would be nice to see many of our readers engage in this conversation below, just add your comments and we can get a discussion going:

“First, I will greet you with Muslims’ greeting “Assalamou Allikum” (peace be with you), from what I read here, I see that you either have very deformed image about Islamic religion, or have a hidden agenda to promote hate and false information about muslims and Islam. If I assumed that you don’t know the peaceful religion Islam and know nothing about it except the terrorists that you had seen on news, then I kindly ask you to read and learn more about it. these sites might help:
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/notislam/misconceptions.html
http://www.islamonline.net

Salaam (peace)

Salaam,

First of all thank you for your kind response. I can always appreciate a moderate Muslim who doesn’t mind engaging in civil debate, because as you know, freedom of speech is what America is built upon; people arguing with one another through respectful, and intellectual conversation, which NEVER needs to be turned into a personalized threat or hate filled argument. At the end of the day, we still have peace and go home to our families and live happily. Unfortunately, under Sharia Law, this is not the case. We wouldn’t be able to have this conversation because if I lived in Egypt, I’d probably be in jail right now.

In response to your assumption that I’m filled with hate, promoting false information, and have a deformed image of Islam: I have to respectfully disagree with your assessment.

Let me make something clear. WE DO OUR HOMEWORK. We don’t spew information like a little kid with no reference. We at IAC reference EVERYTHING we talk about and I always have references to back my claims, so please read our archives a little more. You will see that I feel like the FIRST victims of Islam are moderate Muslims like yourself. There are millions of peaceful loving Muslims who want to live in peace, yet do not understand the underlining principles of Islam, Sharia, the laws of the Kafir including the Jizyah or dhimmi tax, Muhammed’s life and history of murder and preaching hate towards the kuffar, raising children to hate/kill western culture, the oppression of women and women’s rights, the consequences and misconception of suppressing cultural advancement as to please the one and only “Allah”. Islam comes from the root al-silm , which means submission or surrender. Surrender to Allah, surrender to his will.

This is exactly what Christians do, we submit to the will of God and we let him take control of our lives through faith. The problem with Islam is that not only does “surrender” mean surrender to Allah, but surrender to man, surrender to Islamic Law, surrender to the fatwah’s that your local Imam is preaching, which could be anything and could include: attack innocent civilians, kill Jews/Americans, 9/11 was justified, etc, etc.

Let me politely explain to you why YOU are a victim. Although you may want peace, and although you may condemn terrorism, although you WANT Islam to be peaceful, unfortunately it will never be. I can understand how shocking it is to realize that the religion you have grown up knowing turns out to be more false than you could have ever imagined. Please look at this

In the same way you politely asked me to research more, I would also like you to research as well, for we are interested in engaging in more conversation with you and the rest of our community here at IAC . I don’t think you understand what exactly we are trying to say on this blog. We want peace with Islam, we do…but when you have millions of people chanting “Death to America”, that’s not media propaganda my friend…it’s actually people chanting “Death to America”….do you see that here in the US? What are the infidels to do other than rally around each other? We have millions of people who either want us dead or want a mosque on every block. You need to look closer into my archives and read more about the facts that we have put forth on this site.

And with all due respect to you and your culture, please, please be open minded about everything. Don’t think inside the little box that most conservative Muslims do. We don’t hate Muslims, we don’t want to offend Muslims, but what we DO want is to educate and inform people, Muslims and non-Muslims, about the danger of the roots of fundamental Islam and the connections of oppression, fascism, non-advancement, and terrorism to the religion of peace. There are wars going on all over the world right now, wars that are mostly/all have something to do with the “oppressed Muslims” who are really just trying to jam Sharia Law down every country’s throat, and have Islam basically RULE the world under an Islamic Caliphate. It’s very easy to call us bigots and hate filled people with a false view of Islam..but when you are in OUR shoes, when I see everyday on the Internet, on the radio, on TV, Muslims fighting people all around the world, it’s hard to think that there’s something wrong with Western culture and not the suppressed people still living in the dark ages of enlightenment.

We have a very clear view of Islam my friend, and no we don’t hate you.

Hopefully we can talk more about how your religion has been hijacked by the Wahhibists and less about the usual “you’re a racist, bigot, Muslim hater” talk. Let’s get past that, it’s nonsense.

