Bullshit with the moral equivalency argument. Did you see Mother Theresa or the Pope issue fatwas against authors and cartoonists. Do you see minority Christian populations engaging in family honour killings? Making women second class citizens and mutilating their body parts?
In my opinion, moderate Islam has not been nearly vocal enough in condeming their bretheren during the past few decades. Furthermore, is there such a thing as moderate Islam? I remain unconvinced for the most part. The true nature of Islam can be seen in the Sira of Muhammad, which has come to define Islam itself. Muhammad’s actions—whether its marrying a 9-year-old or taking many women as concubines —means that there can be no equality for women under Shari’a.
Perhaps moderate Islam is best represented in Ankara and Istanbul amongst Kemalists (Ataturk) in opposition in Turkey, but not in most other places often labelled as moderate.
I’m always thoroughly entertained when Malaysia or Indonesia are called moderate. Ever hear former Malaysia PM Matahir’s comments on Jews? Ever travelled to Shari’a states in Malaysia? Moderate my ass!!! See moderate countries removing statues to appease fanatical groups or allowing violent attacks on prosyletizing Christians?
Western governments must begin to empower genuine moderates, but it’s always going to be a really hard to find them. True moderates are in a very small minority IMHO. Even so-called moderate Muslim organizations in Western countries are often fronts for more extreme organizations. You can put lipstick on a pig, but in the end, it’s still a pig, right?
Two recent new stories from moderate Indonesia and one that basically mentions that national leaders don’t like to criticize Islam because it loses them votes.
[quote] A banner with a picture of a young, bespectacled Christian man is draped in front of a mosque, a fiery noose around his neck and the words, “This man deserves the death penalty!”
Churches are shut down. And an Islamic youth militia held its first day of training.
Though the events all occurred less than nine miles (15 kilometers) from Jakarta, making headlines in newspapers and dominating chats on social networking sites such as Facebook, they’ve sparked little public debate in the halls of power.
“I really see this as a threat to democracy,” said Arbi Sanit, a political analyst, noting leaders never like to say anything that can be perceived as “un-Islamic,” because they depend heavily on the support of Muslim parties in parliament.
“Being popular is more important to them than punishing those who are clearly breaking the law,” Sanit said.
Indonesia has a long history of religious tolerance, though a small extremist fringe has become more vocal in recent years.
Members of the Islamic Defenders Front, or FPI, have been known to smash bars, attack transvestites and go after minority sects with bamboo clubs and stones.
Now, they are targeting Christians in the fast-growing industrial city of Bekasi.
thejakartaglobe.com/home/ind … ans/384083
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[quote]
The Bekasi municipal authorities have set Friday as the day they will tear down an imposing statue of three women in a private residential complex, which has been the target of hard-line Islamic groups who believe the statue is neither in line with the religion’s values nor representative of West Java.
“The Bekasi mayor [Mochtar Mohammad] and I met with representatives of Islamic organizations. We reached an agreement that on June 18, the ‘Tiga Mojang’ statue must be taken down,” Bekasi Police Chief Sr. Comr. Imam Haryanto said on Sunday.
The 17-meter-tall “Tiga Mojang” (“Three Girls”) statue, by Bali-born Nyoman Nuarta, based out of Bandung, depicts three Sundanese women in traditional attire. The three women appear to be joined together by a sarong. It is also known as the welcome statue of the Harapan Indah residential complex in Bekasi, which falls under the jurisdiction of West Java province.
“We have sent off a third warning letter to the complex’s developers to take down the statue,” Imam said. “They have not done anything about it. We’ve given them until June 18 to do this. Otherwise, the administration will tear it down that day.”
The copper-and-brass statue took a year and at least 50 people to build, and cost the developers Rp 2.4 billion ($260,000).
After pointed objections by hard-line groups, which included protesters spray-painting the statue and covering it with a white sheet, Mochtar officially ordered the complex’s developer, PT Hasanah Damai Putra, to take it down.
“The mayor’s decision to take down the statue was made so that it does not trigger conflicts between communities in Bekasi,” Imam said. “We want to keep the peace here. We are worried that if [the developers] do not take down the statue, masses [of protesters] will come again.
“The mayor wants the statue to be replaced by one that is representative of Bekasi,” he added. “But we haven’t decided yet on what that would be.”
In mid-May, more than 1,000 members of hard-line Islamic organizations rallied outside the Bekasi administration office to protest against the statue.
The demonstrators were drawn from more than 60 organizations, including the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), the Bekasi Front Against Apostates, the Islamic Missionary Council (DDI) and the Islamic Ummah Forum.
FPI Bekasi branch head Murhali Barda claimed that the statue, besides lacking a building permit, was un-Islamic.
Bekasi administration spokesman Endang Suharyadi previously said the developers did not have the requisite permit to put up the statue.
“It must come down,” he said. “If after the deadline they still don’t demolish it, the administration will
thejakartaglobe.com/city/bek … ace/380366[/quote]
We just don’t have the numbers of Islamists yet to make a significant change…yet.