How, as an individual, can one best help to destroy radical Isalm?

Question

Radical Islam is the greatest threat the civilized world faces. Given the overwhelming number of violent acts, murderes, terrorism and mayhem, only a fool now calls Islam the "religion of peace". What can we, as individuals, do in our daily lives to expose and eliminate the prevalence of radical Islam? Where are the so-called "moderate Muslims"? Why are their voices not heard? Do they in fact exist?

Yes I have, in fact, listened very closely for the so-called "moderate Muslims". When Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Israel must be "wiped off the map" the collective silence of the Islamic world was deafening.

cabrobst: Please keep your asnine opinions to yourself. How dare you suggest that people embrace "democratic socialism"! This is nothing more than a soft-soap term for neo-Marxism.

Answer 1

Aside from the war on terror which is ineffective,
it's up to Muslims to speak out and call for an end to violence for the sake of religion.
Muslims must adopt modern social advancements:
full civil rights for women and minorities,
equal legal protection,
free speech, free press, free assembly,
freedom of religion and religious tolerance,
abandonment of torture and capital punishment (We Americans need to get up to speed on this one!)
accept that all persons and states now existing have a right to exist,
extend all the human rights that the United Nations have so far adopted to all persons,
open government: liberal democratic socialism,
a pretty tall order when most of them seem to want to bury their heads in the sand and go back to the 7th century.

Answer 2

The "moderate Muslims" are everywhere, here are the ones I know, at least the ones who come to mind within the first thirty seconds or so...

My friend Fayaz, who owns the convenience store and gas station I shop at every day. He's from Pakistan, near the Afghan border, and is amazed and agonized that Bush seems to be doing everything possible to turn his countrymen against the US. Fayaz makes a trip back to Pakistan every year to help a family member relocate to the US. He says his most frequent plea is "Don't believe what you read in most of the newspapers or see on Al Jazeera - Americans are not imperialist, religious zealots, intolerant of beliefs and faiths other than Christianity and Judaism."

My friend Ali, whose lunch counter I patronize. He is an honorary firefighter, cop, and rescue squad member for all the coffee and donuts he's donated to those who protect and serve us. He's from Kuwait, and witnessed first hand the first Gulf War. He's more of a hawk than Rumsfeld, but a nice guy anyway.

My friend Denise, who owns a mortgage company I do business with. She's a third generation American Muslim, and she sometimes cries for both what Osama Bin Laden and anti-Islamic Americans have done to pervert definitions of her faith.

My doctor, Mustafa, who jokes light heartedly with me about religion and who is a Turkish army veteran. He is a good man, and can tell a joke about "the rabbi, the priest, and the mullah" as self-deprecatingly as any Irish priest.

My banker, Nabil, who has been reassigned from clients because they don't want a Muslim as their bank officer. Although he doesn't admit it, his career has levelled off, maybe even declined since 9/11. He's a Republican, by the way, and his son is in the Air Force.

My friend Hiram, who I've played cards with a few times. Less often lately, as he doesn't seem to be getting the number of poker invitations he used to. He's a black man in his sixties, has a Bronze Star and Purple Heart from Viet Nam, who wears the Muslim prayer cap, and he is one of the most truly peaceful people I know. Pity that people see his garb and think he's a potential terrorist (Though if my great grandfather had been "owned" by some southern planter, as his was, I might feel a bit more sympathy for the terrorists).

Try to look inside your own prejudices and see them for what they are. Muslims, like all people, come in varieties ranging from devout fundamentalists who see the need for Holy War (of which there are quite a few Christian and Jewish pracitioners as well) to very modern and secularized people.

Before you make fun of or mock the Qu'ran and beliefs of Islam, read some Old Testament passages - maybe those dealing with slavery, stoning, and ritual killing. Then think how many fundamentalist Christians claim to literally believe every word of the bible. Are they really so different in meaning, or is it just how those ancient words are misapplied and misconstrued by others?

Answer 3

Open your mouth and don't be afraid to be considered politically incorrect. Also, recognize the fact that we are fighting an evil every bit as great as the Nazis or Soviet aggression. We did not shrink from those, and we can't shrink from this fight. As a nation, the only way to stop terrorist is to hunt them down and kill them before they can strike, whether they be in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, or wherever.

The real question is where's the outrage? If people claiming to be Christian had hijacked planes and crashed into buildings in the middle east, real Christians would have taken to the streets in outrage. They certainly would have, not only sent aid, but missionaries to help. Instead, so called moderate Muslims, including my own wife, make excuses and try to pin the blame on U.S. policy. This situation is not going to change until the Muslims stand up and do the right thing. Until they do, they are every bit as guilty as the hijackers and the suicide bombers. This crap that they fear becoming targets is ridiculous. They need to understand that doing the right thing means taking a risk. That excuse is just another way of shifting the blame.

Answer 4

1. Tell the truth about Islam. You will be labeled as a Muslim baser even then, but there is no need to spread any untruths about Islam to state why you are not Muslim. But you do not have to sugar coat the truth either.

2. Admit the shortcomings of our own ancestors, they are there for ours as well as theirs. Show that we have learned from the mistakes and want to move on in the Spirit of Jesus in Peace, Love and Forgiveness.

3. Don't throw insults, they do more harm than good.

4. Encourage the moderates to take back their faith, just as we would have to if Christian radicals were killing in the name of Jesus.

5. We need to understand them, many are poor, have no hope for a better life, and poor desperate people of any religion will be easy targets for becoming radicals.

6. Somehow there needs to be a solution to the Palestinian situation, if I had the answer, I would run for President, but there needs to be a humane solution for ALL parties over there.

Good Luck and may God Bless us all!

Answer 5

The moderate Muslims are living all around the world, including most likely in your own town. They don't speak up because they don't want to become targets of people who think like you, and because it doesn't make news when people say "hey, we're just like you, we just want to live our lives in peace" when there's murders, mayhem and terrorism all over the place.

The problem is in fundamentalism - the firm belief that you're right, everyone else is wrong, and it's your job to correct other peoples' errors by force... and that, unfortunately, is not confined to Islam. Just ask any of the victims of the Crusades... or in more modern times, any Wiccan, gay, or other minority who's been threatened, bashed, or killed by "good Christian folk."

Answer 6

There isn't much we can do as individuals. Just try not be radical and live our lives. Don't they say the best revenge is living well?

Hopefully they will have some sort of Enlightenment like Europe had in the 17th and 18th centuries. I can also hope that we, as Americans, don't forget our own Enlightenment roots. We have our own radicals to deal with.

Answer 7

you know what? i consider myself a moderate Muslim, and i spoke out and many many other people did too.
but i will speak no more, i came to realise that no matter how hard WE (moderate muslims) try and no matter how loud we speak, people won't listen beause you dont wanna listen, you find more fun in bashing Islam so why stop.

go ahead and do your bashing show, you'll know the truth some day.

Answer 8

if every person asks me what my fashionable fulfillment of feminism is, f*ck the vote, i'm asserting the destruction of those albums. I certainly have by no potential been so proud. whether, Julie needless to say unearths many feminist subject concerns nonetheless to no longer her liking, in case you seem heavily you would be conscious that the glass ceiling has needless to say (no pun meant!) ruined her sixteenth birthday. gutting.

Answer 9

Live a life of radical, Godly love. Lead by example as well as by words.

Answer 10

Support Bush.