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CounterPunch
October
10, 2002
Falwell, Graham
and Friedman
Inexcusable Tolerance for Religious
Extremism in America
by FEDWA WAZWAZ
Since the terrorist attacks on Sept 11, many high-ranking
leaders of the religious right in America have been quite vocal
attacking Islam, the Qur'an and Prophet Muhammad in the public
square. With a few exceptions, American columnists, intellectuals
and political leaders have encouraged this hate campaign with
their silence.
For example, Rev. Franklin Graham, Billy
Graham's son and successor who participated in the president's
inauguration, declared Islam a "very evil and wicked religion."
And in a recent appearance on Fox News
Channel's "Hannity & Colmes" program, Christian
Coalition founder and television evangelist Pat Robertson, attacked
Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. About Muhammad, Robertson said:
"This man was an absolute wild-eyed fanatic. He was a robber
and a brigand. And to say that these terrorists distort Islam,
they're carrying out Islam. I mean, this man [Muhammad] was a
killer. And to think that this is a peaceful religion is fraudulent."
Robertson also called Islam "a monumental scam."
In addition, on the CBS program "60
Minutes," the Rev. Jerry Falwell attacked Prophet Muhammad
as a "terrorist." Last summer, Falwell defended Southern
Baptist pastor Jerry Vines who declared at the denomination's
convention wherein President Bush spoke via satellite, that Muhammad
was a "demon-possessed pedophile" and that Islam teaches
the destruction of all non-Muslims.
These are not the words of the KKK or
some outcast group. These are influential leaders within America
that share a close relationship with the President, his administration
and many Republican leaders. Neither the Bush Administration
nor any Republican leader has condemned their attacks or disassociated
themselves from these extremists.
While CBS and Fox News are free to invite
people to raise arguments or challenges to Islam, they have not
shown fairness or balance by not inviting Muslim Scholars to
respond to these attacks.
If America is intolerant to religious
extremism, one would hear within the public square criticism
of extremists of all faiths. However, we only hear Muslim extremists
being condemned.
To illustrate my point, for the past
year we have seen a deluge of articles, opinion pieces, and reports
on Muslim clerics teaching hatred toward Christianity and Judaism
and silence within the mainstream press to malicious attacks
against Islam.
For example, Thomas Friedman one of the
most influential columnists in America, reminded us over and
over again that the 19 Muslim men who attacked the WTC and Pentagon
came from Egypt and Saudi Arabia. In a tireless manner, he wrote
extensively on the "madrassas", or schools, that teach
Muslims to hate non Muslims. He forgot the hundreds of thousands
of American Jews who go settle in Israel and are taught that
Arabs are "vermin," "snakes," or "evil."
Alan Goodman was an American Jewish citizen who went to the Al
Aqsa compound and started shooting at worshippers. Baruch Goldstein,
another American Jewish citizen, opened fire on Muslim worshippers
kneeling in prayer within the Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron in 1994,
killing 29 instantly and wounding dozens.
There is no shrine honoring bin Laden
in Saudi Arabia, but there is a shrine honoring Goldstein in
an illegal Jewish settlement in the West Bank, where thousands
come annually to honor his "martyrdom", even from America.
Actually, these Jewish settlers have
a strong political and religious relationship with the Christian
right leaders who are bashing Islam ad nauseaum.
One has to ask: where is Friedman's pen
regarding the seminaries within America that produced Goldstein,
Goodman and the nefarious armed Jewish settlers who believe they
have a God-given right to steal Arab land by force? Where are
Friedman's thought-provoking articles regarding Graham, Falwell,
and Robertson's attacks against Islam and their alliances with
the Bush administration?
As a Muslim convinced of my faith, I
don't want people to be afraid to question Islam, raise arguments
or questions about the Qur'an or Prophet Muhammad. However, I
question the platform where we are viciously attacked and our
voices are silenced or distorted.
America is a free county, however, there
is a "Do Not Enter" sign for Muslims who want to enter
the public square and respond to these vitriolic attacks.
When Muslims are given the chance, they
can easily show that these attacks against Islam are absolutely
false and that those who are attacking Islam are doing so in
the spirit of hatred, not in the spirit of Jesus, Moses or any
prophet of God.
Let the Muslims enter the public square.
It is the Muslims turn to take the mike and respond to these
attacks. Americans can listen to the counterpoint and decide
on the true character of Prophet Muhammad.
Fedwa Wazwaz,
of Crystal, Minnesota, is the communications director for the
Islamic Resource Group in Minnesota.
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2002
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