Many Massacred by Muslims: What's to Understand?

It may be a bad time to start this ad campaign by CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), which promotes Islam and the need to "understand it."

How well do you think the average person understands the mass slaughter of over 200 people in Mumbai, India over the weekend? The intentional, year-long planned massacre of bystanders in a train station and hostages in the Taj Hotel?

CAIR's busside ads encourage me to dialogue with them, telling me I can "get answers" on their website. I went to their website to find out if the answers to my burning questions were really found there.

If I found anything, it was only a bit more confusion.

Here's a question: what kind of Muslims are the creators of CAIR?

I see photos of young Muslim girls wrapping up scarves and sweaters to "clothe the homeless," concerned Muslim faces below the caption "Not in the name of Islam" (a public service announcement campaign), as well as videos and articles decrying terrorism done against "innocent civilians," including the victims of the September 11th attack. I also read that CAIR has taken out newspaper ads, conducted open house forums and in other ways aggresively sought to "disseminate the peaceful teachings of Islam."

So, they are peace-loving Muslims? Those who simply wish to "coexist" and be able to practice their religion just like everyone else?

That sounds nice- it's pluralistic and modern and non offensively "religion-lite"- but is it really what they want? Can they hold to Islamic doctrine and deny/decry the violent nature of Islam as a religion in practice? In other words, is it true?

For a change, I'm not going to spout off in my usual hothead way, leaving some wondering if I have an ounce of patient discipline for self-educating anymore. Instead, I'm going to leave this open until I read the Koran and find out what Allah requires of his followers.

I happen to have a copy at home, in fact.

To be continued...