Amnesty International Press Release

Amnesty International issued a lukewarm press release. condmening the brutal torture-killings of two United States soldiers that begins:

WASHINGTON, June 21 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Larry Cox, Amnesty International USA's executive director, made the following statement in response to the alleged killing and torture of two U.S. soldiers in Ramadi, Iraq:

I wonder if these soldier alleged commanding officers and alleged parents have confirmed that they are dead?

Crazy Cynthia Not Indicted

Crazy Cythia gets to run again, this time on the campaign slogan, "Unindicted!"

The Washington Post reported the failure to indict on a slow news day Saturday.

Waiting for the Riots

After Ghana's victory over Egypt in their World Cup, Ghana's goalie waved an Israeli flag (he is popular in Israel). Uh oh. The Arab press is upset.

Hmmmm.

Muslims riot over cartoons.
Muslims riot over motor vehicle accidents.
Muslims riot over comedy acts.
Muslims riot over people turning Christian and not being executed.
Muslims riot over being in France.

Riot over a soccer match, maybe? At least it would be a type of riot I could almost relate to.

Moderation Loses -- in American Mosque

A truly scary story today (6/19/06) out of the Wall Street Journal (behind the pay screen) reported on Jihadwatch.org about what happens when a moderate Muslim stands up for moderation in American (assuming San Francisco still counts as America).

Where are all those moderate Muslims standing up to be counted?

Teaching Children to Hate

Saudi Arabia's official new textbooks proudly teach hate. Here is a quote from the equivalent to the fourth grade:

"True belief means . . . that you hate the polytheists and infidels but do not treat them unjustly."

Source: San Jose Mercury News.

Muslims Unite for Peace!

Let us be quite clear. I firmly believe that most Muslims are sincere people who want to please God and who do not want violence.

We non-Muslims are constantly told that the jihadists have hijacked Islam and lack the backing of "most" Muslims. That word "most" bothers me, because it does not take a large percentage to make a very large number of terrorists. If it is only 5%, that is still 5% of 1.4 billion Muslims or 70 million Muslims. 1% would be 14 million potential terrorists.

Sincere, peaceful Muslims must take action. They must control their own mosques. They must report and expel those who spread hate.

Or, they should run, don't walk, to the nearest religion that preaches and teaches peace.

Religion of Peace and Tolerance--Again

Arrests in Saudi Arabia.

The crime? Conducting a private Christian worship meeting.

SAUDI ARABIA : POLICE ARREST FOUR EAST AFRICAN CHRISTIANS

Detainees held at Jeddah’s deportation jail.

June 15 (Compass Direct) – Ten Saudi Arabian police armed with wooden clubs raided a private Christian worship meeting in the coastal city of Jeddah on June 9, arresting four East African citizens leading the service.

At press time the two Ethiopian and two Eritrean Christians remained in the city’s deportation jail.

More than 100 Eritreans, Ethiopians and Filipinos were gathered for worship in a home in Jeddah’s Al-Rowaise district at 11 o’clock last Friday morning when a group of Saudi police entered the meeting, wooden clubs in hand.

The startled worshippers brought chairs to seat the policemen, who sat and waited for the three-hour worship service to conclude. None used their clubs or physically mishandled the worshippers.

“Actually, some muttawa [Muslim religious police] came to this gathering about two weeks before,” a local source told Compass, “but they did not do anything.”
But after the June 9 weekly praise and prayer service finished, police arrested four leaders of the group: Ethiopian Christians Mekbeb Telahun and Masai Wendewesen, together with Eritrean Christians Fekre Gebremedhin and Dawit Uqbay.
The four were jailed in the Jeddah Terhil (Deportation) Center, where guards have since permitted an acquaintance to bring them all a change of clothes. Three of the men are married; Wendewesen is single.

A Christian who spoke with the detainees by telephone reported they were “doing fine, with okay morale.” But he said he did not know how they were being treated, or whether they were undergoing interrogation.

According to local sources, the incident has been reported to consular officials of the Philippines and the United States.

Typically the Saudi government deports expatriate Christians caught conducting worship meetings in their homes or privately owned villas, forcing their employers to terminate their work contracts.

Under the kingdom’s strict interpretation of Islamic law, public non-Muslim worship is prohibited, although members of the royal family insist that Christians are free to worship within their own homes.

Last year five East Africans were detained for a month for leading a private Christian worship service in Riyadh.

How About Them Records

Someone let John Kerry speak in public again. Saying he was wrong to vote in favor of invading Iraq, CNS news reports:

Kerry, who led an unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 2004, said it was necessary to admit mistakes because "you cannot change the future if you''re not honest about the past."

Quoting a blogger on GOPUSA, Hey Mr. Kerry, "how 'bout them military records?"

