Christopher Hitchens thinks he is being very brave in attacking Islam. So do a lot of other Americans on the right and the on the left. They call the prophet Muhammad a terrorist, the Koran a gospel of violence, and Islam a religion for losers and murderers. Since there is an understandable fear and hostility toward Islamic terrorism in the wake of 9/11, Muslim-bashing has found a big constituency and has now become a very profitable career. Where is the bravery today in denouncing Islam?
Contrast the Islam-bashers on the American lecture circuit with the traditional Muslims who have the courage to take on the Islamic radicals in the Muslim world. The Muslim reformers are doing the really needed work, which is not to get rid of Islam (a ridiculous and impossible project) but to promote traditional Islam over radical Islam. Muslims who are confronting radical Islam in Pakistan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia are the really intrepid people. Do this and your life can be at stake. No wonder that Hirsi Ali attacks Islam from the safe precincts of the American Enterprise Institute in Washington D.C. Is Irshad Manji all that brave for letting the Muslims have it on her radio show in Canada? "Yes," these valiant souls will no doubt say, "but I've gotten hate mail and even death threats." Welcome to the club, ladies. I'm more impressed with the ordinary Iraqis who face snipers, car bombs, and suicide attackers on a daily basis.
Yes, there are wimps on the American college campus and in various European quarters who kowtow to radical Muslim demands. But these invertebrates cannot say no to anyone, not just Muslims. They are captive to a politically correct, multicultural ideology. The same people who allow black radicals to take over the college library and call for "death to the white man" are the same ones who view calls to Islamic jihad as just another expression of "diversity." The remedy here is not "courage" but rather a recognition that the institutions of freedom need to be defended against political assault.
Hitchens is a witty and erudite columnist. But Islam-bashing in the online magazine Slate or in Vanity Fair? No courage is required there.
Reader Comments ( Page 9 of 9)
121. Bullmol--most Christians (certainly Catholics) believe that Jesus IS God. We believe that the one God has three persons--Father, Son and Holy Spirit--that have existed from all eternity. The Son took human form (the Word was made flesh) in the Person of Jesus. We consider Him true God and true man.
This is not the case in Islam--Allah is God and Mohammed is a prophet.
Denise at 1:28PM on Aug 7th 2007
122. Denise, thank you for all those very illuminating commments.
The idea that Islam is inherently war-like in a way that Christianity is not is alas belied by 2000 years of very tragic European history. Ironically, during much of that time, Muslims treated Jews and Christians with more tolerance than Christians in Europe extended to Jews or even other Christians of different denominations. This was due in part to their sense of theological kinship to the other monotheistic religions of the West -- Moslems consider Jesus and Moses prophets, which Stephy weirdly interprets as "plagiarism."
The anti-western attitudes endorsed by some Muslims are more rooted in the North/South split of the last hundred years or so -- in short, it is more a conflict over prosperity and power than religion. There is similar hostility towards the affluent West in third world countries that are not Muslim.
Richter at 9:03PM on Aug 7th 2007
123. D, I'd gladly take your gay ass on in a fight if that is what you are getting at. Lord knows it will take only a few seconds before yor queer body is mangled beyond recognition. However, I won't be giving you my address as you will likely send it to your butt buddies from prison.
Richter, please just die you stupid asshole.
Eddie at 5:39PM on Aug 7th 2007
124. Richter
First things first: thanks for the compliments. About your complaint about my use of the term 'Mohammedan', it's interchangable with Muslim: Muslims are enjoined by the Quran to obey Allay by following Mohammed's example - 3:32, 3:132, 4:13, 4:59, 5:69, 5:92, 8:1, 8:20, 8:46, 9:71, 24:47,24:51-52,54,56, 33:33, 47:33, 49:14,58:13, 64:12, so calling them Mohammedans is perfectly legitimate, and I plan to use all terms 'Muslim', 'Islamic' and 'Mohammedan' interchangably. In fact, Islam is more a cult than a religion, as the following article so brilliantly analyzes
http://www.faithfreedom.org/Articles/sina/cultorreligion.htm
May be you could explain how the 'North-South' divide and 'anti-Western' attitudes of non-Muslim third word countries account for the following conflicts:
- Bosnian/Albanian Muslim vs Serbs
- Albanians vs Macedonians
- Chechens vs Russians
- Uygar vs Chinese
- Kashmiri Mohammedans vs Pundits
- Thai Muslims vs Buddhists (Yala Province)
- Indonesian Muslims vs local Christians (not Dutch or Portugese)
- Indonesian Muslims vs Hindus (Bali, Lombok)
- Malay Muslims vs Tamils/Chinese
- Bangladeshi Muslims vs Hindus (who sure are snow white)
- Lebanese Muslims vs Maronites
- Iraqi Kurds/Sunnis vs Assyrians
- Egyptian Muslims vs Copts
None of the non-Muslim groups I've listed above are your evil White Westerners: all belong to the same or a similar race as their Mohammedan enemies who are fighting them. Also, your argument that poverty is at the root of this conflict is the most inane - many of al Qaeda's members are well to do Saudis who have know idea of what to do with their excess cash, and as the Doctor's plot in London and Glasgow showed, people who were well to do and supposedly had a lot to lose nonetheless went ahead with their terror plots. If poverty is the root of terrorism and not Islam, why do we see terrorists from countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, et al, and NOT from countries like Laos, Burundi, Malawi or Haiti?
