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Connolly: Robertson’s comments on Islam ‘hate-filled rhetoric’
November 19, 2009 by afp
Staff Report
11th District Congressman Gerry Connolly has called on Pat Robertson to apologize for his statement on his “700 Club” TV show that Islam is “not a religion” but a “violent political system.”
In a statement issued Wednesday, Connolly said Robertson caused substantial hurt and damage for the Muslim community in Northern Virginia and across the Commonwealth in the week since he made the hate-filled remarks on his national television show.
Connolly said Robertson’s comments have “the potential to cause real discord,” and he urged Robertson to apologize for his “hate-filled rhetoric” to Muslims and non-Muslims in Virginia.
The statement from Connolly:
“In the week since Mr. Robertson’s statement that Islam is ‘not a religion’ but a ‘violent political system’ whose adherents should be treated like members of the communist or fascist party, I have heard from hundreds of outraged Northern Virginians – Muslim and non-Muslim. Here in the 11th Congressional District of Virginia and, in fact, across our Commonwealth, Muslim-Americans are a vibrant part of our communities. They serve in our nation’s military, contribute to our economic growth, and in myriad other ways, help form the diverse tapestry that is Virginia in the 21st century.
“Some will dismiss Mr. Robertson’s comments as the strange ramblings of a man stuck in a bygone era. But when a prominent Virginian chooses to engage in hate-filled rhetoric that divides us and has the potential to fuel real discord in our polity, leaders cannot remain silent. That is why I am calling on Mr. Robertson to apologize to my constituents – Muslim and non-Muslim – for the hurt he has caused and the damage he has done. It is a week overdue.”
Pat Robertson has been saying negative things about Islam and Muslims for quite some time now. I believe Robertson has made similar comments in the past. It is great that the State of Virginia has at least one leader (perhaps there are others) - that is Congressman Gerry Connolly - who has the courage to speak out in defense of law-abiding and patriotic American Muslims. We need more courageous leaders to do the same. We need everyday Americans like those who have been calling Rep. Connolly to step more often as well. American Muslims do speak out against extremism (not because they are in any way responsible for the criminal acts of terrorists but because the terrorist usurp Islam for their own propoganda). The battle to convince America of the truly committed and patriotic nature of American Muslims has to enlist more Gerry Connollys! Thank you Rep. Connolly.
Robertson - Shame to America
Congressman Connally The statement made was just that, a statement regarding the Islam movement of Muslins “violent politcal system” . Why would you inject “hate-filled rhetoric” ? You can only speak what comes out of thier camp. You like many of our politions are over syncertize and we end up with Fort Hood. remember thier statements are ” American are infidels” to them .And research what the fate of infidels are . Its not ” love thy neigbor as thy self ” it’s nihilism.
Congressman Connally . I would like to correct a miss spelled word, sorry just typed to fast / the word is POLITICIAN . Thank you
The islamic system is totally foreign to the US constitution and is a dangereous cult. Robertson is correct and should continue fighting this cult of ignorant people. Congressman Connally needs a course in American history and the foundations of the United States or better yet–replaced-Virginia could do better.
I agree with Pat Robertson that Islam is the enemy within, within our government, within our country and within our army.
Islam is not so much a religion than a system to oppress and to take the world over.
This enemy is all over around us right here in the USA.
I encourage all who read this message to watch the movie “the third jihad”.
Joann and Bert are really stupid.
Pat Robertson is correct and JD needs to do some research.
Islam 101: The Religion of War
http://islaminaction08.blogspot.com/2009/10/islam-101-religion-of-war_05.html
[...] “Some will dismiss Mr. Robertson’s comments as the strange ramblings of a man stuck in a bygone era. But when a prominent Virginian chooses to engage in hate-filled rhetoric that divides us and has the potential to fuel real discord in our polity, leaders cannot remain silent. That is why I am calling on Mr. Robertson to apologize to my constituents – Muslim and non-Muslim – for the hurt he has caused and the damage he has done. It is a week overdue.” [...]
Pat Robertson is dead wrong, my best friend is from a Muslim family. They aren’t all the same, how on earth can one lump 1.5 billion people together and say they are all the same? If all muslims were like Hasan we’d be getting hit with terrorist attacks constantly.
Pat Robertson is a fundamentalist moron who aided the blood diamond trade. And those that follow him or believe his poisonous rhetoric on Islam should read a few books and meet a few Muslims before judging an entire religion based a few bad apple and violent verses in the Koran/Qu’ran, because there are violent parts of the bible too.
