{Editor's note: this is a guest post and the views of the writer are not necessarily those of Israel Thrives.}
Fully one third want Shariah to be the law in the U.S.
Almost 60% believe that criticism of Islam or Mohammed should be prohibited in the U.S.12% believe that those who blaspheme Islam should be put to death.20% of Muslim men said that they should be allowed to have multiple wives.And finally, one third believe that Israel has no right or that they are not sure if Israel has a right to exist. The correlation between the denial of the existence of Israel and anti- Semitism has been widely accepted.What is one to make of this survey?Since the 1990's when the number of Muslim immigrants to the U.S. increased, there have been pundits who stated, “Just as the Irish, Italians, Germans, Chinese, Catholics, Jews, etc, melded into the American landscape so will these newly arriving Muslim immigrants. “This poll and the ever increasing number of, committed and prevented, home grown crimes (Major N. Hassan, underwear bomber, 9/11, Ft. Dix 5, first World Trade bombings, etc.) have shown that this “wishfull” thinking is just not working.There are a number of activities that are attempting to change the direction of this phenomenon.A fairly new group of intellectual Muslims, have formed AIFD, the American Islamic Forum for Democracy. Their objectives, among others, are “to engage and promote reforms, where necessary, including an honest and critical reinterpretation of scripture and Shariah law used by Islamists to justify violence and oppression”Admittedly, it will be a difficult task to reinterpret such proscriptive (imposed restraints or restrictions) as Sura 5:60--”Jews and Christians are sons of apes and pigs.”9:29--”Fight the unbelievers.”
5:55--”Don't take Jews and Christians as friends.”
Or a particularly strong one against women, Sura 2:223 - ”your women are a tillage for you. So go into your tillage as you wish.”Nevertheless, it took over 200 years for the Reformation to finally take hold. It was only less than thirty years ago that the Church finally dismissed the notion that Jews killed Jesus Christ.Two other activities that should be strongly supported, even though they are politically incorrect, are:Vigorously support Ms. Pamela Geller (American Freedom Defense Initiative-AFDI) in her defense of freedom of speech. The “Draw Muhammad” cartoons, the public transportation advertisements, etc..And, publicize the propaganda nature of Al Jazeera America.Two employees are suing Al Jazeera America, after being fired. They accuse the company of “openly demanding that programs air that criticize countries such as America, Israel and Egypt”. Also,” higher ups were anti-Semitic, sexist and anti-American.”Additionally, we should investigate what turns a 17 year old Virginia high school honor student into hosting an ISIS Twitter account and convincing his friend to join ISIS. Was it his parents, teachers, peers,,etc.? A 2011 study by the Center for Security Policy, of some American Mosques, found that 81% featured text that advocated violence. Is that still the case?A partisan, but important for America, project is to attempt to restrain the Obama administration from naming people, affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood (whose stated objective is to impose world wide Shariah) and other radical groups, to represent America in security conferences around the world. The latest is Salam Al Marayati, (“Israel should be on suspect list for 9/11.”) who participated in the White House summit on “Countering Violent Extremism”.A strong, vigorous, immediate response is needed to prevent the worldwide Shariah aspects that are leading to the persecution of Christians in different parts of the world.The Christian population of Bethlehem went from 60% to 13% since Israel handed over administration to the Palestinian Authority. Documentation shows this small group are frequently victims of extortion, rape, even murder.Under Saddam Hussein there were 750,000 Christians in Iraq. There are now less than 200,000.There are almost weekly bombings of churches and Christians being killed in different parts of the world. Pakistan, Kenya, Central African Republic, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, etc.One must be aware that participation in these or any other efforts to prevent Shariah on a world wide scale, may result in threats (Pamela Geller), being called a heretic (Dr. Zuhdi Jasser), labelled a racist (Robert Spencer), called an Islamophobe (Daniel Pipes), anti-American (the label CAIR gives to everybody who disagrees with them), etc.Nevertheless, the above actions together with many others, will, if successful, hopefully result in much better statistics in the next poll among American Muslims.