Infidel Pride at 2:44AM on Aug 8th 2007
125. Cartoons like South Park mock ALL relegions but they dont dare mock Islam.
They had one episode where they didnt DARE show mohhamed in cartoon .
They "played" with the concept but in the end didnt dare. However Christianity-Judiasm,etc they tear up which is fine but Islam they were afraid to go all the way.
Lia at 11:03AM on Aug 9th 2007
126. Its funny the same people who say ANY relegion can be criticised are the first ones who say we should be tolerant,respectfull of Islam as thats hands off.
Most are libs .
I feel any relegion can be criticised and mocked EVEN Islam
Sal at 6:16PM on Aug 8th 2007
127. A MUSLIM IS A MUSLIM IS A MUSLIM......INSANE, BARBARIC, IGNORANT, MURDEROUS, TERRORISTS, HATERS, IDIOTS.....EVERY LAST STINKING ONE OF THEM. THERE IS NO RADICAL OR MODERATE.....THERE IS NO INTELLIGENT OR KIND MUSLIM. AS FOR THEIR PROPHET??? DO YOU MEAN THE ILLITERATE, PSCHOTIC, FILTHY, POT-SMOKING, CAMEL HUMPER? YEAH, HE'S A FRIGGIN JOKE....WITH A CAPITAL "J"......DID ALL YOU DISGUSTING, SMELLY, TOWEL-HEADED MORONS HEAR ME? IF NOT.....C'MON YA BASTARDS, I'LL SPEAK TO YOUR UGLY, GREASY, SAND COVERED FACES!!! HEY...THE ONLY WAY FOR YOU THUGS TO BE BETTER LOOKING...IS TO START CUTTING YOUR OWN HEADS OFF. THAT SHOULD MAKE YOU MORE ACCEPTABLE TO YOUR ALLAH AND YOUR PROMISED VIRGINS.......WHOA...ARE YOU PEOPLE STUPID OR WHAT??
scoobydoo at 9:29PM on Aug 8th 2007
128. HEY STUPID......THERE ARE NO MUSLIMS FIGHTING TO REFORM THE RADICALS.....HELLO? WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? IF THERE WAS SUCH A THING AS A "GOOD" AND/OR "PEACEFUL" MUSLIM, THEY'D BE TOO DAMNED SCARED OUT OF THEIR PANTS TO EVEN UTTER A WORD. IT'S A HATEFUL, TERRORIZING, MURDERING FORM OF CONTROL. IT'S NOT A RELIGION......IT'S A BUNCH OF CRAZIES RUNNING AROUND IN ROBES AND TOWELS, SCREAMING SOME CRAP ABOUT ALLAH THIS AND ALLAH THAT AND HOLIDING UP A BOOK THAT SOME ILLITERATE CAMEL HUMPER WROTE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF MUSHROOMS OR PEYOTE OR SOMETHING.....CAUSE ALL HE WAS ...WAS A DAMNED RETARDED CAMEL HERDER!!!! START READING BUDDY...GET SOME KNOWLEDGE.....THEN SPEAK. THESE MORONS ARE NUTS......PLAIN AND SIMPLE. FRIGGING PSYCHOTIC SLASHERS.
J. MICHALEK at 9:38PM on Aug 8th 2007
129.
I am deeply disappointed with treatment of the Islamic danger by the so called "conservatives.". They, President Bush and almost everybody else in the public arena keep talking about "Islamofascism," a "captured faith" or similar pieties. Now, it is not so dangerous when libs say that - after all, what can one expect of them? But conservatives tend to be taken seriously and, consequently, their failure to identify the enemy is much more damaging to the cause of liberty.
To quote Ibn Warraq, "There are moderate Muslims but there is NO moderate Islam." By the same token there WERE moderate Nazis (one even saved my life) but there was NOT a moderate Nazism. It goes without saying, though, that those moderates were neither good Muslims nor good Nazis.
I could go on for hours to show how that murderous ideology came about and has become a "sanctified barbarism," disguised as a religion. But those are well-known though best kept secrets. I guess, the West has reached a point when it is ready for a collective suicide.