On False Prophets:
If a man still prophesies, his parents, father and mother, shall say to him, “You shall not live, because you have spoken a lie in the name of the Lord.” When he prophesies, his parents, father and mother, shall thrust him through. (Zechariah 13:3 NAB)
*note to “thrust him through” implies being killed via stabbing, persumably with a sword or spear*
Destroy 7 nations:
“You must destroy all the nations the LORD your God hands over to you. Show them no mercy and do not worship their gods. If you do, they will trap you. Perhaps you will think to yourselves, ‘How can we ever conquer these nations that are so much more powerful than we are?’ But don’t be afraid of them! Just remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all the land of Egypt. Remember the great terrors the LORD your God sent against them. You saw it all with your own eyes! And remember the miraculous signs and wonders, and the amazing power he used when he brought you out of Egypt. The LORD your God will use this same power against the people you fear. And then the LORD your God will send hornets to drive out the few survivors still hiding from you! “No, do not be afraid of those nations, for the LORD your God is among you, and he is a great and awesome God. The LORD your God will drive those nations out ahead of you little by little. You will not clear them away all at once, for if you did, the wild animals would multiply too quickly for you. But the LORD your God will hand them over to you. He will throw them into complete confusion until they are destroyed. He will put their kings in your power, and you will erase their names from the face of the earth. No one will be able to stand against you, and you will destroy them all. (Deuteronomy 7:16-24 NLT)”
The Christian God ordering his people to commit genocide against the people of the 7 nations to be destroyed, or God threatens to destroy his people:
“When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are about to enter and occupy, he will clear away many nations ahead of you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven nations are all more powerful than you. When the LORD your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy. Do not intermarry with them, and don’t let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters. They will lead your young people away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and he will destroy you. (Deuteronomy 7:1-4 NLT)”
Obviously there are equally violent verses in the Koran, but that isn’t the point, violent verse and nuts like Hasan does not make a religion evil and it’s practioners worthy of treatment as “facsists”.
Use your brain folks, whether you think god gave it to you or it evolved you have it for a reason!
Islam–Religion of Submission
* Claiming “Islam” means “peace” is fraudulent to begin with. Islam is an Arabic word. And the word for peace in Arabic is “solh,” and not Islam. Islam is derived from the root word “taslim,” which means submission or surrender. Hence, Islam’s true name, surrender, is in fact most descriptive of what it is: total, unconditional submission and surrender of the individual and the community to the will and dictates of Allah as revealed by his “rasool,” messenger, Muhammad.
* A quick scan of the daily news shows the adherent of the religion of peace engaged in unspeakable acts of mayhem and murder in much of the world. There is hardly any need to allude to them here. But the Islamists have an answer for that too. Islam is not responsible, they say. It is only a bunch of opportunists who commit these acts for their own political and economic objectives. We are to believe that those daily suicide bombers explode their vests in the midst of marketplaces, funeral processions, and even mosques are doing so to further their own personal agenda.
http://www.faithfreedom.org
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com
http://www.thethirdjihad.com
James M -you suffer with religious delusion
Pat Robertson stated his opinion, as is his right. We still have a First Amendment right to freedom of belief and expression. “Congress shall make no law…” Neither should it attempt to intimidate a constituent for exercising his right.
While Robertson did not provide evidence in his broadcast remarks, what he said is substantially correct. Islam is a war cult, not a legitimate religion and it is aggressively violent, by design. I won’t attempt to cram the factual evidence into this comment, but I will give you a link to it so that you can read the evidence, verify my sources and explore them for yourself. http://snooper.wordpress.com/2008/10/10/whats-wrong-with-islammuslims/
When a television evangelist says something you dislike, how should you respond? Should you waste the time and salary of a congressional staffer to complain about it? In my view, that action is disproportionate and irrational; a waste of taxpayer resources.
The best response is to respond directly to the speaker by phone or email. The next best response is to converse with friends & neighbors directly or express your opinion in a blog or forum post.
I urge everyone who disagrees with Pat Robertson’s statement about Islam to read the Qur’an & hadith. you can find links to them in my blog post.
Islam is a religion of war? Are you kidding me? The crusades, colonialism, communism, fascizm, 2 world wars, balkan wars, slavery, million dead vietnamese, God knows how many dead Japanese and Koreans, etc….are all product of christians. Is this religion of peace? http://mindprod.com/politics/iraqwarpix.html
But I agree on one thing, Pat should be ignored, until he tries to trat near 2 billion people as nazis.
[...] Virginia complained to Rep. Connolly, who, in turn issued his statement, which was reported by the Augusta Free Press, where you can read a sampling of public opinion on the issue. From my point of view, complaining [...]
