In an August 3 story by Bobby Ghosh, TIME Magazine made it clear: oppose the proposed Ground Zero Mosque, and you are an ignorant bigot. When it came to the controversial imam in charge of the mosque project, however, TIME had nothing but praise.
Calling Feisal Abdul Rauf a "peaceful Muslim," Ghosh also says that Rauf's efforts could actually lead to a better relationship between Muslims and Americans. A moderate like Rauf, TIME argued, could draw support away from the radical elements of Islam who were responsible for 9/11.
However, Rauf himself has come under scrutiny for statements he has made in the past. Not only has he refused to condemn Islamic extremists like Hamas, he won't even call them terrorists. In a 2004 interview with the Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald, he said the U.S. must acknowledge the harm they have caused Muslims in the past before terrorism can end. He stated the American President must apologize for his country's misdeeds to the Muslim world. It may be one of the demands that inspired President Obama's "apology tour" of countries around the world since he took office.
In the same interview, Rauf makes an incredible assertion: he claims Muslims don't kill innocent civilians, Christians do. His proof? World War II. "The Islamic method of waging war is not to kill innocent civilians. But it was Christians in World War II who bombed civilians in Dresden and Hiroshima, neither of which were military targets."
In 2009, Rauf wrote a column in which he defended Sharia Law, saying it was "not far from what we read in the Declaration of Independence." Without all the burkas, beheadings, and oppression of women, of course.
In another 2009 column, Rauf explained how important it was to Muslims to see Obama's bow to the King of Saudi Arabia. He also stated "No less important was what Obama said about the United States: It is not a Christian nation."
All of these statements seemed to go unnoticed by TIME, or the magazine chose to ignore them. While TIME went out of their way not to paint all Muslims, including Rauf, with the same broad brush, they made no such effort for Republicans, conservatives, or Christians. Ghosh mentions the "ignorance and bigotry" of the opponents of the Ground Zero Mosque, even calling out the "opportunism of right-wing politicians."
Even as America sees the connection between American mosques and the cultivation of radical Islamic terrorists (the recent arrests of home-grown Muslim terrorists included), TIME ignores the rational concern of many. TIME refuses to see that as America continues to reach out to the Muslim world, it gets nothing in return, not even a single apology from anyone to the families of 3,000 murdered Americans on behalf of their misguided followers. The editors of TIME seem to want the American people to do all of the apologizing, bowing, and conceding to Islam, just like our President.
Sources: Sydney Morning Herald, Huffington Post, TIME
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