The failure to identify the enemy is, in my opinion, the main cause of our debacle in Afghanistan and Iraq. Simply, there is no War on Terror very much like there was not a War on the U-Boats. The latter were simply a weapon of the enemy - the Nazi ideology. And terror is only a "hard" weapon of the Islamists - the other weapon is a "soft" one - the immigration and Islamization of the host societies (vide Eurabia).
And, please bear with me, President Bush is on the brink of being ridiculous when he opines that "the radicals have highjacked a peaceful religion."
Here is my dream ( I have one, yes!). Why don't some radio talk show or TV commentators spend time every week tosimply quote the Quran, the haddiths or the Sunnahs without even offering their own comments? Let's those speak for themselves. That would be a great educational service for humanity.
Thanks for your patience. God bless ALL OF US.
snopek at 7:06PM on Aug 11th 2007
130. Mr. or Ms. Infidel, Muhammad is the proper spelling, Mohammeden is not a word. i would be pleased to know which Qur'an, each Surat and verse you extricated these distorted meanings from. They are absolutely untrue.
Exg: Serbs were the murderers, rapists and torturers of 10's of thousands of Muslim women, not the reverse, sir. Thai Muslim's are fanatics and extremists ergo no comparison. Chinese government is responsible for the cleansing of Tibetan Buddhist Monks, as well as Buddhist Nuns. Coptic Christians and Muslims from Egypt are not at odds. I have many friends from Egypt who have made me aware of this.
The Kurds have yet to find a land of their own. The Kurds in East Turkey have a terrorist faction known as the PKK. They have murdered many Turkish Muslims, Sunni and Shi'i alike.
How is it possible, unless you are as ignorant of true facts as your rant appears, to equate Islam with Cultism? Are you aware Abraham, Jesus and Mary are all mentioned with deference in the Qur'an? Jesus may not be their saviour but he is a Prophet.
not all Muslims, not even the majority, are fanatic, terrorist, car bombing Jihadists.
Yes, you are not afraid to speak against Islam because those that know not of what they speak are the ones that criticize and demean other religions without cause.
Peace be with you and may God show you some peace within your soul and take away the hatred and replace it with tolerance.
Peace.
rhodalee at 5:54PM on Aug 19th 2007
131. Stephy, you are an intolerant, ignorant, uneducated person whom proliferates lies and hatred, allowing others that are unawares of World Religions, thereby allowing others to believe the idiocy you hurl. You are to be pitied and denied by peaceful, tolerant, educated persons.
The Qur'an is not a book of hatred. It is a book of peace. Read the Surats and order of revelations, in order to understand. Purchase a concordance to allow you to read, properly, what is told in the Qur'an.
There is also the Bukhari, the book Sunni find most truthful regarding the words spoken to Muhammad from Allah. It contains 6 Hadith and many verses of the life of Muhammad.
Are you aware Abraham, Jesus Christ and Mother Mary are in the Qur'an? They are mentioned witrh reverance and respect. Ibrahim (Abraham ) and Jesus are Prophets in the Qur'an. Muhammad believed in equality regardless of a persons social standing, he lived in poverty, he believed in good treatment of dogs and animals, he believed in peace.
Please educate yourself. Ignorance is Bliss, they say. Ignorance is also the main reason hatred is kept alive and well.
I will not banter with you re: the religion of Islam, due to the fact you are greatly uneducated in this arena.
As a Christian, remember, put simply "And Jesus said 'What is important is not what goes into our mouths yet what comes out' ". I believe that you should read this repeatedly.
http://www.islamonline.net/surah/english/quaran.shtml
http://www.muhammad.net/
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/prophet
Take some time to educate yourself, the last website is from U of Southern California, perhaps you may believe that one.
As-Salumu Alaykum
Peace be with you at all times and prayers for you to become tolerant.
rhodalee at 10:37AM on Aug 21st 2007
132. Stephanie and people like her are the last chance of the Western Civilization. She is absolutely correct about the nature of the ROP (Religion of Peace, that is, peace of the cemetary). She corretly identifies the French and Polish Kings (Charles Martel and Jan III Sobieski)who saved Europe from Barbarism (yes, it deserves capitalization, it's so immense). The peace loving son of Allah by the name of Rhodllee (# 129)wants you to believe that the Kuran is peace loving 'cause there are tolerant verses in it. Yes, there are but they come from the Meccan period when the Prophet (Hell be on him for ever) was a leader of a tiny minority surrounded by hostile Meccans. Later, in Medina, those verses were abrogated by the the call for murder. And that guy want us also believe that Muhammad (eternal fire be upon him) was a peace lover. Yeah, he was: a murderer, a mass murderer, child molester, sexual predator, a thief and a robber. Even in our deranged liberal USA he would be on the death row.
When will we close our borders to those disseminators of hate and criminality?
snopek at 3:29PM on Aug 21st 2007