What we would like to hear more about is how we can help moderate Muslims see something from a different light, a different point of view with no racism or hate involved. Just simple dialogue, we all go home to our families feeling safe and alive knowing we just expressed our God given right of free speech, cause hey, it’s America, and that’s what we built this country upon.

  • sushiman
    There is nothing peaceful inherent to the religion of Islam... rather there are a large number of so called 'moderate' muslims who practice an incorrect form of Islam: one which promotes peace.

    Perhaps these moderates of the Islamic faith would be better off calling their religion something else... like so many break-offs of other religions have done. Of course... the people that practice the true religion of Islam would never tolerate it and would murder, rape, torture and behead anyone they could get their hands on that planned to join the new, peaceful ex-Islamic religion.
  • Sistainfidel
    My first thought upon reading the email above, is that this is not the first site he's written this to. In his quest to educate us all on how great Islam is, I have to wonder if he takes the same amount of time to publicly denounce and criticize his fellow Muslims that we see in the news (constantly, every day, without relent) killing innocent people all over the world? Does he talk about how they aren't following Islam, if that is indeed what he's implying?

    I read the links he provided, but I have to say, they don't prove his point, but they do prove ours. At the USC link, the "misconceptions" are explained not by de-bunking them, but by spinning them so we won't think they are that bad (see everything about women and slavery for example).

    This also stood out to me (from the USC link): "Islam is the name of a way of life which the Creator wants us to follow. We avoid the word religion because in many non-Islamic societies, there is a separation of "religion and state." This separation is not recognized at all in Islam: the Creator is very much concerned with all that we do, including the political, social, economic, and other aspects of our society. Hence, Islam is a complete way of life."

    The next paragraph goes on to say how all forms of political and economic systems (it sites capitalism and democracy as some examples) are against Islamic law. How can a Muslim live in the U.S.? I'm just asking as a practical matter.

    Everything it sites to debunk the idea that Muslims wage jihad continue with the spin. Of note: "As the verses cited above show, jihad is obligatory wherever there is injustice, and Muslims need not acknowledge imaginary lines around the earth when it comes to upholding this obligation. " The site claims that innocent people are not hurt or killed, only those that oppress Muslims, but I have to ask, do you consider Americans innocent? Jews? There's even the disturbing statement on that site that "Muslim terrorist is almost an oxymoron". I can't fathom such a concept after 9-11, sorry.

    I tried reading the second link, but after reading the skewed article about "US Shifting Policy on Syria and Iran", and all the thousands of people that have died due to the U.S. invasion, I decided to stop wasting my time.
  • Katie
    I am not a Muslim, a Christian or a Jew - I'd like to make that clear from the outset so as to illustrate my lack of bias.

    I would like to address several of the points stated above as well as making a few points about faith.

    Firstly I'd like to address the suggestion that Islam inherently denies women's rights whilst Christianity does not. This idea is simply laughable if one takes time to have a look at the Bible, for example Corinthians 11:7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. 11:8 For the man is not of the woman: but the woman of the man. 11:9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. There are many passages of this nature throughout the New Testament and I won't even go into the Old Testament. However it is commonly accepted that the Prophet Muhammad did at one point serve as an employee to his wife Khadija - a far cry from the faith that will not accept that their Prophet, Jesus could have ever sullied himself by being intimate with a woman.

    It is suggested that Islam is a hateful faith because there are people half a world away chanting "Death to America" yet there are thousands of Americans continuing to support a war that was started on false pretenses which has killed hundreds of thousands of average everyday people who happen to be Muslim. Hundreds of thousands, potentially millions stand silent despite the killing of men, women and children who have done nothing wrong except live in a country that the US has decided to "liberate" for its own gain. I would bet my bottom dollar that most of the supporters and the majority of those who stand silent are Christians. Is standing by whilst thousands of innocent people die at the hands of your country, in your name any better than chanting for death to a nation, or is it worse? Is it more hateful to wish death on someone or to stand by and do nothing while the innocent die?

