Religion-based cult of death & "negative perceptions" & More

A chill on progressive Islam -- Post on Muslim threats to other Muslims viewed as apostates in Canada -- Mohamed Elmasry is mentioned. Worth reading.




Tariq Ramadan: Canada must adapt to Muslims

Mr. Ramadan, it is Islam's religion-based cult of death that we abhor, not the fact that it is foreign. Wherever we go, for example, in South and Southeast Asia, we may admire the architecture of temples, stupas, monasteries and the like, the grace of dancers and musicians telling us the stories of their gods--the Kathakali dancers, the monkey dance--all of it--and we are not afraid. Unfortunately, the major message we are taking from Islam is that there is reason to be afraid of its extremists, its jihadis, its rush to kill, calling out Allah's name. There is something wrong with this religion and it needs to be fixed. Maybe Mr. Ramadan should address this.

Islamist preacher Tariq Ramadan: Canada must adapt to Muslims -- "Muslims: To thine own selves be true", Globe and Mail, Oct. 13, 2005

The reality is that in the eyes of many of our fellow citizens, we are still the "other" -- faithful to a foreign religion.

In this situation, one has two options: either to victimize and isolate oneself or to assert one's otherness. What prevents us from becoming totally involved in our societies today is not legal frameworks. It is, far more, a matter of perception. Western society's grim perception of Muslims today determines the way that people read the law and react to the presence of Muslims in their midst.

Muslim youth bears a great responsibility to change this reality. . . .

Canadians are not going to acquiesce to extremism. Muslims need to change their own reality if they want to live here; they must become more tolerant and abide by our laws.

[. . . . ] Tariq Ramadan, . . . . speaks today in advance of the Institute for Research on Public Policy's symposium on Diversity and Canada's Future.

In "asserting" their "otherness", Muslims scare the heck out of most people. They are deadly extremists -- in our society. Their extremes do not fit into our society, nor does their attitude toward women and toward death. Sharia does not fit our society. Period.

Read the whole thread. Ramadan does not touch upon what is central to Canadians' "grim perception of Muslims", Muslim terrorism. It isn't Baptists, Catholics nor Jews who are bent on destruction and bending the rest of the world to their beliefs . . . or else off with the head . . . or obliteration. We don't need that in our society.

Would someone mention this to Ramadan? At the same time, maybe he would like to comment on this and explain why Canadians should change our attitudes about the "peacful" religion, given this kind of activity: Islamic militants launched simultaneous attacks in Russia



Response by Bill Narvey to Ramadan's article:

Canadians would I think, expect Muslims to renounce, not their entire faith, but those aspects of their faith that are an anathema to Western beliefs, values, mores, and perceptions and which aspects of Islam seem to lie at the heart of Muslim extremism.

Mr. Ramadan, like so many other Muslim propagandists, starts with the premise of Muslim victimization, considers only what rights he believes Muslims are entitled to and that in itself is debateable, without regard to the rights of others vis a vis expectations of Muslims and demands of those others to respect and accomodate Muslims.

Mr. Ramadan ignores the right of Canadians to expect that those Muslims who come to live in Canada, will obey Canada's laws, will tolerate and respect the values and beliefs that define and characterize our society and will owe their first allegience regardless to Canada.

Ugly iceberg of bigotry Alan Dershowitz, Jerusalem Post, Oct. 12, 2005

Search: a recent report by Amnesty International on violence perpetrated against Palestinian women by Palestinian men in the West Bank and Gaza Strip

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