"Moderate" Squeaks
I noticed a comment and got an e-mail about how wonderful it is that Canadian imams are denouncing terror attacks on Canada and the US. Here's the e-mail:
Dear Amy,Maybe some people are trying to act reasonably?
Here's my response:
Perhaps some people want to work on the PR? Far too little, far too late. And FYI, it's bullshit, because the Verse of the Sword abrogates all the nice, peaceful words before it, and Muslims are supposed to emulate Mohammed, who was a mass murdering pedophile. Thanks, anyway, though, for sending.
More on lying to protect Islam, taqiyya, as a part of Islamic culture, below. But, first, this, from the courageous defender of free speech and Western values and freedoms, Ezra Levant, about the top signer on the imam list:
One of those Jew-haters is Syed Soharwardy, a vicious, anti-Semitic bigot who trivializes the Jewish Holocaust, spreads blood libels against the Jewish Talmud, says Israel is perpetrating a Holocaust of its own against Palestinians, publicly calls for sharia law to be implemented in Canada, and participated in a pro-terrorist rally in the Jewish neighbourhood of Calgary, replete with a flag of Hezbollah.I first came to know this odious man up close, when he hauled me before the Alberta human rights commission for publishing the Danish cartoons of Mohammed. Before that, the little thug actually tried to have me arrested by the Calgary Police Service for publishing those cartoons, as if we were back in his beloved Saudi Arabia, where the police take care of the infidels.
Syed Soharwardy is anti-Semitic scum.
Calgary's Official Jews freaked out when I publicized the words and deeds of this bigot, because they had so publicly cast their lot in with him. Some of the OJs wrote public comments on on my blog, and others wrote to me directly. All of their comments were the same, in that they ignored Soharwardy's anti-Semitism, and instead railed against me for my criticisms. In other words, they weren't embarrassed that they were friends with Soharwardy. They were embarrassed that they were caught.
So what did the Official Jews do about it? I mean, we know what they'd do if it were a white WASP who was espousing such bigotry: they'd press for his prosecution, as they did with Jim Keegstra.
But not with Soharwardy. They actually contacted him, and asked him to take down some of the most grotesque anti-Semitic comments from his website, so they wouldn't have to explain themselves to grassroots Jews who were asking the Official Jews what the hell they were doing.
To be clear: they didn't get Soharwardy to renounce his anti-Semitism. They didn't get him to explain it. They simply got him not to be so showy about it -- it was too embarrassing for them. Could he please take down the page from his website where he says the Jewish Talmud licenses Jews to murder non-Jews? If it's not too much trouble, sir?
Here's Warner MacKenzie, on the ex-Muslims' site, Islam-Watch, about taqiyya, the Islamic principle of lying for Allah:
The word "Taqiyya" literally means: "Concealing, precaution, guarding." It is employed in disguising one's beliefs, intentions, convictions, ideas, feelings, opinions or strategies. In practical terms it is manifested as dissimulation, lying, deceiving, vexing and confounding with the intention of deflecting attention, foiling or pre-emptive blocking. It is currently employed in fending off and neutralising any criticism of Islam or Muslims.Falsehoods told to prevent the denigration of Islam, to protect oneself, or to promote the cause of Islam are sanctioned in the Qur'an and Sunna, including lying under oath in testimony before a court, deceiving by making distorted statements to the media such as the claim that Islam is a "religion of peace". A Muslim is even permitted to deny or denounce his faith if, in so doing, he protects or furthers the interests of Islam, so long as he remains faithful to Islam in his heart. (See endnotes)
Like many Islamic practices, taqiyya was formed within the context of the culture of Arab tribalism, expansionary warfare, Bedouin raiding and inter-tribal conflict. Taqiyya has been used by Muslims since the 7th century to confuse, confound and divide 'the enemy'.
A favoured tactic was 'deceptive triangulation'; used to persuade the enemy that preparations for a raid were not aimed at them but at another tribe altogether. The fate in store for the deceived enemy target was an unexpected plunderous raid, enslavement of the women and death to the post-pubescent males.
Here, from MacKenzie's piece, is one lie-detector test -- although taqiyya may once again prevail:
Manipulative ambiguity and Semantics:Sheik Hilali and the late Yasser Arafat are both on public record as (a) 'condemning' the 9/11 attacks, in ambiguous terms, to the Western media and (b) praising suicide bombings, or " martyrdom operations", to their Arabic speaking audiences .
