Muslims do speak out!

Too often someone writes or says that Muslims should speak out against the violence committed in the name of Islam.

Are these complainers in a cocoon?  Muslims do speak out about the violence.  The complainers probably don’t read what is even in local dailies.

Maybe they spend too much time on Fox News.  Someone put on the Coffee Party site a snippet from Fox News of an interview with Reza Aslan, author of “Zealot: Jesus of Nazareth”.  The interviewer kept repeating “How can a Muslim write about Jesus?”  In another era, many would ask, “How can a black women be an interviewer on TV?”  Or today, “How can a non-Muslim write about Islam?”  or “How can a non-Muslim even ask questions about Islam?”

As to speaking out, many Muslims do.  A group of Muslim scholars in Britain condemned the violence and the cartoons both but counseled patience and restraint.

One writer who stands out from several that I have read recently is Ahmed Tharwat, a broadcaster and writer in the Twin Cities.  He wrote “I am Ahmed – non-terrorist”.  He wrote for many Muslims that he is tired of being held responsible for the actions of a few out of over a billion Muslims.

Tout est pardonné

I've spent a lot of time researching the "Tout est pardonné" issue of Charlie Hebdo.  But I have found no address to order a copy.  I could impose on a couple of French friends, but I email them too infrequently.

I did find out how to donate and did: http://www.charliehebdo.fr/index.html.  This site has almost nothing else but donation forms.

But I won’t go to eBay for it.  I read that somebody is already offering this issue at $300!

P.S. 2016-01-02 A French friend did mail me the "Tout est pardonné" issue of Charlie Hebdo.  It really does tax my French.

The greatest threat to Islam is…

…Islamists.

Islamists have probably killed, maimed, kidnapped, or threatened more Muslims than any other group in the world, be it Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, or secular.

Islamists are among a long line of the supposedly devout that think they know better than anybody else what God/Allah wants.

Islamists have strengthened the hand of militant “Christians” who want to constrain all Muslims, regardless of how well they fit in or stand apart from the society they are in.  Anti-Muslim parties are springing up in many countries, including Sweden and France.

The number of Muslims who actively oppose Islamists far exceeds those who support Islamists.  The problem is that most anti-Islamist Muslims do not have AK-47s and do not blow themselves up; they only have their cell phones.

If you have a twitter account, see #notinmyname.  If not, see https://twitter.com/hashtag/notinmyname.  As could be predicted, a wide range of views are expressed, from Muslims who just want to go about their lives in a secular society to those who want to tar all Muslims with the actions of a few.