As a Muslim, I Am Shocked by Liberals and Leftists

GATESTONE INSTITUTE: …

If you had grown up, as I did, between two authoritarian governments -- the Islamic Republic of Iran and Syria -- under the leadership of people such as Hafez al Assad, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, you would have seen your youth influenced by two major denominations of Islam in the Muslim world: the Shia and the Sunni. I studied both, and at one point was even a devout Muslim. My parents, who still live in Iran and Syria, come from two different ethnic Muslim groups: Arab and Persian.

You also would have seen how the religion of Islam intertwines with politics, and how radical Islam rules a society through its religious laws, sharia. You would have witnessed how radical Islam can dominate and scrutinize people's day-to-day choices: in eating, clothing, socializing, entertainment, everything.

You would have seen the tentacles of its control close over every aspect of your life. You would have seen the way, wielded by fundamentalists, radical Islam can be a powerful tool for unbridled violence. It is the fear of this violence, torture, and death, wielded by extremist Muslims, that keeps every person desperate to obey.

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Read it all here » | Majid Rafizadeh | Saturday, March 25, 2017

My Fellow Liberals: Please Stop Saying That Islamist Extremism Has Nothing to Do with Islam

Maajid Nawaz talks to Fox News about Islamist extremism and the bigotry of low expectations. In the discussion, Maajid also argues a case for why his fellow liberals should stop saying this has nothing to do with Islam.

Life Imitates "1984": Canada's Liberals Get Google to Erase Stephen Harper from the Web

Bill Maher: I Wish Liberals Would Have Same Intolerance For Muslims That They Do For Christians

Read the Real Clear Politics article here | Saturday, January 30, 2016

Some Liberals Are Really So Stupid! Maher Has Got It Right! Maher Criticizes Liberal Support of Islam: Muslims Sharing All Your Values Is ‘Bullshit’

During his panel discussion on tonight’s Real Time, Bill Maher addressed how liberals rush to defend Syrian refugees and Muslims without acknowledging that many embrace a value set that is not shared with most Americans.

Bill O'Reilly to Liberal Christian: Islamic State 'Would Behead You'

Bill O'Reilly of Fox News took to task a liberal Christian leader who used his television time to suggest that promoting peace via diplomatic discussion could go far in curbing the types of terrorism furthered by the likes of the Islamic State, telling him outright: You're wrong. The context of the comments came while the Rev.…

Obama Presidency Too PC on Islam Even for Liberals?

May. 12, 2014 - 5:12 - Bill Maher raises eyebrows by taking on Boko Haram and blasting liberals for not outright condemning brutal Islamic laws that go against equality and freedom and brutalize women

Why Aren’t Liberals Critical of Islam?
HUMAN EVENTS: What is it about the very liberal Obama Administration that it would ignore the explicit, written warnings in 2012 from a Saudi Arabian official about the soon-enough-to-be Boston bomber, Tamerlan Tsarnaev? (Oh, and by the way, Russia had warned us of Tamerlan as well.)

The Saudis denied him a visa to visit Mecca on pilgrimage in 2011. We, on the other hand, were cheerfully forking over $100,000 in welfare benefits to Tamerlan and his family while he and his mother became ever more radicalized by their re-embrace of Islam.

But liberals, in government, the press, and academia, still refuse to allow a critical look at Islam.

Why?

In a previous article, I have already noted the deepest reason. Liberalism is an essentially secular movement that arose within a thoroughly Christianized culture. Christianity was the obstacle to be overcome. Liberalism therefore thinks of progress in terms of secularization understood primarily as de-Christianization.

Precisely because it sees Christianity as the enemy to be overcome, liberals have a deeply-ingrained historical habit of blaming Christians for every imaginable evil—war, slavery, the irrational rejection of science, and (now) Islamophobia. Since Western culture is so obviously based upon Christianity, liberals for the same reason consistently blame the West for the ills of the world.