Islamic spokesmen will rarely unequivocally condemn a specific act of terrorism and direct questions will be skillfully evaded.
(NB: because Muslims regard Islamic attacks as "jihad", and not terrorism, their spokesmen can truthfully deny any support for terrorism.)
Interviewers would be better advised to ask the more precise question "do you believe in jihad against the unbelievers?
P.S. The Quran makes jihad a duty for Muslims.
I must say Muhammed covered every angle. In allowing Muslims to take four wives, he ensures that Islam will grow exponentially faster than monogamous religions, such as Christianity (the Apostle Paul recommended one wife).
Deprogramming centers for Muslims. I think I may have just given myself a good idea...
Patrick at January 11, 2010 2:27 AM
Amy, you really should learn to take yes for an answer.
dennis at January 11, 2010 5:51 AM
I see what I can do about sheeping up.
And by the way, as I posted the other day, many or most Muslims haven't even read the Quran, so when they tell you what their religion is about, and how it's really a "religion of peace," they maybe genuinely believe that, but they're simply ignorant of what it's really about.
As the late George Mason put it, it's totalitarianism masquerading as religion, with the ultimate goal of converting or killing all the infidels and installing The New Caliphate across the globe.
Amy Alkon at January 11, 2010 6:58 AM
Amy, here's a question for you: do you think that there are any possible circumstances under which Islam would be reformable? I've been kicking around the question, and I'm not sure. In the Middle Ages, people might have said that the Catholic Church was unreformable, but after the kick in the pants that it got from Martin Luther, it did indeed reform. Could someone do the same for Islam? On the other hand, Lutheranism didn't require renouncing large hunks of the Bible; it only required (for the most part) renouncing the established church. The obvious concern is that Muhammad as a spiritual figure is so unsuited to the purpose that by the time you got done re-writing all of the scripture, what you had left wouldn't be Islam any more; it would be something else.
Cousin Dave at January 11, 2010 7:27 AM
Predictable. I knew that if someone ever answered Amys "why don't the moderates speak up" challenge, Amy would just ignore it as bullshit.
Cousin Dave - Amy will say no, Islam isn't reformable. Don't even bother to go there with her.
For those who are truly open for discussion though - yes. It think it is entirely possible that Islam could reform. It's the nature of mankind. Sooner or later, any scriptures that are unappealing will be dismissed with "well, we don't do that because it isn't relevant anymore". That's how christians do it, that is how muslims will do it. People are only open to what they WANT to be open to. The bible has been used as an excuse to justify all sorts of atrocities. That's the shitty part of religion - it is used to spread hatred and anger. What is important to keep religion under control is the separation of church and state.
Karen at January 11, 2010 8:17 AM
there are only 3 million Muslims in Canada and the USA[ Pew Forum Oct. 2009]
- of 20 imams, 8 are from Calgary ostensibly representing '10 million' Muslims
healer at January 11, 2010 8:27 AM
FABLE
Article rank
7 Jan 2009
Calgary Herald
Made in Canada
Friday, I attended a rally in front of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s constituency office to protest Israel’s attacks on Gaza. After the rally ended, I saw many people walking toward their vehicles with Palestinian flags and placards condemning Israel for killing innocent children and women in Gaza.
Some of them had parked in the Jewish centre’s parking lot, across from the Glenmore Landing shopping area. Some of them had to walk a little farther in the residential area, which is a very strong Jewish neighbourhood. They had parked in front of houses. I saw many onlookers, most probably Jewish, watching protesters walking through their neighbourhood. Some of them even smiled.
I enjoyed this scene more than the protest rally. I said to myself, I wish the Israeli government and Hamas officials could see this scene — Palestinians and Muslims walking through a Jewish neighbourhood condemning Israel openly while the people in the Jewish neighbourhood with very strong support for Israel remained peaceful. Pro-Palestine demonstrators walked through a pro-Israel neighbourhood in peace and without fear. I asked myself, why people cannot behave the same way in the Holy Land? My heart replied, this is Calgary. This is Canada. There is no place like Calgary and Canada. May God bring peace for every human being on Earth. Amen.
