U.S. Muslims ask why their religion's condemnation of violence often goes unheard. Is this a valid question?

2015-05-10T10:13:26-04:00

This is NOT a Muslim-bashing discussion ... please keep your comments on-point and professional. Thanks!

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-muslims-ask-why-their-religions-condemnation-of-violence-often-goes-unheard/ar-BBjvsiT

U.S. Muslims ask why their religion's condemnation of violence often goes unheard

Saaliha Khan scrolled through her Facebook feed and pored over posts expressing sadness, dismay and disapproval, the kind of messages that always appear after an attack carried out in the name of Islam.

Response by CSM Michael J. Uhlig made May 10 at 2015 10:18 AM

2015-05-10T10:18:01-04:00

Maybe its because the acceptance and encouragement from the radicalized side....without those radicalized being publicly disowned.....you go forward with a whisper of condemnation after airplanes full of people are used as weapons to destroy 3,000 lives and wonder why you aren't taken seriously, give me a break, question disregarded as nonsense.

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made May 10 at 2015 10:46 AM

2015-05-10T10:46:24-04:00

If Muslims want to show their religion is truly peaceful they should be putting some distance between them and the extremists and letting the public see and hear it. Other religious groups do when extremists try to take the spotlight so why shouldn't they? A few little whimpers of protest doesn't go far. They need a strong front man with credibility to denounce the extremists.

Response by SPC Carl K. made May 10 at 2015 10:58 AM

2015-05-10T10:58:04-04:00

I am going out on a limb here and spill my guts about my true feelings. Islam, in and of itself, is a radical cult. Even the "peace loving" Muslims have a radical side. All you have to do is take a look at the UK, and Europe, and you can see how the Muslims that immigrated there are imposing their will over the governments, by being allowed to be governed by Sharia only, and not the domestic laws of the country. Why do the governments allow this? Because they fear the Muslims will go from being "peace loving" to murderously radical at the drop of a hat, as they are apt to do, if they do not get their way, or feel in the least bit "offended."

I have actually had frank conversations with "peace loving" Muslims and I was told outright that if their Imams ordered them to radicalize and start committing their typical heinous acts, then they had better do it, or they or their families will be killed themselves. Any "religion" that puts the fear of being murdered by its own members, is not a good religion at all.

Finally, I hear the arguments that Christians did horrible things as well. I will not deny that, however, you do not hear of Christian atrocities on a daily basis in this day and time, like you do with Islam. I can't think of the last time I heard of a Christian family strapping explosives to their 6 year old children and sending them into a crowded marketplace. I also have not heard about Christians killing Muslims over caricatures of Jesus or other Christian figures. Yes the Church did atrocities during the Dark Ages, however, Christianity has moved beyond that to a more civilized religion. Islam is still living in the Dark Ages.

Why do I not take their condemnation of violence seriously? I think I pretty well summed up my feelings on that.

Response by SPC Angel Guma made May 10 at 2015 10:58 AM

2015-05-10T10:58:58-04:00

In a way yes, it is a valid question. Many Muslims do condemn violence, and believe it or not there are many near secular Muslims out there, who are basically Muslims in name only, and not any of the radical stuff that the Taliban embraces. The problem with these 'peaceful' Muslims is that they don't condemn violence in an organized way. They think either being silent or condemning violence individually will absolve them for what their brothers do. What they are missing is an organized way to condemn violence, and until they step up to do that, it'll be hard for Mainstreet America to not ask questions here and there about their intentions.

Response by PFC Tuan Trang made May 10 at 2015 11:00 AM

2015-05-10T11:00:03-04:00

I think it not muslim that are violence, is the taliban/isis that is violence.

Response by SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. made May 10 at 2015 11:17 AM

2015-05-10T11:17:23-04:00

Why do I get a mental picture of a suicide bomber with a tag "why you can't have nice things"?

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made May 10 at 2015 12:11 PM

2015-05-10T12:11:37-04:00

I may be wrong, but, for me the point that infuriated me was the video of the celebrations in the streets when 9-11 occurred.

There may have been some who expressed sadness but the streets were filled and I saw no sign of sorry.

Media? perhaps, but I just can't let those celebrations go.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made May 10 at 2015 12:44 PM

2015-05-10T12:44:46-04:00

It's magnanimous they state their intentions for peace, but does it change the radical Muslims? NO

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made May 10 at 2015 2:56 PM

2015-05-10T14:56:17-04:00

Most of the country knows that the guy screaming "Allahu Akbar" before blowing himself up or shooting at innocents isn't representative of the millions of Muslims in this country (and the billions around the world) and those who do not, are not going to be convinced by some reasonable sounding Islamic leader reassuring everyone that Islam condemns violence.

Response by SGT(P) Private RallyPoint Member made May 10 at 2015 3:32 PM

2015-05-10T15:32:17-04:00

The "radicalized" make the so-called moderates irrelevant. Not all Germans were Nazi's. However, they could do nothing to stop the rise of Hitler and the atrocities that followed.
If the leaders and the followers of the religion do not speak out against what is happening then as I said, the peaceful are considered irrelevant. Jmo

Response by PO2 Kevin LaCroix made May 10 at 2015 8:06 PM

2015-05-10T20:06:00-04:00

May it is time they take back their religion.

Response by PFC Alex Rivers made May 10 at 2015 8:55 PM

2015-05-10T20:55:34-04:00

My honest opinion is that the actions of a few will always obscure the words of the many.
It can only take one event to leave a stain on any culture or way of life.

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made May 12 at 2015 11:00 AM

2015-05-12T11:00:46-04:00

Like the article pointed out, US Muslims have no central authority figure. There is no one voice, or even several voices that rely their message. They are voices unto to themselves, and no one is going through saying, this one Muslim on twitter disagrees with the violence and says it doesn't represent the religion of Islam.

It's also not the narrative the media wants to portray. Radical Islam sells, websites get hits, shows get watched, papers get sold, and in all of them advertising gets sold. Separating Islam from the attacks, and making it crazy guy shoots person doesn't sell.