The Ten Commandments of Leftist Reporting on Islam

Posted By Lisa Graas On March 8, 2011 @ 6:00 am


Thanks to the rise of the internet and social media, people throughout the world can now gain access to far more information than was believed possible just two decades ago. However, the big leftist media conglomerates of old nevertheless retain great power to influence societal attitudes on a large scale…and they do not shy away from using that power to sway public opinion their way. Particularly in “movement media“, we see an endless stream of radical propaganda that has become valuable as a political mechanism of organizing for the Shadow Party. But these and their compatriots in the so-called “mainstream media” have evolved even further in their role as a propaganda machine in recent years. They have become apologists not only for a secular ideology, but now also for a wholly political religion – Islam. These Islamapologists have many clear lines that they invariably refuse to cross in their reporting on this particular religion; lines that are so unmistakable that we can identify them specifically. They are the “Ten Commandments of Leftist Reporting on Islam.”
And we’re starting with… censorship.

I. Thou Shalt Not Take the Name of Muhammad in Vain
The founder of Islam is Muhammad and, just as the life and teachings of Jesus are at the top of the ladder in Christianity, the life and teachings of Muhammad are at the top of the ladder in Islam. Muhammad himself is the highest model for Muslims. His precepts as outlined in Sharia Law are considered by Muslims to be mandatory for all of mankind. Despite the unmistakable call in Islam for outright theocracy, wherein the religion and the state are completely inseparable, a situation that fundamentally imperils the very lives of all who dare dissent, the leftist media would, nevertheless, like you to meet and appreciate the founder of Islam. Meanwhile, those who may want to be critical face the possibility of being executed.
Arianna Huffington’s blog The Huffington Post tends to lead the pack in promoting Muhammad as an individual. Though criticized by others on the left for such things as “bogus and crackpot medical theories“, The Huffington Post frequently preaches the virtues of Muhammad with virtually no criticism for this Islamapologist behavior originating from any source outside conservative opinion media. Two of their recent Islamist “sermons” include “This Christmas, Give the Gift of Knowledge About Islam” and “The Idiocy of the Anti-Sharia Crowd“.
At HuffPo, Muhammad is all the rage.
Next: The Second Commandment, Thou Shalt Compare Radical Islam to Conservatism


II. Thou Shalt Compare Radical Islam to Conservatism
In presenting his book American Taliban for public consumption, Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas Zuniga claimed that conservative concerns about leftist tolerance for Islamic terrorism are an “extra level of stupid” because “these Islamic fundamentalists subscribe to the very same ideology and values that drive American modern conservatives.” The meme that conservatism is equivalent to Islamic fundamentalism got its first big jump-start in the leftist media and it continues today. On any given day and in all areas of both movement and ‘mainstream” media, one can find radical Islam termed not as “radical Islam” but rather the “conservative” form of Islam. The left is hereby co-opting the term “conservative”, using it to describe both those who murder in the name of Allah and mainstream leaders in America who happen to be politically conservative.
Recently, for example, the New York Times has taken to using the word “conservative” in defining Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Chris Christie, Virginia Thomas and pro-life Catholics while also using the term to describe a “student vigilante” in Iran, Islamists in Tunisia who threaten the most basic rights of women, and Islamic bombers in Pakistan.
Using the same word to lump American conservatives in with Islamists? It’s the leftist way.

