This is ultimately a response post of sorts. In my daily web musings, i.e. blogging, msgboards, chat, etc. I am often confronted with the same question(s) over and over again. The most annoying I have to admit is the "Where are the moderate Muslims?" question. In many ways I bring it upon myself. The whole intent of this blog outside of being therapeutic for me, is that I hope to provide some insight into who Muslims actually are and what we actually think and believe. I know I am only one of a billion, however in my travels I know the majority of Muslims tend to view and practice Islam as I do. As such, I wanted to give the world a view of the Muslim image they are not given such as mine who is a Marine, Loyal American, family guy, politically and socially active, etc. etc. etc. I and many others who blog as I do, know that this is extremely important, because of this annoying question. In fact, the question is so annoying that I want to shout from the mountaintops the answer. When they ask "Where are the Muslims?" I want to answer, in the US Marine Corps, Army, Navy, AirForce, Congress, Government, Doctors, Lawyers, Social Workers, Teachers, Firemen, Police, etc. They are Mothers, Fathers, Students, Co-workers, and neighbors.
We are everywhere in every facet of American
life, yet nowhere at the same time. This is why
it drives me up the wall as I here this tired question
over and over. I am convinced that this question is
only asked by a certain group of people at this
point in time. This group have allowed Karl
Rove and Fox News to scare the pants off
of them. This group didn't even know that
there were millions of Muslims in America
before 9/11. This group had no problem
with Muslims even though Al-Qaeda
had attacked us several times in the 90's.
Why? Because we had leadership that
didn't exploit and tarnish an entire group
of Americans who have been practicing
Islam in this country since before it's birth,
for political gain and to scare people into war.
This group is so closed-minded and ignorant that
to suggest that they don't know where we are
proves the point. In the same time it takes to
Google and go to sites like "Islamwatch", "ProphetofDoom", "AnsweringIslam" etc. one can easily find
many of the sites I link to which are on the right side of the blog page by the way. The American Muslim .org,
for instance links to thousands of sites, Fatwa's, statements, declarations, etc. that catalog Muslims reactions
and feelings against terror, radicalism, etc. YET these same Google and YouTube bandits cannot find these sites.
At a certain point, we have to call it like we see it.
These people who ask this question truly don't want an answer. They can't face the truth that they
say doesn't exist. Why? Because they need a scapegoat. They need to have someone or some group
to hate. To quantify and qualify their existence and false notion of superiority, you have to have a
demon to direct your insecurities at. This is why as one intimately familiar with the issues of race
in America, I truly believe the mentality that had my parents grow up in a society that wouldn't let
blacks drink from the same water fountain, is alive and well today. I believe that outside of the same
old racism that is prevalent, that this new form isn't limited to race per se, but to a group. This
group are the Muslims. The Muslims are the problem they say. It's their "evil" religion and their
"Barbaric Prophet". You can't trust them, they all hate "us" and "our" way of life. Open your ears
and listen. Go back to the interviews 40 or so years ago and the same thing(s) were said about black
Americans. They lied then and they are lying today. They lied on black history, telling us we were
a savage people who contributed little or nothing to history or civilization. They lie on Muslim
history, saying that Muslims are savage people who contributed little or nothing to history or
civilization. These are the lies they tell us. This is why little black girls and boys used to be ashamed
of their skin and who they were as a people. This is why today little Muslim girls and boys feel
ashamed of their religion and what they believe as a people. These demonic forces and rhetoric are
the same. I am convinced that it truly doesn't matter how many charitable contributions Muslims
make, no matter how many lectures, speeches, etc we give, no matter how many times everyday
Muslims are made to feel like we have something to apologize for, this particular contingent of
people will continue to act deaf, dumb, and blind and refuse to listen and see the facts. There have
now been scientific polling studies that have proven what I and others have been saying all along
that the overwhelming majority of Muslims don't support terror, but that doesn't matter. There are
all sorts of stories and reports that contradict their allegations, but that doesn't matter. I have
personally on message board after message board posted hundreds of links, Qur'anic verses,
religious declarations, etc. against terrorism or any form of extremism. I have told my personal
story and put my life on the line as proof of what is truly going on. Muslims are fighting right
as I type in the US, British, and various other nation's Militaries in the war against terrorism,
and yet, we are the terrorists so they say. I have even been told that I only use my service to
invoke sympathy, not the obvious which is as an example of what they say can't possibly be.
All these chicken hawks and scarecrows are ignorant to the core and it's truly sad. What I
encourage people of conscience and especially the Muslims to do is ignore them. Let's persevere
and fight like hell as we already are to define who we are ourselves. Otherwise we let these wicked
people define us themselves and they get to set the agenda and continue to undervalue, underestimate,
and marginalize us.
We need to join together and boycott the media outlets, divest in sponsors, and be vocal against any
outlet that continues to feed these guys lies. Just the other day, Fox so called News had on their show
some anti-American/American convert to Islam on their show, yet again. Why is it that we allow these
people to do this? How is it that so-called news agencies can find these people but not the pro-
American/American converts to Islam who are currently serving or have served in this nations
Military?How is it they can't find all the Muslim Student Associations, Muslim Charities, Mosques, etc.
who help feed the homeless, work with interfaith groups to promote diversity, tolerance, and understanding, etc.
My group for instance, The Progressive Muslim Network, just hosted an interfaith anti-Domestic Violence
event at American University in DC, we also fed the homeless in December, and helped at a battered woman's
shelter, ALL in the name of Islam. We are just one group out of thousands across America, I have yet to see
any of these groups on the "news". But we get plenty of stories about domestic violence stories committed by
Muslims or insinuate how we don't work with other religions and help our non-Muslim communities. It's all lies
and it's all our fault Muslims.
We are not vigilant enough. We don't have the courage and the will to fight that is necessary. I will tell you what,
you can all sit around and watch, but I will be damned if I allow my children to grow up in a society where they
already have issues being black but now also Muslim, because of the racism of the same group of people. We have
to unite and make our voices heard, even when they don't want to hear it. When they scream, we need to scream
louder. When they lie, we need to come with the truth. One thing is for certain, while we may not be able to
stop the racist, idiotic, question from coming, we can surely marginalize and weaken it's effect in a civil manner.
Just like the KKK is considered a joke today, we have to make this new KKK-lite group a joke too. We all know
they have their sheets in the closest and Fox News on the TV, we just have to let the rest of the world know who
they are so at the minimum they can be the butt of jokes they truly are, and they won't have the platform they
currently enjoy.
"Hurt no one so that no one may hurt you. Remember that you will indeed meet your Lord, and
that He will indeed reckon your deeds." From the last sermon of Prophet Mohammed
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