04/26 Morning Report

The Pendleton 8 are getting vindication. For those who don’t know, these are the marines accused of indiscriminately killing Iraqi civilians after their Humvee was hit by an IED. Following the facts as laid out in the article, the media has blown this all out of proportion, based on an edited piece of propaganda. The insurgents deliberately set a trap, to video US troop actions, and use it to inflame public opinion. And, because of media hype, and knee-jerk reactions from politicians, innocent soldiers are being robbed of their honor.
(…I’m with Star…

Murtha and the media may want to forget about the Haditha Marines, but if we let them than we are just as guilty as they are of working against our Troops and against this country!

…we need to hold them to the truth once again…like “Jamal Hussein”…like faked AP photos…)

(…by the way, Blue Star got it from My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy..I just give a BIG h/t to both of you…)

Have you wondered why there are not more moderate Muslim voices speaking out? Then you should probably read this. I agree our perception of “a moderate Muslim” is probably way off base. But, there are some pretty interesting clues here.

In light of such situations, a number of non-Muslims and Muslims alike yearn for "moderate," peace-loving Muslims to speak out against the violent acts sometimes perpetrated in the name of Islam.

Now that is an pretty straight forward beginning. And, it accurately states a desire among many peoples. There is only one problem with this article. It never addresses this statement. It does say that “orthodox” is a better description than “moderate.” And, I will grant the point, for now. But that wasn’t the issue. And it isn’t the question. Why do more peace loving Muslims not speak out against the violence?

The question many people are asking is why do the “peaceful Muslims” not speak out against the violent ones. This writer’s answer?

But to be a "moderate" Muslim also implies that Osama bin Laden and Co. must represent the pinnacle of orthodoxy; that a criterion of orthodox Islam somehow inherently entails violence; and, consequently, that if I espouse peace, I am not adhering to my full religious duties.

That is not really a true statement. “Moderate” does not mean one gives up, or compromises, on the tenants of their religion. It does mean you speak out against what you believe is wrong according to your beliefs.

The term moderate Muslim is actually a redundancy. In the Islamic tradition, the concept of the "middle way" is central. Muslims believe that Islam is a path of intrinsic moderation, wasatiyya. This concept is the namesake of a British Muslim grass-roots organization, the Radical Middle Way. It is an initiative to counter Islam's violent reputation with factual scholarship.

It seems to me that walking in the middle way means raising your voice against injustice, which is what the world is looking for non-violent Muslims to do. The world needs a moderating voice from the Muslim community, and we are looking to the “moderates” or orthodox community to hear one. Why is there so little being said by that community?

That is the question. And it was not answered here. Once again, it seems the “orthodox” voice remains silent, emboldening and empowering the violent through inaction.