Syed Soharwardy, Calgary Syed Soharwardy is an imam and founder of the Islamic Supreme
Council of Canada
healer at January 11, 2010 8:28 AM
FACT
Protest was not an example of love and peace
Article rank
15 Jan 2009
Calgary Herald
Calgary Imam Syed Soharwardy’s fairy tale rendition (Letter: Made in Canada, Herald, Jan. 7) of the pro-Hamas rally at Glenmore Landing could not have been the same event I photographed and recorded on Jan. 2.
Muslim Council of Calgary chairman Nagah Hage exhorted his flock of 175, including infants and teens, in both Arabic and English. Between the tirades that demonized Israel, comparing Jews to the Nazis, Hage whipped up the crowd by calling the Jewish state “barbaric, ruthless and arrogant” and led the crowd in a chant that said: “OlmertHitler, you’re the same, the only difference is the name.”
The demonization of Israel was portrayed in venomous placards and banners carried by children and parents. Israel was accused of “ethnic cleansing”, “committing a holocaust”, and of “outright murder”. There were even swastikas on display — ironic, considering.
I am sure this anti-Semitic chorus was loud enough to be heard across the street at the Calgary Jewish Centre. The most egregious placard of all equated Jews with Nazis — a disgusting display anytime, but particularly tasteless, given that the Jewish community’s Holocaust memorial was a block away.
They chanted: “Stephen Harper, hear us say, Jerusalem will be ours one day.” In other words, the rally really wasn’t about Gaza — it was about Hamas’s stated plans to conquer Israel.
The crowd also turned on the lone Israeli supporter standing off to one side. This Christian Zionist’s homemade poster read: “Canada supports Israel’s right to security and self-defence.” He also carried a small Israeli flag. This set the crowd aflame. A few tried to lunge for him but were held back by another protester who told the lone Israeli defender he should be grateful he hadn’t been physically attacked, though he did have a boot thrown at him.
When the crowd approached the Israel supporter a second time, eight police officers had to stand in front of him to protect him. So the crowd went back to chanting “killers of children and women” — and they didn’t mean Hamas, who use civilians as human shields.
For two full hours this disgrace continued — all on the mall’s private property. Parking and business access was blocked, and many customers were clearly repelled by the Nazi symbols on the crowd’s posters, and the chants. When one shop owner asked the police to clear the crowd because customers couldn’t reach her shop, the response was “they would leave it alone and let it play out”, as it was the “lesser of two evils”.
Some of the mob didn’t just go to the mall. They actually had the temerity to park at the Calgary Jewish Centre — adjacent to the Holocaust memorial there — despite the private parking sign. I suppose if conquering Jerusalem is your goal, trespassing on Jewish property in Calgary is no big deal.
In his letter to the Herald, Soharwardy claimed some protesters “parked their cars in front of houses, most probably Jewish” and that “some of the (Jewish) onlookers even smiled”. Back in reality, there are no houses between the Jewish Centre and Glenmore Landing. The closest Jewish home is three blocks away. Perhaps what Soharwardy saw were the grimaces or shocked expressions of other home owners, when faced with posters with swastikas on them.
Soharwardy then gives a back-handed compliment to non-existent Jews for not attacking the verbally and visually violent crowd. “Isn’t Canada wonderful!” he exults. He’s thrilled this kind of bigotry can be proclaimed in Calgary with impunity.
As the crowd was departing, some passed in front of an orthodox rabbi, on his way to the nearby synagogue for the Jewish Sabbath.
The mob unfurled a flag of Hezbollah — a criminal terrorist organization, under Canadian law — and cursed him while making violent gestures and spitting.
Soharwardy’s “fairy tale” is a nightmare. This is the true face of the protest.
healer at January 11, 2010 8:30 AM
"Predictable. I knew that if someone ever answered Amys "why don't the moderates speak up" challenge, Amy would just ignore it as bulls!it."
Because it is BS. Moderates muslims are fleeing from sharia states to Canada, not trying to create them there.
Are the other signatories opposed to Sharia and are they true moderates? Maybe and if so, good for them (and for Canada - and especially moderate Canadian Muslims). But to see Soharwardy up top is like seeing David Duke as a headline signatory on a petition calling for tolerance. Such a petition wouldn't be worth the paper it was printed on. Same goes here.
The question isn't why Alkon is cynical over such a petition, but why others would want to sign such a tainted petition that clearly Soharwardy didn't believe when his views are known. Why is he tolerated?
