A Muslim Welcomes Hearings By Congressman King

I welcome the initiative by Congressman Peter King, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security to hold the hearings on Islamic radicalism.

It is our duty to keep law and order and faithfully guard the safety of every citizen. Hate is one of many sources disrupting the peace in a society and it is our responsibility to seek the source of such hate and work to mitigate it.

Indeed, the last few attempts to mess with our nation's security has come from men flaunting the Muslim label, and as Muslim Americans, it becomes our individual and collective responsibility to participate in ensuring the safety of every American, and we welcome the hearings. We hope it will lead us to find the sources and causes of such erratic behavior, and perhaps point out areas of concerns to be addressed and find lasting solutions.

We have to identify the criminals who are individually accountable for their actions, and need to punish them expediently according to the law. As a civil society, we must also resist the temptation to blame their family, nation and religion, and not fall for and legitimize their attempts to hide under a religious label for their evil acts. The use of phrases such as Islamic Radicalism is oxymoronic and must be avoided to uphold our civility.

As Americans together and Muslims together, we are planning to organize conferences and workshops on terrorism, anti-Semitism, Sharia, Quran, GLBT, racial profiling, Islamophobia and other issues which pit one American against another. We hope to separate realities from myths to help find solutions.

Mike Ghouse is the founder of America Together foundation, committed to building cohesive societies offering pluralistic solution on the issues of the day. His work is indexed in 4 websites and 21 Blogs at www.MikeGhouse.net.

 

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Comments

[spacekadet1]

11:04 PM on 03/12/2011

Mike - talking about a problem with ideas for solutions is good. Peter King's hearings are purely political pandering to his radical right constituents. It solves nothing other than alienating moderate Muslims as well as moderate non Muslims who can see through the whole facade.

[de-meme-ing]

09:58 AM on 03/11/2011

"We hope it will lead us to find the sources and causes of such erratic behavior, and perhaps point out areas of concerns to be addressed and find lasting solutions."

I think that the very first thing that must be recongnized is that radical, extremists are not different, other then in scale, to an addict. If one could see their behavior on the smaller scale, one would recognize that extremists are doing to the world, what the extremist radical addict does to his family; they bully and terrorize them. If I could use a term in ancient rhetoric I would propose that the behavior of the individual alcholic or drug addict is "writ large" in extremists of any persuasion who join forces to enforce their tyranny.

When examining the individuals in a family burdened with addiction one discovers that they "walk on egg shells" trying not to engage, or enrage the addict. Unfortunately, this does not work, because anything and everything is fodder for the addict and his/her irrational mind set and behavior.

"As a civil society, we must also resist the temptation to blame their family, nation and religion, and not fall for and legitimize their attempts to hide under a religious label for their evil acts."

True. The family caught in the throws of addiction are not just shamed and blamed by others outside, but inside. If we were to be honest, the whole world is plagued by addiction, and enabling it.

[de-meme-ing]

10:36 AM on 03/11/2011

These hearings can go either way, but I think the very first thing they are and must be is the refusal to walk on egg shells. Muslims and non-Muslims alike must join forces and "Just say no". We can do that without loss of dignity for anyone and everyone, eventually, in this great big dysfunction.


That said, they must not deteriorate into shaming and blaming, or a three ring circus. One of the first things that generally errupts out of the throes of healing, is anger. We have all been angry for quite some time, now is the time to start talking. Healing takes work, and it takes "knowledge".


If the hearings do deteriorate, we must not become discouraged, and it will be imperative for members in both the Muslim and Non-Muslim communities to come together to find ways to reignite the goal and mission toward rehabilitation, reconcilation and healing.

No family was ever cured overnight from the dysfunction of addictions, and it won't happen in this dysfunction that the world finds itself in.

Change the name of what is actually occuring and the world might be more able to understand the phenomena, receptive to what is actually occurring and recognize their part. Give them a new metaphor to see the truth of this phenomena, which has much material with which to study from.

An example: the parts family memebers play: the clown, the helper, the scapegoat, the teetotaler, Adult Children of Alcoholics, is a useful book.

[Culpepper]

05:24 PM on 03/10/2011

I agree with many posters, especially the 800lb gorilla in the room. Ignoring that gorilla is the worst possible strategy for this country to set itself right with the Muslim community. Let's be brave enough to hear everyone out. I don't agree with the folks who are fearful of another McCarthy-era nightmare. These hearings will be uncomfortable at times, but significant change always is. Let's get it to stop at uncomfortable and not bloody. It's a great opportunity.

[Joe Goforth]

02:40 PM on 03/10/2011

"The use of phrases such as Islamic Radicalism is oxymoronic and must be avoided to uphold our civility."

I agree with most of what is said here although I think that ignoring the 800lb gorilla in the room is why we are still struggling with this issue. It is clear that American Muslims need to clearly distance themselves from parts of their religion that encourage violent Jihad. You can't have it both ways. The first step is for American Muslims to admit that there are Ideas in their religion that cause a significant number of individuals to act out violently towards non-believers or perceived threats to Islam. If you have a hard time accepting this fact then you should read the Koran yourself.

[MikeGhouse]

03:43 PM on 03/10/2011

Thank you for the note.
Indeed Muslims are a free lot, they not monolithic. There are five media active Muslims including me who have taken an open approach. Peter cannot screw things for America, Americans are wiser than that.

Funny you aske me to read the Quraan, I had nothing to do with Islam untill 9/11 and when every one attacked Quraan, I read it myself as you have suggested and was baflfled with two things; 1) 2 bad translations of Quraan out of two dozen on the market - one was by Kings wearing Christian label to have their subjects hate Muslims and the other one by a Muslim who wanted to reclailm Caliphate and injected false translations for Muslims to hate Jews and Christians. Quraan in Arabic does not the non-sense these two ugly men have done.

Quraan is a book of guidance and indeed, I draw the pluralistic insprations from it as did Mahatma Gandhi. I have gone out to hold a Quraan conference to remove the falsities about the Book - drop your bias, it was not done by Muslims, but by clergy of other faiths - check it out www.Quraanconference.com

Would you like me to arrange one in your City, would you like to be a partner in bringin Truth to the Americans. Don't get me wrong, I do not like conversions of any kind, every faith is beautiful and divine.

Thanks for participating.

[Joe Goforth]

04:36 PM on 03/10/2011

Thank you for the reply and I will take the time to explore your website.