III. Thou Shalt Keep Holy the Name of Islam
The term “Islamophobia” was first used in media by a member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in 1990 to warn that the “Islamophobia” of Soviet leaders might result in an “Islamic explosion“. In other words, if Islam is criticized, there will be violence. In this, it signified a dangerous capitulation to the inherently intolerant system that Islam is. By condemning criticism of Islam, one therein upholds the precept of the “supremacy” of Islam over all other belief systems. He has become a “dhimmi” by allowing Islam to conquer him internally through “jihad“. In this context, the Islamist can truthfully claim that jihad” is not violent but is rather an “interior struggle”. If one allows himself to be conquered internally by accepting that Islam is supreme and never to be criticized, there is no need, in the mind of an Islamist, for you to be killed. In reality, then, those who criticize Islam are not the “phobic” (fearful) ones. It is the dhimmis of the world who are fearful of Islam.
Conservative talk radio host Dennis Prager has noted that “Islamophobia” is a term that is “brilliant” in its shrewdness as it implies that disagreement with this political/religious ideology is “racist”. The Left has been playing “identity politics” for years, having utterly rejected individualism on such a serious level that they cannot even acknowledge, let alone value, the clear distinction between individuals and ideology. This is dangerous. If one cannot distinguish between “persons” and “ideas”, one might then reason that in order to “kill” an ideology, the people who hold the ideology must themselves be killed. Fascism and Communism, both of which are responsible for the murder of billions of individual persons in recent history, share collectivism as a key element. The Nazi regime and their compatriots tossed Jews into ovens to kill European “Jewry” and Stalin murdered millions of Ukranians in bringing “socialism to the countryside” . Collectivism, which rejects individualism, is the intellectual common ground that Islamists share with fascists and communists.
“Individualism” refers to the “moral worth of the individual“. If I value the “moral worth of the individual”, I will, as a matter of logic, understand that the people who hold to an ideology are not ‘themselves’ the ideology. David Horowitz has noted that justice compels us to warn people about the dangers of any destructive ideology in order to preserve individuals from harm. Warning others about that harm is an act of love, not hatred. It is not representative of fear, but courage.
Next: The Fourth Commandment, Thou Shalt Honor Radical Islamists


IV. Thou Shalt Honor Radical Islamists
“If a fellow called Mohammed mows down a bunch of students”, Mark Steyn once wrote, then it is “just one of those things.” Indeed, when Muslims commit the atrocities that their particular religion teaches them to commit, political correctness and appeasement by the Left results in our being kept in the dark. This is clear in the failure of so many on the Left to point out the jihadist nature of the Fort Hood massacre perpetrated by Nidal Malik Hasan. Most troubling, however, is that we find the Left frequently taking the wrong side on issues related to 9/11, the Muslim Brotherhood, and other areas directly related to national security. Tea Party groups protesting anti-Semitism are smeared as hate-mongers, while radical Islamists are honored. Jane Fonda must be proud.
One recent example of the honor Islamists receive in the leftist press is Arianna Huffington‘s decision to give a platform to stealth jihadist Tariq Ramadan. This grandson of the founder of the jihadist Muslim Brotherhood was allowed to make the case for the Muslim Brotherhood‘s participation in Egypt’s political process.
By honoring radicals with platforms through political correctness and appeasement and turning a blind eye to the radical Islamist agenda right here in America, the leftist media is responsible for misinforming Americans about the most dangerous threat to our national security. Meanwhile, the smearing of all who oppose anti-Semitism and jihad adds insult to injury.
I’m reminded of a quote from the Hebrew Scriptures, which all so-called “People of the Book” should heed:
Woe to you that call evil good, and good evil: that put darkness for light, and light for darkness: that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.