How different are Pat Robertson’s comments from those of the greatest Islamic religious scholars and authorities?
Ayatollah Khomeini, the most important Moslem leader of the 20th Century, said: “Those who know nothing of Islam pretend that Islam counsels against war. Those who say this are witless. Islam says: Kill all the unbelievers just as they would kill you all! Does this mean that Muslims should sit back until they are devoured? Islam says: Kill them, put them to the sword and scatter their armies…. Islam says: whatever good there is exists thanks to the sword and in the shadow of the sword! People cannot be made obedient except with the sword! the sword is the key to Paradise, which can be opened only for the Holy Warriors! There are hundreds of other Koranic psalms and Hadiths urging Muslims to value war and to fight. Does all this mean that Islam is a religion that prevents men from waging war? I spit upon those foolish souls who make such a claim.”
——————————————————————————–
“The meaning of the term ‘terror’ used by the media… is Jihad for the sake of Allah. Jihad is the peak of Islam. Moreover, some of the clerics … see it as the sixth pillar of Islam. Jihad –whether Jihad of defense of Muslims and of Islamic lands such as in Chechnya, the Philippines, and Afghanistan, or Jihad aimed at spreading the religion — is the pinnacle of terror, as far as the enemies of Allah are concerned. The Muhajeed who goes out to attain a martyr’s death or victory and returns with booty is a terrorist as far as the enemies of Allah are concerned… Jihad is the peak of Islam… Jihad, oh believers, is an integral part of our religion. The word ‘terror’ is used to damage this mighty and blessed foundation.” — Sheikh Wajdi Hamza Al-Ghazawi, Al-Manshawi Mosque, Mecca, October 6, 2001.
From Jihad in Islam by Sayyeed Abdul A’la Maududi, one of the most prolific and most widely read Islamic writer of the 20th Century:
“The goal of Islam is to rule the entire world and submit all of mankind to the faith of Islam. Any nation or power that gets in the way of that goal, Islam will fight and destroy.”
“Islam wishes to destroy all States and Governments anywhere on the face of the earth which are opposed to the ideology and programme of Islam regardless of the country or the Nation which rules it. The purpose of Islam is to set up a State on the basis of its own ideology and programme, regardless of which Nation assumes the role of the standard bearer of Islam or the rule of which nation is undermined in the process of the establishment of an ideological Islamic State.”
Will Connolly attack these Islamic religious authorities like he attacks Pat Robertson?
Note to readers: There was a comment posted this morning that contained an excessive amount of extreme vulgar language. The language is why the comment was removed.
No one should have to apologize for what they say if it is true. The ones who want an apology are so very ignorant about Islam. No one is asking any Muslim to apologize to us for having such a book as the Koran that calls us apes, pigs, calls for our deaths if we don’t convert to Islam and at the very least that we should be subjugated under a barbaric set of laws - Sharia Laws.
If you answer no to any of the following questions then you are an Islamophobe and Pat Robertson has been correct in his assessment of Islam:
1. Do you believe that slavery is OK?
2. Do you believe that sex slavery is OK?
3. Do you believe that polygamy is OK?
4. Do you believe that domestic violence is OK?
5. Do you believe that it’s OK to kill if people change religions?
6. Do you believe that extortion is OK?
7. Do you believe that it’s OK to call others pigs and apes?
8. Do you believe that it’s OK to kill gays?
9. Do you believe it’s OK to kill mothers, sisters, daughters, and women for
“honor”?
10. Do you believe it’s OK to kill others for insults, either real or
perceived?
I wish people would crack open Islamic texts. You would find out that in them, as in fascism, it divides people up into believers, unbelievers and hypocrites. Unbelievers and hypocrites (bad Muslims, or good people) are to have the same things done to them - death or subjugation.
The world is divided into dar al harb (realm of war) and dar al islam. Dar al harb are our unbeliever’s lands. And while in the realm of war - anything goes that advances Islam. In Islam, good is anything that promotes Islam and bad/evil is anything that hampers it.
Under Sharia laws (laws based on the koran and hadith), anyone who questions Islam, Mohammed, etc are either punished or put to death. Unbelievers are put to death.
I don’t know about anyone else - but I have studied Islam for almost 10 years now - and if it smells like a duck (fascism), quacks like a duck (fascism) then it IS a duck (fascism).
Why do anti-Muslim propagandists with no knowledge about Islam except veritable distortions have to flood into every news item about Islam?
I just have to answer a few cliche distortions above.
