Muslims Who Renounce Violence

Mo Rocca has appeared on a bunch of shows, including 'The Daily Show,' 'I Love the 80s,'...

Mo Rocca Feed

Muslims Who Renounce Violence

Posted Feb 20th 2008 2:02AM by Dinesh D'Souza
Filed under: Terrorism, Islam, Christianity, Islamic Radicals

When I proposed in my book The Enemy at Home (newly out in paperback) that America should ally with traditional Muslims to defeat the radical Muslims, some conservatives reacted with amazement. Where, these savants inquired, are the traditional Muslims? Clearly the exposure of some on the right to the Muslim world was limited to the viewing of clips of Bin Laden videos on the Fox News Channel.

Then last October a group of 138 Muslim scholars from diverse schools of thought wrote an open letter to Pope Benedict urging "mutual understanding" between Christianity and Islam. Titled "A Common Word Between Us and You," the letter notes that Muslims and Christians can find shared ground based on the dual commandments to love God and love our neighbor.

"As Muslims," the letter goes, "we say to Christians that we are not against them and that Islam is not against them--so long as they do not wage war against Muslims on account of their religion, oppress them, and drive them out of their homes." The letter was carefully worded so that it did not confuse clashes of interests with a war against the Muslim religion. In effect, the Muslim leaders were saying that their religious quarrel is only with atheists and other enemies of Islam.

Liberal Christians reacted to the letter with their usual abasement. Certainly some relief was in order, because Muslims who seek common cause with the West, or at least with the Christian West, are far preferable to those who seek to destroy us. Even so, why are liberal Christians so quick to prostrate themselves? "We want to begin by acknowledging that in the past (e.g. in the Crusades) and in the present (e.g. in the war on terror) many Christians have been guilty of sinning against our Muslim neighbor...We ask forgiveness of the All-Merciful One and of the Muslim community around the world."

The Vatican, accustomed to dealing with Muslim diplomatic initiatives for centuries, responded with much greater caution. While welcoming the initiative to dialog, the Vatican's Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran stressed that genuine common ground requires reciprocity. So if Muslims want to have full rights of worship in Western countries, they should grant those same rights to Christians in Muslim countries. If Muslims have the freedom to build mosques in London and Chicago, Christians should be able to build churches in Islamabad and Amman.

One group of ignoramuses wants to wage an ideological war against Islam. Another group of sycophants wants to curry favor among Muslims, just so long as they abstain from bombing us. In between these two there is a sensible option: to negotiate respectfully but firmly with traditional Muslims, building on shared values but also insisting that justice and goodwill must come from both sides of the street.

Permalink
Email this
Linking Blogs
Comments [516]
Share this
- Add this post to...
- Netscape
- Digg
- Del.icio.us

Reader Comments ( Page 6 of 35)

Previous 15 Comments | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments

76. It is a mystery to me why you keep saying "Blue" as if your version of subjective vs. objective was even demonstrated to me.

You say that we see blue different from each other... I say B.S.

e.g. if I saw blue different from you then I must see white different from you too... because white is made up of the different colours red/green/blue...

not-pboyfloyd at 8:09PM on Feb 20th 2008

77. Gassbag says "68. Muslims that renounce violence, should regin in those that don't ... then we'll have something to talk about. Thomas J Gassett"

And that goes DOUBLE for you "Christian" types...

brandon at 8:14PM on Feb 20th 2008

78. Denish "So if Muslims want to have full rights of worship in Western countries, they should grant those same rights to Christians in Muslim countries."

Doesn't it stand to reason that Muslims in western countries who are free to build Mosques have no control over Muslims in Iran, Syria, etc...

Dinesh really just barely hits the surface of any topic he discusses.

Ryan Anderson at 8:26PM on Feb 20th 2008

79. Pboy,

Exactly.

Botts at 8:34PM on Feb 20th 2008

80. What about torture Botts... is that objective, or does it depend who and why you are torturing?

not-pboyfloyd at 8:42PM on Feb 20th 2008

81. Well Pboy, considering I've been tortured, I would say it's objective.

But there are reasons, where torturing is necessary. As much as it hurts to say that, it's true.

Torture the right one, and you can save millions.

Botts at 8:49PM on Feb 20th 2008

82. Ryan,

Just yesterday Dinesh supported seperation, with the cross in the multi-use chapel B.S. Today he proposes we include them...if they get in line with his thinking.

Baffling?

mac at 8:54PM on Feb 20th 2008

83. Botts,

Who decides which is the 'right' one. That is a very slippery slope you're descending, careful.

mac at 8:57PM on Feb 20th 2008

84. lol... mac... you took the words right out of my mouth.

not-pboyfloyd at 9:00PM on Feb 20th 2008

85. Well Pboy, considering I've been tortured, I would say it's objective.
But there are reasons, where torturing is necessary. As much as it hurts to say that, it's true.

Torture the right one, and you can save millions.
Botts at 8:49PM on Feb 20th 2008
-----

Botts,
Did the torturer save millions? I'm sure he thought he had the right one.

Would you give up your god under duress? The muslim extremist is on a HOLY mission( in his mind). I'm sure he won't give up allah under any circumstance.

mac at 9:18PM on Feb 20th 2008

86. Plus, Botts... were you tortured according to the definition of torture by the Geneva Convention or by the new neocon definition?

Perhaps you weren't tortured 'as such' after all?! Or is a double standard fine with you too?

not-pboyfloyd at 9:17PM on Feb 20th 2008

87. botts,

do you like the gnostics?

brian at 9:29PM on Feb 20th 2008

88. brian.. gotta love those frying pans they make though.

Still, I can't use 'em 'cos I hear that teflon fumes are bad for my little boy, PBF!

not-pboyfloyd at 9:48PM on Feb 20th 2008

89. floyd, we in the south just use iron skilletts. they work better and last longer,besides when you get out of line well just imagine

brian at 9:58PM on Feb 20th 2008

90. floyd,

will you ever come to your senses and join the ranks of the christians first and then leave the demoncratic party?

brian at 10:00PM on Feb 20th 2008

Previous 15 Comments | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br> tags.

Mo's Video

The Sound of a Smoke-Free Barack...
Almost two years ago we speculated on how Barack Obama's voice would change if he stopped smoking. ...

Coming Soon

Most Commented On

Coming Soon

Mo's Bio

Mo Rocca appears on a bunch of shows, including CBS News Sunday Morning (with the indescribably wonderful Charles Osgood), The Tonight Show on NBC, and NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! He's a sometime judge on Iron Chef and was featured on Telemundo's Amore Descarado. Last year he starred on Broadway in the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. His expose "All the President's Pets" was published by Crown in 2004.