    On the topic of Sharia law, the small faction that want to implement Sharia Law in western countries in my opinion is no different to Christian groups that wish to repeal Roe V Wade, legislate that marriage is between a man and a woman exclusively and keep compassionate euthanasia illegal. These are not matters of law or ethics, they are matters of Jedeo-Christian morality dressed up as matters of law, in a manner that isn't all that different to Sharia Law.

    The bottom line is you simply can not judge a faith by the actions or desires of a few. I can not define Christians by those who kill abortion doctors or gay people in cold blood nor can Christians be defined by the ramblings of the likes of Pat Robertson - It would do a massive disservice to all of those who love their neighbours and try to make the world a better place by doing the right thing. It's no different for Muslims, it is a disservice to assume that one can define Muslims by suicide bombers or by or Osama Bin Ladin. The majority of Muslims in the west are no different to the majority of Christians in the west, they go to work, raise families, go to parent-teacher nights, go shopping, go to the movies, buy take out and see their faith as just another facet of their existence.

    The Quran tells of both bad and good. It instructs readers to do things that are fantastic and things that are barbaric but the Bible is no different. It is perfectly acceptable for a Christian to ignore parts of the Bible that are blatantly wrong or conflicting. Despite what the Bible says, the vast majority of Christians accept that the world is not flat or suspended by pillars created by God nor would the vast majority of Christians sacrifice their daughters to a sadistic hoard to protect some holy men as Lot did. No, most Christians pick and chose their beliefs from the Bible based on their denomination and their conscience as do the majority of Muslims.

    The two most dangerous things in our world today are religious supremacy and religious bigotry. No faith is better or worse than another and since we have no real proof as to which faith is right we must accept that all are equally likely to be correct. All faiths are all different but the all share common elements, and by embracing these common elements we can work together as one to improve the future of humanity.
  • I know you think that your not being biased, and I give you credit for trying to show the balance between religious extremists and religious moderates, but you are absolutely liberally biased. You desire peace, correct? How many Islamic planned 9/11's have to take place before we do something about it? Or are we sitting ducks i guess? Does the United States of America even exist in your globalistic point of view? or is it now the United Multicultural States of America based on the Amero? in your eyes? Do you realize Britian is being systematically infiltrated by Islamic immigration, in hope for eventual Sharia rule in some parts of England? America is not there yet but it is coming. Islamists are implementing the Murtha "slow bleed" strategy in the UK, it's no secret. Is this what your waiting for? I don't know about you but I value my freedom. I value American culture. I value being able to write this comment without being persecuted by my government.

    Sure Christians have committed atrocities over time, nobody is denying what the Bible says, but atleast we (the west) grew up and learned to live like a civilized people. These people are still living in a time that is stagnant to them. There's no hope for them, no jobs, no future, they're so opressed they have nothing to do but march the streets in protest over the latest Al-jazeera article. There's no passion or niche to fulfill the human spirit. No hope for the future for them other than the one thing then KNOW, that they have been TAUGHT, one thing that they know will earn them noteriety and respect and that is....JIHAD
  • Sistainfidel
    Katie,

    Christians don't deny that God said in the bible that a wife should submit to her husband (which does not mean what liberals want everyone to think it means), but to compare that to what the Quran says about women is laughable. Did you read the USC link? You really think the bible saying women came from man (FYI its talking about how God made Eve from Adam's rib, literally) is the same as Islam saying a man can have 4 wives, should get more inheritance than women, its ok to beat wives if they don't obey, etc etc etc? The oppression of women is a huge problem I have with Islam, and if you truly cared about that issue (it seems like you do, since you referenced Roe v. Wade) you would do some real research on the issue. Do you see Christians going around killing females in their family as an "honor killing" to avenge their family? This is happening in Islam right now, not centuries ago.

    Your examples of what Christians choose to "ignore" are all from the Old Testament. There's a reason its not relevant in today's time, and has nothing to do with picking and choosing, but has to do with Jesus.

    You claim to not be bias, but you have clear anti-Christianity bias by saying Jesus wouldn't "sully himself" by being with a woman. Ever think that maybe it has nothing to do with sex? Maybe he devoted his life to other things, and chose not to have a wife and make a family? Saying you have no bias because you aren't one of those three religions is absurd. Only people that aren't a part of the religion can be non-biased?

