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ORIGINAL: Level

Now..... do you feel the Muslim population has done enough to denounce the acts of the terrorists? If so, why don't we seem to see it as much as might be helpful? If it's the media and/or government holding things up, why would they do so?

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ORIGINAL: kittinSol

They are incomparable.

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ORIGINAL: TheHeretic

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ORIGINAL: kittinSol

They are incomparable.

     Indeed they are.  Far more people have died horribly in communist regimes.  Perhaps you should use a more generic term for your jokes.  'Totalitarian' perhaps?

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     As to the desecrated graves, that's an ugly form of expression, deep into the gray area where free speech turns into criminal acts.  Very angry stuff.  Did this occur in an area of France where the riots were bad last year?

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ORIGINAL: kittinSol

Give me one good reason why they should: how are the average Muslim guy or gurl in any way responsible for terrorist acts?! You automatically make them related to terrorists because of their religion; it's short-sighted, at best.

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You expect the entire Muslim population of the planet to speak in unison against something they have no control over. 

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Did you expect the Catholics of the world to denounce the IRA?

YES.  And southerners to denounce the Klan. And Christians to denounce the ultra-right goofs. And for ravers to denounce the DJs. Etc

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Do you see how terrorist groups are motivated by politics before religion?

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Western governments have a vested interest in demonising Islam, if not too openly, at least subtly and perniciously: it's the 'common enemy' that has justified a senseless war and a demagogy that has no other aim than to keep people in power.

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ORIGINAL: kittinSol

While both regimes can be described as totalitarian, one is definitely anchored in racism, while the other isn't.   

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Insha'Allah this will be of some help to your concern about Muslim responses to terrorism. I looked for specific links to Muslim responses to terrorism, particularly those of scholars, leaders, and organizations. There were too many to list, but many of them can be found here:
http://www.muhajabah.com/otherscondemn.php

Another listing can be found here:
http://www.unc.edu/%7Ekurzman/terror.htm

This includes responses from well-respected Islamic scholars with a huge following, such as Shaykhs Hamza Yusuf and Yusuf al-Qaradawi and Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Scholars have even declared fatwas against terrorism. This letter: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/h..._07_letter.pdf is from 130 well-respected Islamic scholars condemning terrorism. It also lists links to information about organizations of Muslims in America, Canada, and the UK who condemn terrorism.

They are as public as humanly possible. Most of those links are to articles from major news sources like the BBC, the Washington Post, Associated Press, Agence France Presse; the letter I posted was sent to a huge list of major Christian religious leaders, including the Pope. Many of the messages have been projected on Muslim and Arab news sources, opening them up to criticism from the "many" you seem to think agree with terrorists. A huge number of the messages are from high government leaders, including heads of countries, in Chad, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, and Egypt. How much more public can you get? The fact is, the media reports about Islamic terrorism because Muslims speaking out against terrorism does not make money.

One of the interesting points I'd like to make on behalf of non-Wahhabist Muslims is that we are in the same boat you are. Aside from the fact that many of us (like myself) are Americans, born of American non-Muslim families, and members of other Western nations, we are also considered "unbelievers" by pretty much every terrorist group. These radical groups denounce Shi'a and Sufi Muslims as unbelievers, and all Sunni Muslims who do not agree with them, and call for our destruction as well.

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ORIGINAL: NorthernGent

Haven't the French got form for this sort of carry on? Wasn't there a problem with Jewish graves not so long back?

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ORIGINAL: hisannabelle

fast reply.

these are posts i made on another website but insha'allah they will also be useful for those here in seeing a small amount of muslim reactions to terrorism gathered in one place. i'd also like to point out that...well...what else can we DO? other than live our lives? i mean, for every single muslim in the world to try to make their voice heard in western media at every opportunity is almost entirely prohibitive. we have jobs, school, immigration, bills, and everything else to worry about. on top of that, we have to worry upon walking out of our door, because (at least for covering women) we face quite a bit of difficulty even going to the grocery store often enough. what else can i do? should i carry a sign that says, "i denounce terrorism," every time i leave the house? i mean, every sheikh whose teachings i personally read, listen to, and follow is listed among the links i posted below denouncing terrorism. what else can we do?

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level, i noticed you list buddhism among things you love. as a buddhist, i never spent my entire existence apologizing for sinhalese genocide of tamils, or for the deaths caused in the terror of the karmapa controversy, or for any other violence in the name of buddhism. i don't know any buddhists who are expected to expend all extra energy they have trying to get the "moderate voice" heard on tv (and, being involved in buddhist leadership here and maintaining ties to that community, as well as studying buddhism academically, i know a LOT of buddhists). how is that different?

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ORIGINAL: LadyEllen

I can see that Level, but honestly, using the IRA comparison - no one expected the local priest here or his parishioners to denounce the IRA as R Catholics. What I see is an expression of the seething undercurrent of racism present in our society, and this is just an excuse to express it against a whole group rather than denouncing a few criminals who happen to be Muslim.

E

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ORIGINAL: charmdpetKeira

 
If people did not equate the marker of a grave site, as a representation of the body that is buried there; defacing gravestones would be useless as a weapon.
 
k