What To Do About Islamic Terrorism

In a comment to my post about Islamofascism Awareness Week, Muslims Against Sharia said:

And a better way would be?

This was in response to my remark that IAW was not an effective tool for teaching anyone about this serious situation.

I went to their website and it seems like they have a noble purpose namely wanting to reform the current state of Islam. Here are their goals.

* to educate Muslims about dangers presented by Islamic religious texts and why Islam must be reformed
* to educate non-Muslims about the differences between moderate Muslims and Islamists (a.k.a. Islamic Religious Fanatics, Radical Muslims, Muslim Fundamentalists, Islamic Extremists or Islamofascists)
* to educate both Muslims and non-Muslims alike that Moderate Muslims are also targets of Islamic Terror

I agree that Islam is in a bad state today. Many Muslims have failed to adapt to modernity and are lost in our world. There also seems to be a lack of leadership amongst Muslims to carry them forward and lead them boldly into a new state of existence with the rest of the world.

I applaud the Muslims Against Sharia for trying to change this. I disagree with them, however, that Islamofascism Awareness Week is going to help matters. Despite their intentions, events like this only serve to create more division and anger. I know too many people who would hear something about this and it would only serve to increase their notion that "all Muslims are terrorists." They wouldn't look any deeper. I think also that many Muslims would see this and, without looking any deeper, chalk it up as one more reason the West is the enemy of Islam.

Words are important. I'm not saying we have to be cuddly and call Islamic terrorists some p.c. term like, oh, "disgruntled and misunderstood persons who just happen to follow Islam." I think we should have conferences on this subject, but call them something more bland, "Muslims in the Modern Age" or something. Save the harsher words for the actual speeches at the conference where the speaker can give context to his words.

I also think that terms like Islamofascism do the disservice of blending all Islamic terrorist groups together. There are huge difference between al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, the PLO, and all of the other terrorist groups. While they may use similar tactics, they often do not have similar goals. We can't conflate them into one big bunch and expect to be able to deal with them. Each group has to be understood as a separate entity so that we can more properly evaluate their motives and power structure and goals.

To close, I think Muslims Against Sharia have a good purpose. I just don't think they are going about it in the right way.