    The argument that we shouldn't think Islam is a dangerous religion because there are "bad seeds" in every religion is completely naive. Of course there are evil people of all races, religions, genders, occupations, etc. The difference is that if you read studies on the amount of Muslims in the world, entire countries crying for death of Americans and Jews, you can't say that's as bad as Pat Robertson saying things you don't agree with. He's not starting a big organization saying "death to Katie!" that's funded by millions, and if he were you would certainly not be here saying nothing was wrong with it. The BIG difference you conveniently leave out is that all those examples you list (roe v. wade, etc.) are issues that anyone in this country can have an opinion about. Plus, Christians condemn people who commit evil crimes in the name of God. You don't see that with Muslims.

    If there is a majority that believes a certain way, and that majority is in power, then policy that you don't like or I don't like might happen, but we live in a country with free speech that has a democratic system so that these things are even possible. This is NOTHING like Sharia law, which demands that everyone is Muslim, converts to Islam, or is killed. There may be moderates who would simply want the non-Muslims exiled instead of killed, but no one would be allowed to live under Sharia law and not practice Islam. To compare theocracy to democracy and say they are the same is completely ignorant. Do your homework.

    Addressing your comment that "thousands of innocents" are dying in the war, where are you getting this? Any sources on this? Our troops are not killing innocents, and the thousands you probably are referring to are innocents killed by the terrorist insurgents in Iraq, not by Americans. Also, its pretty close-minded to say that only Christians are supporting the war, which once again only exposes your bias. I don't really care if you can't stand Christians, but when forming an opinion on the war do some real digging and get facts instead of conjecture. You've been hanging out in the liberal echo chamber too long.

    I'm going to have to disagree with you that religious supremacy and bigotry are the "most dangerous things in our world today". Terrorists, murderers here on our own land, disease, etc. are much more dangerous than people that have an extreme point of view. Sure, having a religious extreme point of view is dangerous is when you mix it with Islam, but I have a feeling you are referring to a different religion. I would say that Muslim terrorists are worse than Christians who are pro-life, but that's just me.
  • sushiman
    Katie - No one said the Bible was perfect... and my personal opinion is that it's one of the most flawed and destructive pieces of literature in the history of man. Christians have commited terrible atrocities in the past... notice I said in the past. If the same was tried today, they would be hunted and shunned the same way the extremists of Islam are being treated today. Those passages and ways of living you talk about that are mentioned in the Bible don't exist in western culture anymore, and anywhere that they do those responsible are criminals. However... there are Muslims that follow to the letter what they are told... no matter how immoral and wrong it is. They will murder their family member over nothing, and call it 'an honor killing'. In the west they would be in jail facing possible death sentence... over there they are released and their families are proud they murdered one of their own.

    Who cares what a piece of paper says, unless people actually take action upon it. Which is what these Islamofascists do. And no, I and the authors of this site do not think that all Muslims, or all Islams, are evil terrorists... it is no secret there are many many peaceful, tolerant, and moral members of this group all over the world. And, like you said about Christians, they choose their denominations, choose what they will follow and what they will ignore... even though they dont really have denominations in Islam, rather local Imams that preach their own agendas. Some of which are good, and others are nothing more than the Islamic version of a KKK meeting. If these people were white and wearing hoods and robes talking about killing jews and blacks you would be foaming at the mouth you'd be so mad.

    Its difficult for many people to believe that these people are simply not good... that evil does exist in the world. 'Liberals' and the like want to pretend there is a perfect way to live and exist with others... the flaw in that is that not everyone feels the same way. The people that live this way of life do not want to exist alongside other cultures, having equal rights and respecting their neighbor: they want to kill you. They want to kill me. They want to kill anyone that is not one of them, or willing to convert to their way of thinking, and take over the world. And if they had the chance, they would. No, not all Muslims feel this way, but too many do, and there is so much hate.

    The extremists of other religions in modern day will protest and preach and basically use alot of words: the extremists of Islam murder, rape, behead, suicide bomb... need I continue? Also, think about how Islam does not separate church and state... to them, religion IS government. How dangerous do you think that is?