To take a really close and critical look at Islam would go entirely against this ingrained historical habit. Any religion is better than Christianity. It has to be. » | Benjamin Wiker | Thursday, May 09, 2013

Pat Condell: The Truth Is Incorrect

Egypt’s Salafists Deploy Virulent Rhetoric, Accuse Liberals of Being Foreign Agents

BIKYA MASR: CAIRO: On Friday, Mohamed Amr watched as ultra-conservative Salafists converged on Egypt’s iconic Tahrir Square. Their deafening chants of “Islamic state” resounding throughout downtown Cairo. For him, a liberal activist wounded in the January 2011 uprising that ousted the country’s long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak, it was frustrating.

“I am very worried about the future of the country and how the Salafists are trying to accuse liberals and those of us who fought and bled for change as foreigners in our own country,” he told Bikyamasr.com.

“It is a sad time for the Egyptian revolution. It might be dead and what we are seeing is something very scary,” the former member of the April 6 Youth Movement added.

Making matters worse for the left is the growing anti-liberal sentiment growing on the streets and in mosques.

On Friday, as thousands of puritan Salafists gathered in Tahrir Square to demand that the new constitution for Egypt be an Islamic one, member of al-Gama’a Islamiya Sheikh Mohamed el-Soghir accused secular and liberal activists of pushing a Western agenda.

“Our Prophet [Mohamed] fought the infidels of Mecca, who are now represented by the Liberals,” said El-Soghir in comments published by local media. » | Yussif Ibrahim | Sunday, November 11, 2012

They Hate Poor People
THE WEEKLY STANDARD: The liberals’ dirty little secret.

On January 1, 2012, Maine became the first state to ban smoking in all low-income public housing. Twelve thousand poor people faced their New Year’s Day hangover without the solace of a Marlboro to accompany their aspirin and coffee.

This, of course, was good. Just ask the high-minded, right-thinking progressive elites who, it’s safe to say, run Maine’s public housing authority. Progressive elites like to run things. They’d run the government, the media, and the entire U.S. economy if they could. Failing that, public housing authorities will do. The Detroit, San Antonio, and Portland, Oregon, housing authorities already ban smoking. Boston’s housing authority will do so in September. Los Angeles is expected to follow. And it’s no mystery what that highest-minded, most right-thinking, way-progressive elitist Mayor Bloomberg has in mind for New Yorkers.

Smoking is wrong. Progressive elites may be confused about the existence of right and wrong when it comes to wars against genocidal fanatics, market freedom, and the death penalty for mass murderers. But not when it comes to smoking.

Smoking kills smokers, which is about what they deserve for engaging in such lowbrow, wrong-headed, retarded, vulgarian activity, except they get sick first and that drives up the cost of a single-payer national health care system, plus their second-hand smoke is worse yet because it is a, yuck, inhalation hand-me-down from uncouth people who probably haven’t flossed, and it kills progressive elites who don’t even know anyone who smokes while also releasing greenhouse gases and stinking up the cheery curtains that elites hang in public housing group activity areas to brighten the lives of the underprivileged who are confined to concrete tower blocks with six-by-eight-foot living rooms, seven-foot ceilings, plexiglass windows, and sheet-metal doors with a dozen locks on them. Smoking is wrong.

But poor people don’t have a lot of pleasures. Sure, they have more sex than progressive elites. But somehow, for poor people, the sex always ends up in illegitimate children or HIV or some bum of a boyfriend instead of leading to, as it does for elites, a Reichian release of primordial cosmic energy or the wonderful self-fulfillment and midlife reawakening of a new divorce. And, yes, the poor have drugs and alcohol, but these bring them nothing but grief. They’re not at all like the subtle and refined delights of a 300-bottle wine cellar or the therapeutic relief from Zoloft, Lexapro, Elavil, Ambien, Halcion, Xanax, beta blockers, Levitra, and Cialis. » | P. J. O’Rourke | Monday, January 30, 2012

Hundreds of Traditionalist Clergy Poised to Leave Church of England
THE TELEGRAPH: Hundreds of traditionalist clergy are set to leave the Church of England over plans to introduce women bishops.

