Islam
Islam is a respected worldwide religion articulated by the Qur'an, a text considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of God and by the teachings of Muhammad, considered by them to be the last prophet of God. An adherent of Islam is called a Muslim. With over 1.5 billion followers Islam is the second-largest and one of the fastest-growing religions in the world. In the 21st century, thanks to threats and violence and a vocal minority of Islamic extremists, Islam has gotten a bad name. Some, specifically Osama Bin Laden and his followers, have formally declared war (jihad) on the US and its allies. Recognizing the danger presented by Islamic extremists, there is a natural and necessary need to be alert, defend against and eventually stop Islamic extremist violence. To accomplish this natural and necessary defense while recognizing the individual and religious rights of law abiding Muslims is very difficult. Islamaphobia naturally appears. However, minimizing the threat from Islamic extremists and dangerously limiting our defense against Islamic extremists as most leftists espouse in a foolish attempt to eliminate Islamaphobia is not the answer. We must be aggressive in our response to this obvious violent threat and active war while recognizing law abiding Muslim Americans. As responsible Muslim Americans have accurately stated, until we are able to mute the Islamic extremists it is the primary responsibility of law abiding Muslims to clearly identify themselves by their actions and support to stop the extremists and their publicly distancing themselves from those of their faith who are destroying it for the rest. In a February 27, 2012 TIME Magazine interview, Kareem Abdul Jabbar made this point when he said, "After 9/11, all of a sudden you have this suspicious spotlight on you just because you’re Muslim. It was a radical change, and it really bothered me. People understand that the KKK, even though they take a Christian identity, are not practicing what Jesus was all about. It’s the same thing with the radical Islamic people. They’re about hatred and trying to impose their will on people. I guess that was put in our laps, as American Muslims, to explain that." If you still don't believe the magnitude of this threat, read the articles and thoughts included below. And, to understand the death toll and put the worldwide damage done by Islamic extremists into perspective, read Religion of Peace.
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If We Are Not Ready to Have This Discussion, We Are Not Ready To Fight And Win A War!

12/9/15
from The Gray Area:

Donald Trump again generated an emotional response from across the political spectrum Monday by calling for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the U.S., as one of his solutions to the recent spate of terrorist attacks. While details of such a plan have not been described and would be difficult to implement (given we allow 100,000 Muslims to enter America every year now), it is important to discuss the option. If we can't handle this honest discussion, we are not ready to fight and win a war! Trump, in his endearing way, stands by his comments. This is a good thing. Because Trump serves a tremendous purpose in this Presidential season by bringing up an honest ideas for discussion without concern for politically correct speech. Some ideas are better than others, but that is always the case when trying to find a solution to a problem. In this case, he forces us to deal with a reality that the media and popular culture would have you ignore.

Muslim's are good, but terrorists, who happen to be Muslim, are very bad. What should we do?

A question that is simultaneously too hard to handle and too important to ignore. The reaction from the Left (Democrats and their supporters) and the leftist mainstream media was the expected politically correct, knee-jerk shock! How could you talk about such a thing? We are not at war with Muslims! You can't establish a religious criteria for immigration! This is not what America is about! Then they bring up Hitler! Which by the way, when any of the left are compared to Hitler a loud cry develops for apology, censorship and expulsion of the offending player. But, that same attack is perfectly suited to mass media repeat play when applied against a conservative Republican. Tom Brokaw added segregationism and McCarthyism to his mean spirited Nazi attack essay against Trump. Double standard you think? In two separate telephone interview's Tuesday you see this leftist reaction in spades, by network hosts who coincidentally have major connections to the Democrat party. George Stephanopoulos of ABC, part of the Clinton organization in the 1990s, in an ABC News telephone Interview. And, Chris Cuomo, the son & brother of the former and current Democrat Governors of New York in a CNN telephone interview. What you also see in these reactions is the hypocrisy of the left on display. For example, they say we can deny religious exceptions to Obamacare's contraceptive mandate, but we cannot even have a discussion about limiting the access of 'radicalized' Muslims who kill Americans. Excuse me? So religious freedom for the left can be selective, if it serves their purposes. Now which side is illustrating the real tyrannical, 'Hitlerist' ideology? And, by the way, among Mr. Trump's critics, the White House called for Trump's immediate disqualification to be President. Is this a joke? Mr. Obama said he hated the country and that didn't disqualify him? His wife said her husband's election was the first time she had been proud of her country, and that didn't disqualify him. Mr. Obama associated with known anti-American terrorists and that didn't disqualify him. See the hypocritical pattern here folks? Trump also got negative reactions from overseas, France and Britain. Of course that too would be expected. It is too late for them. Their open door policy to Muslims for decades has allowed their countries to be heavily populated and they already bow to the voting block. They cannot possibly support such a discussion due to the risk of serious issues in their cities. Trump's comments were universally rejected by his GOP presidential rivals, with the possible exception of Rand Paul. This is a good political move by those candidates. Mr. Trump has already taken the political heat by stepping out in traffic with this controversial subject, so they don't have to and can protect their political flanks and those of the broader Republican party and its supporters from the negative media reaction. One though, Carly Fiorina, gave what we thought was the most accurate reaction. She called Mr Trump's comments a dangerous overreaction to the threat of radical Islamic terror, but one that is no worse than President Obama and the Democrat's dangerous under reaction to same. Trump's announcement came hours after a poll of Iowa Republicans showed Trump trailing Sen. Ted Cruz. And 10 days before the next televised Republican Presidential debate. Would you think that his controversial statement was a strategic one, designed to get media attention back on himself before the next debate and not the Iowa polls? He has had some success with that strategy in the recent past.

We must fight back at the politically correct reactionaries, not because you support Mr. Trump's idea, but because you support his right to offer it and your right to hear the answer to the real question - what do we do to distinguish between dangerous and peace-loving Muslims not just in America, but around the world?

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