Muslim Responsibility in Countering Violent Extremism

Obama counters violent extremism

Have Muslim organizations in the U.S. issued any guidelines to Mosques and Islamic centers on how to deal with troubled youths and extremist elements who are trying to recruit in their midst? Have they created outreach programs to Muslim families dealing with radicalized youths in an attempt to help them come back to the mainstream? Have they set up special camps that can help in these matters? Are they providing specialized training to Imams on how to deal with these and other related issues? Have they created educational guidelines on how certain issues related to Islamic teachings, such as Jihad and Dhimmitude, among others, should be breached?

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America The Secure?

Back in 2007, presidential hopeful Barack Obama made a promise that as President of the United States he would never "turn a blind eye on slaughter." Indeed, this is the one promise no leader of the free world should ever fail to make and should never ever break. Candidate Obama clearly made it, then, as President, he repeatedly broke it. History will judge. This is not simply a stain on his legacy, this is a stain on his sense of humanity and honor. It is also a stain on ours for our failure to get him to act. History will not be kind to us as well. History cares little for our intentions. — Back in 2007, presidential hopeful Barack Obama made a promise that as President of the United States he would never “turn a blind eye on slaughter.” Indeed, this is the one promise no leader of the free world should ever fail to make and should never ever break. Candidate Obama clearly made it, then, as President, he repeatedly broke it. History will judge. This is not simply a stain on his legacy, this is a stain on his sense of humanity and honor. It is also a stain on ours for our failure to get him to act. History will not be kind to us as well. History cares little for our intentions.

[dropcap]M[/dropcap]any of the supporters of the Obama Doctrine are appalled by what is clearly a cynical policy of fear-mongering by the right, one that is more concerned with galvanizing the power-base than it is with explain the facts of the world we live into them. But, the supporters argue, while the world might indeed be going through a turbulent and violent phase right now, America is actually quite safe.

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Modernization & Perfectibility

Have-No-Fear

The Qur’an and other traditional religious texts may indeed contain verses that are objectionable by modern standards, but that does not mean that we can reduce all these texts to these verses. Beyond the arcane mythology and certain specific objectionable rulings, there is also much wisdom contained in these texts, wisdom that allows them to keep their followers inspired and capable of coping with the requirements of modern life provided that they can understand the true nature of the relationship between the specific and the general in these texts.

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Beyond Unofficial Conviviality

An ancient Qur'anic manuscript, one of any currently being analyzed by scholars seeking to understand how the Qur'an really came to be, and what it represents in historical terms. — An ancient Qur’anic manuscript, one of any currently being analyzed by scholars seeking to understand how the Qur’an really came to be, and what it represents in historical terms.

In his treatment of Islam, and of traditional religious faiths in general, Bill Maher seems to be oblivious to this simple fact of life: people are mostly hypocritical in nature, not puritans. They want the best out of both: the here-and-now as well as the hereafter. This makes it difficult to judge people on the basis of the holy books in which they believe, because, while they might refuse to challenge the authority of these texts, in part or as a whole, their actions and inactions come as a much better measure of what they really want.

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