Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : The Truth About Islam -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck who wrote (7147)	4/29/2007 1:14:05 PM
From: ExCane	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 20106

Darren re #7147- As I probably have posted before, I work with a Muslim, I do business with Muslims, some of which I was surprised to find out were muslims, and see them all over. They coexist and go about their daily lives as do any other Americans. In my area, there are also islamists preaching on the streets, getting arrested for plotting terror (just this past week in Queens), and all sorts of things in between. As you also know, I am against islamism. Recently on this thread the question came up regarding which side the moderates would take if the islamists got the upper hand. The question disturbs me because I couldn't guess the answer. I've seen it posted on the internet that "The reason the West distrusts Muslims is that we can observe their behavior change, as they become more powerful within societies throughout the world. In small numbers they claim victimhood (1%-US), in larger numbers, they feel emboldened to freely spout hate speech (3%-England), then comes organized violent resistance (10%-France), then comes political assassination and attempts to overthrow democratically elected governments (Lebanon), then comes persecution of religious minorities (Turkey), then comes threatening to wipe opposing religions off of the face of the earth (Iran)." Also, alot of the available information is contradictory, and everybody has an agenda, myself included. So, do we assume that Muslims acting as moderates today will threaten us in the future? Can't say. My only reasonable solution is to combat islamism as an ideology, and be vigilant about it. There are military(not using current methods), educational/PR, economic ways to combat it. Our current government is not even close to combatting it and seems to be enabling it. Mitt Romney, Giuliani, Fred Thompson and other politicians have said things recently that are encouraging, but until we elect people like that, we're headed the wrong way, in my opinion. Darren , I think that you have not dealt with any Muslims, for you to feel that moderates don't exist. If you look around, you can find moderates, even on the internet. I hope you have read my many posts on the reasoning that the moderate voice is not heard, and plans for encouraging it. I have no answer to Saudi funding of the Muslim interest groups and Muslim interests here, but think it is a very big problem for the anti-islamists. Pipes' writings are convincing to me, and most of the other scholars seem to have a similar view, though if they are wrong, we're all in deep. Slightly related to the above, the article "We need a return on this fantastic investment" by Hugh Fitzgerald at Jihadwatch, on what money could do in this war. I don't necessarily agree with his take on the war, but it is interesting reading nonetheless. See jihadwatch.org

To: DeplorableIrredeemableRedneck who wrote (7147)	4/29/2007 1:30:55 PM
From: ExCane	Respond to of 20106

Signs of life- Turks Protest Islamic-Rooted Government BENJAMIN HARVEY The Associated Press Sunday, April 29, 2007; 9:33 AM ISTANBUL, Turkey -- At least 300,000 Turks waving the red national flag flooded central Istanbul on Sunday to demand the resignation of the government, saying the Islamic roots of Turkey's leaders threatened to destroy the country's modern foundations. Like the protesters _ who gathered for the second large anti-government demonstration in two weeks _ Turkey's powerful secular military has accused Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of tolerating radical Islamic circles. "They want to drag Turkey to the dark ages," said 63-year-old Ahmet Yurdakul, a retired government employee who attended the protest. More than 300,000 people took part in a similar rally in Ankara two weeks ago. Sunday's demonstration was organized more than a week ago, but it came a day after Erdogan's government rejected the military's warning about the disputed presidential election and called it interference that is unacceptable in a democracy. The ruling party candidate, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, failed to win a first-round victory Friday in a parliamentary presidential vote marked by tensions between secularists and the pro-Islamic government. Most opposition legislators boycotted the vote and challenged its validity in the Constitutional Court. The military said Friday night that it was gravely concerned and indicated it was willing to become more openly involved in the process _ a statement some interpreted as an ultimatum to the government to rein in officials who promote Islamic initiatives. Sunday's crowd chanted that the presidential palace was "closed to imams." Some said Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc was an enemy of the secular system, because he said the next president should be "pious." In the 1920s, with the Ottoman Empire in ruins, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk imposed Western laws, replaced Arabic script with the Latin alphabet, banned Islamic dress and granted women the right to vote. The ruling party, however, has supported religious schools and tried to lift the ban on Islamic head scarves in public offices and schools. Secularists are also uncomfortable with the idea of Gul's wife, Hayrunisa, being in the presidential palace because she wears the traditional Muslim head scarf. "We don't want a covered woman in Ataturk's presidential palace," said Ayse Bari, a 67-year-old housewife. "We want civilized, modern people there." The military, one of the most respected institutions in Turkey, regards itself as the guardian of the secular system and has staged three coups since 1960. "Neither Sharia, nor coup but fully democratic Turkey," read a banner carried by a demonstrator on Sunday. ____ Associated Press Writer Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara contributed to this report. © 2007 The Associated Press from washingtonpost.com