V. Thou Shalt Ignore Islamists’ Murderous Jihad Against “Infidels”
Islamists routinely call for a second Holocaust and have engaged in unspeakable horrors against the people of Israel, not to mention women, children,apostates and homosexuals. During recent years, jihad has been responsible for an ever-growing number of Christian deaths in Islamist countries throughout the world. Perhaps first among them, as of today, are the Coptic Orthodox Christians, especially in newly “democratized” Egypt. While the Obama Administration has expressed interest in the Muslim Brotherhood having a place at the table, the plight of Christians in Egypt has been virtuallyignored. Frequently found are articles about how wonderful the status of the Copts is in Egypt. But ‘hearts and rainbows‘ accounts are merely anecdotes that distract millions of us from the sufferings of the Coptic community-at-large.
On February 24, we learned of Egyptian military attacks, with live ammunition and RPGs, on multiple monasteries in Egypt.
For the second time in as many days, Egyptian armed force stormed the 5th century old St. Bishoy monastery in Wadi el-Natroun, 110 kilometers from Cairo. Live ammunition was fired, wounding two monks and six Coptic monastery workers. Several sources confirmed the army’s use of RPG ammunition. Four people have been arrested including three monks and a Coptic lawyer who was at the monastery investigating yesterday’s army attack. [...]
[...] The army also attacked the Monastery of St. Makarios of Alexandria in Wady el-Rayan, Fayoum, 100 km from Cairo. It stormed the monastery and fired live ammunition on the monks. Father Mina said that one monk was shot and more than ten have injuries caused by being beaten with batons.
The only mention of this at the New York Times consists of one sentence buried in a March 3 article which mentions only the knocking down of the walls of one monastery. Not even the destruction of a home for handicapped children will pierce their hearts enough to report on the “utterly inhuman“ jihad.
Next: The Sixth Commandment, Thou Shalt Not Put the Rights of Women Above Islam


VI. Thou Shalt Not Put the Rights of Women Above Islam
At Salon, women under Sharia are joked about…though Islamapologetics appears to be all the rage.
Much like a woman under Sharia law, the movies lose value when touched by another man.
At The Nation, stoning is condemned without any mention of Sharia, the religious system of Islamic law from which the practice comes, while Newt Gingrich is said to have “lost his marbles” for being concerned about this Islamic law. At Daily Kos, no mention could be found for women under Sharia since at least January, 2010, but “Islam” is popular. There is no mention of Sharia at Common Dreams; only a smear against Tea Party activists who dared criticize the anti-Semitism of ICNA.
Could there be any wonder that the Left loves Islam and Sharia? They are in sync with President Obama on the issue of women under Sharia. How can the Left, and particularly President Obama, claim to care for women considering that he hired Dalia Mogahed to serve on his Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships?
In early October 2009, Mogahed was interviewed on a British television program hosted by Ibtihal Bsis, a member of the extremist Hizb ut Tahrir party, which seeks to facilitate the non-violent destruction of Western democracy and the creation of a worldwide Islamic state governed by Sharia Law. Bsis and another guest (also a member of Hizb ut Tahrir) stated that Sharia should be “the source of legislation” for all nations in the world; they also repeatedly condemned the “man-made law” and the “lethal cocktail of liberty and capitalism” that existed in Western societies. Mogahed did not dispute any of their assertions.
But then, if the Left stops hating women by criticizing Sharia, then by extension they would also have to stop hating gays, Israel, America, Christians, Jews, etc. The radical Left has invested far too much in hatred to consider giving an inch of freedom to Muslim women.
Next: The Seventh Commandment, Thou Shalt Bear False Witness to Protect Islamists


VII. Thou Shalt Bear False Witness to Protect Islamists
In February, I outlined the “Top Five Muslim Brotherhood Front Groups Working to Destroy America from Within“. These groups thrive by operating under the radar of public scrutiny the mainstream media is responsible for providing, an ability that is likely considerably enhanced by the Left’s propensity to avoid legitimate research and reasoned debate in deference to day-dreaming about utopian fantasies. At times, however, a bit of extra effort is extended in the form of bearing false witness to promote Islam. Here are a few examples.
The Soros-funded group Media Matters claimed that Glenn Beck endorsed Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf as a “good Muslim“. It wasn’t true.
Sometimes lies reach conspiracy level as in the case of Max Blumenthal‘s claims about a ‘Great Islamophobic Crusade‘ in America. As a Catholic, I’m particularly offended by Blumenthal’s crusade fantasy in his conspiracy rant.
Besides providing the initial energy for the Islamophobic crusade, conservative elements from within the pro-Israel lobby bankrolled the network’s apparatus, enabling it to influence the national debate.
We hear so much about “scary Jewish bankers” from Ron Paul fans, one wonders if Blumenthal has been hanging out at Liberty Forest. Blumenthal lied.
More recently, the New York Times is busily engaged in cheerleading for Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, describing him as one who “supports the idea of a pluralistic, multiparty, civil democracy”, but who can forget this memorable quote from Qaradawi?
“Throughout history, Allah has imposed upon the [Jews] people who would punish them for their corruption. The last punishment was carried out by Hitler. By means of all the things he did to them – even though they exaggerated this issue – he managed to put them in their place. This was divine punishment for them. Allah willing, the next time will be at the hands of the believers.”
I’m not seeing any pluralism there…at…all.
Deception is a doctrine in Islam that leftists in media have embraced.
Next: The Eighth Commandment, Thou Shalt Not Be Troubled by the Muslim Brotherhood