As for Islam being "reformable". I believe that it can have it's own Reformation. It's not like you don't have any positive examples and success stories to go back to for reference. Reformers, reform already!
Bill at January 11, 2010 8:38 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2010/01/11/moderate_squeak.html#comment-1687992">comment from KarenWhat is important to keep religion under control is the separation of church and state.
Yeah, a good lecture on why the 10 Commandments don't belong on the courthouse lawn should keep all those guys who were going to blow themselves all the way to 72 virgins back home tending the goats (or in the case of the Panty Bomber, in his posh London flat sucking off daddy's bajillions).
Moderate Muslims have not spoken up. There were rallies recently where a couple dozen marched to tell people Islam is peaceful. (If any of those people have actually read the Quran, which calls for the violent death and conversion of all us dirty infidels, I'll eat your burka.) If atheists were going around murdering believers in some sick crusade for science, I'd be marching and shouting and blogging constantly - the same way I am about Islam.
Let's see: It's January 10, 2010. 9/11 was almost a decade ago. The silence from Muslims, except for ex-Muslims who risk their lives to exercise their free speech against Islam, has been utterly, utterly deafening.
Again, this is a PR move. A quick trip to Uncle Google's house with any of the names of these imams will surely quickly garner you much different pronouncements than those they're making about "the religion of peace."
Amy Alkon at January 11, 2010 8:58 AM
"What is important to keep religion under control is separation of church and state"
That's exactly the problem with Islam, Karen. Christ was unequivocal: "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and unto God what is God's." That statement laid the foundation for the separation of church and state in Western Christian civilization. And Jesus backed up his words with deeds. At no point did he or any of his disciples take up arms against Rome. They were good Roman citizens and obeyed Roman law, provided only that they be allowed to practice their faith in peace. Muhammad was equally unequivocal: Allah's law is the only law, and all men are slaves of Allah. And he backed up his words with deeds, too, committing the mass murder of non-Muslims,
If you're going to seriously address the possibility of reforming Islam, you can't just ignore these facts of history. I would like to be optimistic about the prospects for a fifth of mankind, but I'm afraid that Islam may be undergoing a Reformation right now, and that it's Martin Luther is Osama bin Laden.
Martin at January 11, 2010 9:51 AM
You're right, Martin. Let me copy 2 quotes I got off an islamic website this morning when researching an answer to a question I got from an online course I'm taking.
"In the Godless secular nations they require a separation of religion and state. Politics is to
be made free from religious influence. In Islam politics is a necessary element of the
religious domain. Allah has told us He is to be the sole determiner of what is right and
lawful. “Command is for none but God; He has commanded that you obey none but Him
– that is the right path,”(12:40). And, “If any do fail to establish and rule by what God has
revealed, they are the unbelievers, the unjust or the evil doers,”(5:44,45,47)"
and
"Because Islam is a complete way of life this Divine Guidance is for all matters private and public, political and economic, social and
cultural, moral and legal."
Hmmm, sounds like totalitarianism to me.
other Beth at January 11, 2010 10:17 AM
As a Canadian citizen,I was born with freedom of ^peech,religion.and almost everything else,guess you would call me Lucky(lol).First of all I dont understand why people with muslim faith blow themselves up and kill innocents in the name of allah whom ive never seen or met is he for real or just another of those wishfull gods lol.I suggest that all the countries around the world put a stop to those inividuals who in the name of religion any kind of religion terrorises them.
By the way i have a question for muslim what good is twenty something virgins if you are deasd(lol).The only thing that the muslim religion is doing is aliating themselves from the rest of the world.Soon and very soon all muslim wont even be able to travel,and if they are searching for a war of nreligion i think in a very near future allah willgrant them their wish I hope they enjoy all that comes with it.
And one last question when will all the violence end in the name of religion,If History as taught one thingit is that religion is very dangerous in the hands of fanatical people i hope it is to turn your back on religion and live a healthy life.
gerard caron at January 11, 2010 1:26 PM
My wish is that all muslims join allah as soon as possible so we may go on with our lives lol.
gerard caron at January 11, 2010 1:37 PM
I f you want just listen to IMAGINE from john lennon if you look at the lyrics youll understand almost evrything.
gerard caron at January 11, 2010 4:30 PM
And yet, we still let more and more Islamic gang members into our country.
mpetrie98 at January 11, 2010 7:13 PM
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