American Muslims should be a bulwark against terrorism
And a Rasmussen poll finds that a plurality of American voters agree with me:
Forty-eight percent (48%) of Americans nationwide believe that it is the responsibility of American Muslims to speak out against terrorist attacks on the United States.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 27% do not think American Muslims have that responsibility. Twenty-six percent (26%) of adults are not sure.
To the degree that some terrorists (I am not talking about Ireland here) claim to be adherents of the Muslim faith, those who do follow the teachings of Muhammad need to speak against and absolutely condemn those who besmirch their faith with senseless violence—that is, if Muslim indeed is a religion of peace.
In an ideal society, no man would need to speak for or against another man’s action. After all, each individual is independent and has no obligation—beyond what is specified in a contract—with regard to another man’s action. But, we don’t live in an ideal, free society, and instead, we live in a collectivist one, where identifications are made by group of people sharing same religion, ethnicity, profession, etc. As long as we live in a collectivist society, the group has a responsibility to police and condemn its own members when they sin—such as by suicide bombing a train.
And this is the exact way I feel when some naturalized American citizen commits treason against this country, most commonly by espionage or illegal munitions export. I am positively outraged when that happens and only the constitutional clause regarding due process stops me from suggesting that we just lynch the guy.
Can anyone tell me that American Muslims don’t feel the same way when Muslim terrorists attack America?