An Anti-CAIR Blogburst.
The following is the personal opinion of Andrew Whitehead, founder of
Anti-CAIR.On 5 December, JihadWatch posted an article referring to an online
posting made by IslamOnline.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/019040.phpAs I do not speak/read Arabic, I am relying on the translation provided
by JihadWatch.According to JihadWatch's translation, IslamOnline has implied that
Anti-CAIR is engaged in activities on behalf of Michael Savage in his
lawsuit against the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).While Anti-CAIR supports Savage's free speech rights, we are not
spearheading any coalition nor organizing opposition to CAIR's newest group,
"Hate Hurts America" (HHA).My support for Savage, and others attacked by CAIR, is based on my
belief in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights; that all Americans are
created equal; that all Americans have the right to be equal before the
law, and that the Constitution, not Islamic law, should be the
touchstone of civil society. In my opinion, CAIR does not believe that all
people are created equal, does not abide by or believe in the
Judeo-Christian values that are the bedrock of our society, nor support the
fundamental principles that inform our legal system (a system, however, that
CAIR will happily abuse to advance its agenda).IslamOnline seems offended because Anti-CAIR takes CAIR/HHA to task for
failing to defend Daniel Pipes, Steve Emerson, Robert Spencer and Joe
Kaufman, calling these distinguished Americans "most hostile to Islam."
While these gentlemen do not need me to defend them, I can say I have
never heard or read of any of them using hateful language against
peaceful Muslims.Peaceful members of any religion know that they can find sanctuary in
the United States. We Americans know, from our founding, what it means
to be persecuted for our religious beliefs; we know what it means to be
run out of a country. We have reached out to Jews, Catholics,
Lutherans, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, and even "home grown" religions like the
Mormons. All have found America a welcoming place. We are equally
welcoming of Islam; but do not make the mistake of assuming our acceptance
implies surrender. Islam is welcome - so long as its adherents respect
and accept the basic values and practices of our government and our
people.We Americans are, for the most part, a very tolerant people. Radical
Islam has mistaken that tolerance for weakness. Radical Islam has
completely failed to understand the resolve of most Americans when it comes to
the global battle to exterminate radical Islam. Radical Islamists
view the statements of some elected "leaders" in support of radical Islam
as "proof" that America is on the verge of surrendering Iraq and
Afghanistan to radical Islam. They hear the words of some of our leaders and
believe that all our leaders are of the opinion that we have lost the
battle against Islamist terror.Nothing could be further from the truth. Radical Islamists tend to
originate in countries that have no freedom of speech, nor religion; where
the leaders all speak in the same voice; where any type of public
dissent is ruthlessly suppressed, all in the "name of Allah". When they
hear five or six American congressional leaders saying that the United
States has lost the war, they assume that these "leaders" are speaking for
America, not understanding that under our Republican Democracy, even
America-haters have the opportunity to be elected to high office.What the editorialists of IslamOnline have failed to understand is that
by tolerating groups like CAIR in North America, we are not signaling
that we agree with them. After all, we have the Ku Klux Klan and
American NAZI Party in the USA as well, but we don't base our public policy
on what these these groups might prefer.If IslamOnline and other peaceful Muslim groups want to show America
the peaceful side of Islam, the first step they should take is to disown
CAIR.
