What Should Be Our Message?

Gary Fouse
fousesquawk


In the wake of the Yorba Linda protest in February and the on-going blow back, I feel it is appropriate to form some sort of idea of what our message regarding radical Islamists in our country should be. I had the privilege of being able to speak at Yorba Linda though my own words apparently are not on video/YouTube, or I would post it myself. As I said previously, I am very comfortable with everything I said at Yorba Linda. I also defend Deb Pauly, who is taking a lot of heat for her words. I heard what she said, and in my view, she has nothing to apologize for. I believe that her strongest statements were pertaining to Jihadists, not peaceful Muslims. Below, I am going to outline what I feel our message should be in regards to this very sensitive issue. I am speaking for no one other than myself.

First of all, it would be wrong to paint all American Muslims (or foreign Muslims for that matter) as Jihadists. As I said at Yorba Linda, the Muslims I know love America.

Yet, we must be open and honest that radical anti-American thought does exist within many parts of the Muslim community. There are those that want to bring Islamic rule and sharia law to this country and indeed the world even if it takes 100 years.

Shariah law is antithetical to everything this country stands for when it comes to our freedoms and tolerance for others, including gays and women. It cannot be allowed to implant itself here in any form-not even within the Muslim communities. To do that would be to abandon Muslim women, gays and apostates as if they had no constitutional protections.

Many of the leading Islamic organizations in this country, while pretending to be moderate and mainstream, are in fact, subversive to the core. They must be called out, and we must encourage Muslims of good will to recognize their true nature and reject them. We must also demand that our government authorities aggressively investigate these groups and if warranted by the evidence, prosecute them vigorously. In too many cases, suspect individuals and organizations have been admitted to the highest levels of our political circles and granted status as "moderates".

We must not bow to political correctness and the fear of being labeled, "Islamophobes". This should never be about hating people because they are Muslims. It is about fighting radical, militant Islam as a political ideology that seeks to destroy this country from within and rebuild it the way they want it. Make no mistake; these organizations are making a full-scale effort to discredit those who know the danger that exists and have the courage to speak out. Their goal is to intimidate and silence us.

We must demand that our political leaders understand the threat and take the appropriate measures to defend this country. This is an issue that tea parties should take up nation-wide. To date, tea party rallies have been peaceful. They must remain that way and keep away those who want to spread a message of hate. Insults and hateful rhetoric are not necessary, nor are they helpful, which we learned at Yorba Linda. We must always remember that the media and others are watching and eager to report any negative occurrences.

The Muslim community must understand that they are free to practice their religion as long as it does no harm to others-even within their own communities. We have a long tradition of religious tolerance, and our history shows we have generally gotten it right. However, such ideas as honor-killings, death for apostates and gays, as well as expressions of hate toward non-Muslims, especially Jews, have no place in our society. And make no mistake; we stand with our Jewish fellow-citizens against this resurgence in anti-Semitism. We also expect Muslims to oppose terrorism, to defend this country from such attacks, and fully cooperate with the authorities when they have information. Some have, and I salute them for that. However, much more is needed. I have no wish to see American Muslims isolated in American society or considered a 5th column, but it is clear that there are elements within the Muslim community who are, indeed, a 5th column. Many, if not most, are in positions of power and influence within the Muslim community. They must be exposed and rejected.

Finally, I close with a link to Steve Emerson's latest breaking article on a conference just held in the UK.

http://www.investigativeproject.org/2713/no-holds-barred-at-islamist-confab

The message is that if Anjem Choudary and the rest of his barbarians think they are going to take over this country and impose shariah, they are sadly mistaken. There are millions of Americans who stand ready to fight that to the death if necessary.  Of course, we need to refrain from stigmatizing an entire group of people, but we also need to continue to stand up, speak out, and defend our values in a peaceful, lawful manner that, at the same time, does not submit to intimidation.