Tuesday, March 20, 2007
  God Protect the MCC
My friends at the Muslim Canadian Congress have been receiving death threats. The lastest arrived by phone and promised slaughter to all the MCC members, naming in particular Farzana Khan and Tarek Fatah. (Hear a recording of the message here.)

This is not only shocking and disturbing; it is simply unacceptable, morally, Islamically, from whatever view point. Violence, intimidation, death threats have no place in Islam, or in an ethical approach to the world. Murder has even less place.

May God and the Canadian police forces protect the MCC, Tarek, and Farzana. And may all of us who are committed to a pluralism of voices, to freedom of speech and conscience stand beside them today.
 
Comments:
Sorry to hear this, Pamela. It's a crazy world we're living in.
 
As a new Muslim (and a progressive), it is very scary to me to hear of things like this. It shakes my newfound faith.
 
Hi Bird,

The world is a scary place, I'll agree. Unfortunately, this kind of extremism is not unique to Islam... abortion clinic bombers come to mind... We just have to keep on standing up for peace and justice and hope for humaneness to win the day.
 
Interesting that you don't spell out that this is a Muslim-on-Muslim threat, not a violence against Muslims issue. And your link doesn't work. (Finding the link you meant showed that it was a person acting to be Muslim who made the threat.)


--Bob
 
Good point, Bob! I was so wrapped up in the whole thing and distraught about it that I forgot no one else will have been glued to the newspapers/radio/tv coverage of this. Particularly people who don't live in Canada.

So, yes, it was Muslim on Muslim (thus the comments about how this really has no place whatsoever in Islam). This is, of course, nothing new. Progressive, or Moderate, Liberal, Secular, etc Muslims have been threatened and murdered in various Muslim countries, so I guess it is not surprising that it is migrating to the West. But it is very disturbing that people claiming to "defend" Islam so totally and thoroughly ignore basic Islamic principles. That goes for terrorists or vigilante defenders of any sort.

Thankfully some 30 Canadian Muslim organizations issued a statement of support for the MCC, Tarek and Farzana. Even the ones who MCC criticizes the most.
 
PS thanks for alerting me about the link. It should work now.
 
in various Muslim countries, so I guess it is not surprising that it is migrating to the West. But it is very disturbing that people claiming to "defend" Islam so totally and thoroughly ignore basic Islamic principles. That goes for terrorists or vigilante defenders of any sort.Thank's to the following guys !
 
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Progressive Muslim, feminist, mom, writer, mystic, lover of the universe and Doug Schmidt, cellist, theologian and imam.


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Cane River
An interesting exploration of the gradual whiting of a family through slavery to modern days.

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English Language Islamic Fiction. We need more of it. Lots more.
Pay a Teacher's Salary in Afghanistan. The Hunger site actually has a lot of worthwhile programs. You can find them all here .
Muslims for Progressive Values. My organization. We can always use donations, of time or money!
Human Rights Campaign for the glbt community
National Religious Campaign Against Torture
The ACLU I'm a card carrying member. Hope you'll become one too.
MoveOn.org. The organization that has done the most, as far as I can tell, to pull the countries progressive side together.
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Blogs Worth Reading

Wanda Campbell also known as Nochipa A very gifted poet and a gentle, compassionate soul. Nochipa and I are on the same page on sooooo many things
Writeous Sister Aminah Hernandez, she's got some excellent latino pieces and always has good writing info on her blog.
Sister Scorpion aka Leila Montour - Leila is a fount of energy, quirky humor, and bad attitude. She's also a talented poet.
Muhajabah Very interesting commentary here. I don't always agree with her, but her pieces are always thought-provoking.
Georgie Dowdell Georgie is a great writer and a good friend.
Louise Marley Another great writer. I think Louise is one of the best sf writers exploring faith themes.
Ink in My Coffee Devon Ellington (who has numerous aliases) who is also the editor of Circadian Poems. A truly inspiring woman with a seemingly endless supply of energy.
Ethnically Incorrect With a name like that, isn't a given I'm going to enjoy this writer?
Freedom from the Mundane Colin Galbraith, another excellent writer, from Scotland.
The Scruffy Dog Review This is a new e-zine with an ecclectic mix of fiction, poetry, and non-fic, some really enjoyable pieces here.
Ramblings of a Suburban Soccer Mom Lara, another gentle soul, very thoughtful.
Circadian Poems A journal of poetry, new stuff up all the time.
Ye Olde Inkwell Michelle writes romance and is one of my writing buddies.
Muhammad Michael Knight The original punk Muslim writer. Like him or love him, Mike is always coming up with the unexpected.

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