CAIR Lies About Video

One would think that the Council on American and Islamic Relations (CAIR) was against hate -- unles you listen to what the actually say and do. Let me explain.

Apparently some marines in Iraq blew off some combat-veteran-type steam in a darkly humorous song about a marine who falls for a Muslim woman. In the ballad when her father tried to shoot him with an AK-47, the marine pulls the sister between himself and the father, the father shoots the sister, and the marine defends himself killing the father who tried to kill him.

CAIR is outraged and issues a press release that lies about the song here claiming that it "glorifies the killing of Iraqi civilians.".

View the video here.

Understanding Islam

The recent arrests of Islamist terrorists in Canada has resulted in Canadian commentary by scholars on the problems of Islam and terrorism. I sometimes wonder about the backgrounds of commentators. Consider Gordon Nickel:

Gordon Nickel, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Intercultural Studies, Director of Master of Arts in Cross-Cultural Ministries Program
Education:
* B.A., University of Saskatchewan
* M.A., Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary
* M.A., School of Oriental and African Studies, London
* Ph.D., University of Calgary
Gordon served as a missionary among Muslims in Pakistan and India between 1988 and 2003. His academic research is in the earliest commentaries on the Qur'an. He has taught at St. Thomas Theological College in Karachi, Centenary MB Bible College near Hyderabad, India, and Bethany Bible Insitute. He joined the faculty of Canadian Theological Seminary at ACTS in 2003. Gordon's desire is to help prepare and mentor a new generation of cross-cultural ministers in this exciting era of "World Christianity." He is the author of "Peaceable Witness Among Muslims" (Herald Press, 1999).

His commentary in the Candada's National Post is a must read and contains Koranic and other illuminating source quotes.

Profiling

I just don't get the anti-profiling crowd when it comes to terrorism. See Canada Daily Globe and Mail article. When there is an identifialbe group of people, a significant percentage of which have (1) threatened to kill you and (2) have carried out such threats on others, why wouldn't you target that idenfiable group for closer scrutiny?

Al Qaeda wants to kill me in the name of Islam (I will not convert or agree to be subjugated). I think it is only reasonable to look closely at Muslims as potential killers.

The best way to battle profiling would be for Muslims to take a more active, upfront role against Islamic terror and against Islamic, anti-American hate speech. Muslims must vocally and publicly denounce their Imams who promote anti-Americanism here and abroad.

Update (6/14/06): Daniel Pipes agrees with me and argues persuasively that profiling works.

Muslims Need This Sort of News

It is being reported that the arrests of three (alleged) terrorists in Toledo, Ohio, resulted from a tip from another Muslim who federal officials referred to as "the Trainer." See Jihadwatch and the Toledo Blade. The federal officials have confirmed the identity of the tipster as a recent Islam convert named in news articles.

In May, the Federal prosecutors moved the court to bar defense attorneys from dissmeninating photographs of the tipster, a paid FBI informant, out of fear for the tipster's life. See Toledo Blade Article of May 2, 2006. Apparently prosecutors fear a strategy of witness assassination. I have not located a news report on the court ruling.

According to news reports (Cleveland Plain Dealer article here), the tipster shared the Muslim faith, but I would feel more comfortable if there were more reports that terrorists were caught resulting from Muslim cooperation.

Message to Muslims: If you want to persuade us that Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance, turn your bad guys in.

Peaceful, Tolerant Muslims

We keep hearing about how Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance. I think all of us non-Muslims wish that were true. It is no doubt true (indeed, it is demonstrably true) that there are peaceful, tolerant Muslims out there.

I am aware of exactly one organization (outside a small sect of Muslims that mainstream Islam considers heretical, Ahmadiyya Muslims), and that is the Free Muslims Coalition.

These poor folks have their hearts and minds in the right place, but are small fish swimming upstream. They staged a peace march that unfortunately, was very poorly attended. (But I sincerely thank them for being there and keeping at it.)

Where are the other sincere peaceful Muslims? What is their plan to combat terrorism by their violent, unpeaceful brother (and sister) Muslims? Why is there to little public outrage by Muslims to the news of terrorists being caught.

It seems the only outrage we hear is the outrage and fear that, heaven forbid, Islam should be blamed for the terrorist activities of those who invoke, well, Islam.

Where are the peaceful tolerant Muslims and why aren't they publicly and effectively fighting the terrorists? Until we see clear public oppositions by Muslims against Islamic jihadists, I don't see how we non-Muslims can ever believe the peace and tolerance claims made on behalf of Islam -- although we really want to believe.

Peace and Tolerance in Islam

Is it a good thing that Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance, or they might have succeeded in their attempt to murder writer Humayun Azad for insulting Muhammed. See story here.

Comedy Riots

Riots over cartoons. Now riots over comedy.

Is there something about Islam that mentally deranges its followers? Can someone enlighten me on this?