Through my various readings from the beginning of the Quran to the end, I haven’t seen those “equally violent verses in the Quran”, not even in verses which order Muslims what to do in a state of warfare declared on them. For example, unlike the Bible (which we Muslims believe is an altered version of the original text sent down by God, altered in order to fit the political purposes of some ancient clerics and political leaders), neither the Quran nor the Prophet ever sanction the killing of non-combatants. The Prophet explicitly condemns and prohibits it in authenticated reports (authenticated through the rigorous study of hadith in the early generations).
And the few verses which do call Muslims to kill some people are the ones that describe what to do in a situation of war, when Muslims are attacked.
That honor killings has any justification in Islam is another big lie and a great ignorance. The ruling for a man, under Islamic law, who killed a female relative of his for “honor” is the punishment of a murder. The honor killings are murder according to Islamic law, period. I’m astonished to see that the American public’s ignorance about Islam has not been reduced at all since late 2001 in which I started to use the internet in English… This is so sad.
Also, there is a large amount of confusion about the meaning of Islam, due to a lack of a subtle enough knowledge of the CLASSICAL Arabic language.
In lexical and textual reality, Islam is deriven from the root s-l-m which means both “safety” and “peace” in Arabic. It means to deliver something in peace to somebody or to surrender peacefully to somebody. In the Quran, expressions like “man aslama wajhahu lillah” define what Islam is, that is, what it means to deliver or surrender specifically and to whom. The mentioned expression means: “One who delivers/surrenders his face (idiomatically: his personal essence) to God.” This is the meaning of a Muslim. The surrender/delivery of the self to God has to be in the correct way, of course. According to the Quran, it’s impossible to be able to do this without acknowledging the only unaltered version of God’s messages to humankind, which is the one given to the last prophet, Muhammad (God bless him and give him peace).
I just would like to advise my brothers and sisters in humanity who are to read this message not to let themselves into the hands of the ill-willed people who want to pit some humans against others. As a Muslim, I’m doing my share about this and not accusing all Americans, all secular-minded people, all Christians and Jews or all westerners of the crimes and hate-campaigns of some of them against Muslims. So, I’d expect them, as my fellow siblings in humanity, to act likewise, and if possible, to learn about Islam from calm, tranquil, peaceful experts and not hate- and war-mongers.
Best regards
Ugur M. D.
Last year history student in Istanbul, Turkey; to be a specialist on Islamic history, God willing in the near future.
Ugur M.D said: “Why do anti-Muslim propagandists with no knowledge about Islam except veritable distortions have to flood into every news item about Islam?”
“Anti-Muslim propagandists” is a propaganda label. “True and honest (veritable) distortions” is an oxymoron. “Have to flood” is simply common sense.
“Through my various readings from the beginning of the Quran to the end, I haven’t seen those “equally violent verses in the Quran”, not even in verses which order Muslims what to do in a state of warfare declared on them.”
What? Forget the confusion is syntax (or your ability to read) and go directly to: “. . . of warfare declared on them.” When, exactly, did anyone declare war on Islam? Was it pre-632 when Abu Bakr charged out of Mecca/Medina and attacked everything and everybody in sight, evenutally conquering by sword most of the known world? Or a hundred years later in 732, when Charles Martel decided enough was enough and stopped the Muslim advance? Maybe post-WWI when Attaturk said, “Enough of this caliphate stuff, it’s killing people”? Maybe in 2001, when George Bush also decided enough was enough?
It would be a good idea for pro-Islamists like you, Ugur, to keep in mind that other people can read historical data. It would also be a good idea to remember that Arabic is not a mystery to linguists.
And maybe you should learn one of our favorite (and best) American presidents’ line: You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.”
Once again, Abdulameer is spot on correct, and a sane voice speaking the hard truth admidst a swirl of misguided opinions from well meaning but woefully uninformed Americans who have no idea of what the resurgence of radical Islam really means as a threat to our Western way of life.
In addition, hats off to Staffsgt7 and DOBTX for their clear headed and enlightening comments.
I am no champion of Pat Robertson and getting into religous debates are always pointless and counterproductive when talking about radical Islam. but at least he almost “gets it” in his statement that ‘Islam is not a religion but a violent political system’. More correctly, it is a violent political system codified into a religion.
To those of you who are leaping to the defense of that nice Muslim family down the block - please understand that radical Islam is not about them. They are as at risk as us “infidels” and cannot or will not speak out for fear of reprisals from within their own community if they dare to openly oppose the ideology of the radical Imams and Shariah law.
Seek the truth at: americancongressfortruth.com/