    Just for the record, I am not a member of any religious group or denomination, and think that organizing a belief or faith in god into laws and a way of life that was written by men in a book is about the worst thing to ever happen to this planet. That being said, there are certain religions that have 'grown up' as Infidelesto likes to say, and these religions (although I do not agree or follow their religion) are tolerant for the most part, peaceful, and are more interested in debate, opinion and free speech/choice than they are in rape, murder, torture, genocide, slavery, abuse, and suicide bombing.
  • Sistainfidel
    I'm going to say again that there's no way you will convince me that religion is "about the worst thing to ever happen to this planet". Its just not true. The worst thing to happen to this planet is EVIL PEOPLE. So many religions are peaceful, and so many evil people who happen to also be religious are not peaceful.

    I agree with you on most of your points, but the whole "religion is evil" is a slippery slope.
  • SistaInfidel I believe this video will help clear things up.

    http://mosquewatch.blogspot.com/2007/03/dealing...
  • sushiman
    Sista: you are right, evil people are the problem, but think of it this way - religion is the easiest way to convince a mass of people to go along with your cause (good or evil). So you take one evil person... give them some sort of religious credentials... then this evil religious leader tells their followers that 'god' wants u to do x then y then z. Now there are masses of people... that might not have started out evil, but now are doing evil things 'in the name of god'. One evil person with a personal agenda is no where near as dangerous as an entire civilization believing they are doing 'god's will through their evil acts that are passed down from their religious leader... their gateway to the word of 'god'.

    Religion has been the cause of more atrocities in the history of man than... well, than anything. I'm not saying these atrocities follow along the 'good' nature of the intent of a religion, but rather that religion was used to an end. Just because a religion is intended to be for peace and good, does not mean that is how people will follow it. Just look to history. There are more examples of poisoning the true meaning of a religion than I could ever possibly hope to cite, and I'm sure every religion would agree. Also, note how I said organized religion... which is basically brain-washing IMO. Someone's personal faith or belief in a higher power, even if it follows along with those of an organized religion... completely OK... but telling someone they are not Christian or Jewish or Islamic if they dont do this, or if they do that... is ridiculous and is nothing more than a form of control.
  • Sistainfidel
    Jeff, there's no need to clear things up for me and what Muslims think of non-Muslims. I'm on board with you there, and I'm definitely not defending Islam. I do think that Islam was started by someone who was not good, but in fact evil. That's my own opinion about that particular "religion" (I wouldn't even really call it that since they themselves don't even call Islam a religion if you read that USC site). To me its a cult. What I was speaking to is more the wide sweeping notion that Sushiman made that religion is inherently evil. To be clear, I'm not calling all Muslims evil, but I do think they need to wake up to the roots of their faith.

    Sushiman, I absolutely agree with you that evil people have used religion to justify all kinds of evil things, but that doesn't make the religion itself evil (speaking very generally here). Even your description still shows the person is the evilness, not the ideas they twisted. To say that "religion has been the cause of more atrocities..." implies that the people weren't evil until they took up the religion. No way! These people used religion as a reason to justify their evilness, just like "Christians" who bomb abortion clinics. Their faith did not make them evil, they already were. The brainwashing involved to get multitudes of people to commit atrocities does not stem from the religion, but the evilness. Its like saying guns have been the cause of more crime in the history of man than anything, even though we know it was the guns in the hands of CRIMINALS that caused the crime.

    I don't think Judaism is evil, and I don't think Catholicism is evil (though many evil things have been done by people of those faiths). I have my own opinions about Mormonism (I think its a cult), and there are many many other faiths that I don't believe are inherently evil, even if I don't agree with them. My personal faith is not an "organized religion", although your definition of that is still extremely ambiguous (but I think I've listed the ones you are referring to), but I'm sure lots of people that have attended my very same churches have committed evil acts. Does that mean my faith is evil because someone who believed what I did, and went to the same church, did something evil? Of course not. They wanted to do something evil, and twisted their faith enough in their own mind so that it went along with their evil intentions. People who are legalistic and say you aren't a true [insert name of religion or faith] if you are doing something, are judgmental and yes, its all in seek of power of some kind.
  • Jeff Davis
    High five Sista :) Keep up the good fight !
  • Though swaying off topic, I love the intellectualism of this thread!!
  • Sistainfidel
    I think we went off topic a while ago. I talked about Mormons!
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