Leading Anglo-Catholic clergy warned that the failure to provide concessions to opponents of the historic reform would force many of them to defect to Rome.

In a highly-charged debate at the General Synod, the Church’s parliament, members rejected a compromise deal put forward by the archbishops of Canterbury and York which would have averted a schism.

The archbishops’ plans would have seen the creation of a new class of male-only bishops to look after conservative evangelical and Anglo-Catholic parishes opposed to female leadership in the Church.

Canon David Houlding, a prebendary at St Paul’s cathedral, estimated that as many as 200 traditionalist clergy could leave the Church, taking thousands of worshippers with them.

“People’s patience is running out and many will now be asking whether they should try and practice their Catholic faith in the Church of England,” he said.

“The vote was a severe blow to the archbishop [of Canterbury] and it has pushed us closer to the door.” >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Monday, July 12, 2010

A Divided Church Faces Its Darkest Hour
THE TELEGRAPH: By rejecting a compromise over women bishops, the General Synod has plunged the Anglican Church into crisis. Jonathan Wynne-Jones reports.

Humiliated: the authority of Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has been wounded by his defeat in the Synod Photo: The Telegraph
On Saturday night, the Archbishop of Canterbury suffered the most humiliating defeat of his time in office when the Church rejected his compromise deal over women bishops. It followed a week in which Rowan Williams had found himself at the centre of a storm over the blocked appointment of Jeffrey John, the homosexual Dean of St Albans, to be Bishop of Southwark.

Castigated by liberals who accused him of betraying his old friend by not securing his promotion, the Archbishop arrived at the General Synod in York also facing a mutiny over his plans to avert an exodus of traditionalists opposed to women's ordination.

On the eve of one of the most pivotal debates in the Church's recent history, liberal bishops had met to discuss how they would derail proposals put forward by Dr Williams and Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York.

They were well aware of the impact that their rebellion would have on Dr Williams's authority. But they were still prepared to take drastic action because of their despair at his suggestion that a new tier of male-only bishops should be created to minister to traditionalists. This would undermine the role of women bishops, they believed. >>> Jonathan Wynne-Jones | Monday, July 12, 2010

Nick Clegg: Faith Schools Should Teach Children That Homosexuality Is ‘Normal’
THE TELEGRAPH: Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, has said that children attending faith schools should be taught that homosexuality is "normal and harmless".

In a pitch for the “pink vote,” he called on all the parties to prove that they supported full equality for homosexuals, and accused David Cameron, the Conservative leader, of being untrustworthy on the issue.

The Liberal Democrats support measures forcing teachers, including those working in faith schools, to implement policies to combat homophobic bullying, with lessons teaching that same-sex relationships are “normal”.

Mr Clegg said: “Crucially faith schools should have a requirement to have an anti-homophobic bullying policy at their school.”

In an interview with Attitude magazine, the Liberal Democrat leader also called for lesbians and homosexual men who have undergone a civil partnership ceremony to be given the formal and symbolic status of a “married” couple. >>> Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent | Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Saudi Royal Denounces His Brother
BBC: A member of the Saudi royal family has called for the assets of his brother to be frozen.

Prince Khaled bin Talal denounced his brother's media empire in an unprecedented public attack from within the ruling family.

Prince Khaled accused Prince Walid bin Talal of disseminating vice and violating the rules of Islamic Sharia in the conservative kingdom.

Prince Walid is one of the richest businessmen in the world.

It has long been known that there is a split within the ranks of Saud family between liberals and conservatives.

But, until now, they have always managed to keep a lid on the problem.

Prince Khaled said he had been forced to speak out after quiet efforts to advise his brother to mend his ways had fallen on deaf ears.

Prince Walid, known for his liberal lifestyle, owns a media empire which features entertainment channels that have long angered conservative Saudis.

Prince Khaled, told an Arabic website that his brother's plan to introduce cinema into Saudi society was the straw that broke the camel's back. >>> | Monday, June 29, 2009

Liberals Are The True Heirs Of The Nazi Spirit
THE SPECTATOR: James Delingpole talks to Jonah Goldberg about his book on the affinities between the modern Left and the totalitarian movements of the 20th century

Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Fascism is a conservative’s wet dream. No, it’s better than that. The moment you read it — presuming you’re right-wing, that is — you will experience not only a rush of ecstasy, but also a surge of revolutionary fervour and evangelical zeal. You’ll want to email all your friends and tell them the wonderful news: ‘I’m not an evil bastard, after all!’

What Goldberg very effectively does is to remove from the charge sheet the one possible reason any thinking person could have for not wanting to be right-wing: viz, that being on the right automatically makes you a closet fascist/Nazi scumbag. By accumulating a mass of historical evidence so extensive it borders on the wearisome, Goldberg comprehensively demonstrates that both Nazism and fascism were phenomena of the Left, not of the Right.

The book, a New York Times No. 1 bestseller has, needless to say, enraged lefties (‘liberals’ as they’re more usually known in the States) everywhere. ‘In the first week I had half a dozen emails from total strangers saying, “How dare you accuse us caring liberals of being fascists!” and then going on to say what a shame it was that my family hadn’t been sorted out once and for all a few years back in the concentration camps,’ he says.

Goldberg is a New York Jew and growing up as a conservative in Manhattan’s impeccably liberal, Jewish Upper West Side, he said he often felt like a Christian in Ancient Rome. At school and university, whenever he spoke in favour of tax cuts or a free market economy, the response was invariably the same. ‘Nazi’, he was called. Or ‘fascist’. By the time he was established as a contributing editor to National Review, he’d had quite enough of this. He spent four years researching and writing the book which would put the record straight.

What he found astonished him. Nazism and fascism, it turned out, were closer kindred spirits of Soviet communism than he could ever have imagined. The first expressed itself through ideas about racial purity and Jew-hatred, the second with ideas about the primacy of the nation, but in most other respects they were all remarkably similar: seizing the means of production; empowering the masses; rule by experts; the elevation of youth and brute emotion over wisdom, tradition and intellect; the submission of the individual to the will of the state. As Goldberg wryly puts it, ‘The Nazis were not big on property rights and tax cuts.’ >>> James Delingpole | Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>

Turkey: Islamic Fashion Designer Sued for Islamic Name
TURKISH DAILY NEWS: With the slogan "Covering is beautiful," a conservative Turkish fashion designer aims to shape the country's newly emerging "Islamic fashion" despite harsh criticism from conservative and liberal Muslims alike.

Tekbir Giyim, a company owned by designer Mustafa Karaduman, manufactures clothes and headscarves that are appropriate according to conservative Islamic standards, but that also look stylish.

The products are presented by elegant models, who, on other occasions, wear bikinis and elegant underwear rather than long skirts. The company's Web site, which is available in Turkish, Arabic and English, happily declares that they export to "five continents" and to more than a dozen countries.

Recently, however, Karaduman and his company have become a source of controversy and have received criticism from both the secular and Islamic camps of Turkish society.

Secularist commentators in the media have accused him of contributing to the "Islamization" of society by presenting the conservative Islamic dress code as something modern.

When Karaduman declared proudly that he has three wives and many children, "which all share the same house," he only deepened the controversy. Islamic Fashion Designer Sued for Islamic Name >>> | May 6, 2008

Tekbir Giyim

THE GUARDIAN:
Turkey's fashion battleground: In a militantly secular country, clothing is at the centre of friction over westernization >>> By Ian Traynor | June 2, 2006

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)