VIII. Thou Shalt Not Be Troubled by the Muslim Brotherhood
The proverbial jury is no longer out when it comes to the dangers of the Muslim Brotherhood, but the leftist media continues to try to convince all who will listen that we should not be troubled by this terror-supporting organization. Unfortunately, they’re getting a lot of help from people in high places. Today in the Washington Post, Lorenzo Vidino, offered an op-ed to relieve readers’ concerns about the Muslim Brotherhood. Vidino does not mention in his bio that he was recently based at the Investigative Project on Terrorism [IPT] in Washington, D.C. Earlier this month, IPT published an article offering a decidedly different perspective.
Elements of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group whose ideology has inspired terrorists such as Osama bin Laden, are in the United States and have supported terrorism here and overseas, FBI Director Robert Mueller told a House committee Thursday.
Mueller joined seven other Obama administration intelligence and law enforcement officials at a hearing of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. They spoke of the Brotherhood’s U.S. ties as word spread in Egypt that President Hosni Mubarak was prepared to resign. Mubarak has repeatedly said his administration, in place since 1981, is the one thing keeping an Islamic state led by the Brotherhood from taking over Egypt.
Certainly, there is reason to be troubled.

IX. Thou Shalt Embrace Dhimmitude
One very reasonable explanation for the Left’s willingness to become Islamapologists is that they have embraced “dhimmitude“. It is not a stretch of the imagination to envision that so many have been swept up in a mission to defend the doctrines and agendas of Islamists because they have allowed Islam to conquer them either in embracing the hatred and collectivism of Islam or by simply being too afraid to speak out against a religion that demands the death penalty for critics.
As early as the eighth century, a formal set of rules was created to govern the relationships between the conquering Muslims and the defeated infidels. The framework of these regulations is known as “dhimmitude,” a term connoting the lowly legal and social status of Jews and Christians who are subjected to Islamic rule. Dhimmi was the name applied by the Arab-Muslim conquerors to the indigenous non-Muslim populations that surrendered by a treaty (dhimma) to Muslim domination.
A non-Muslim community that is forced to accept dhimmitude is condemned to live in a system that will protect it from violent jihad on only one condition: if it is completely subservient to a Muslim master. In return for that subservience, the community is granted limited rights, although dhimmis could be capriciously subjected to such depredations as mass slavery, abductions, and deportations.
No one would admit to having become a “dhimmi”. We can only surmise this from the behaviors that have been outlined in the previous ‘commandments’. It appears to me that in order for one to be unable to reject the core tenets of Islam, one must either be a devout Muslim, immoral, inept…or a dhimmi. I am certainly open to hearing other possible explanations.
Next: The Tenth Commandment, Thou Shalt Attack Those who Warn Others About the Dangers Within Islam


X. Thou Shalt Attack Those who Warn Others About the Dangers Within Islam
Theo Van Gogh, Father Daniil Sysoyev, Shahbaz Batti — the list of people murdered for criticizing Islam is very long and grows virtually every day. There are also attacks with words in the media.
When German chancellor Angela Merkel declared that the leftist doctrine of “multiculturalism” had “utterly failed”, she was accused by Der Spiegel of not allowing “differences of any kind” and of harboring a view that only “primitive societies” and “dictatorships, which control all aspects of life” would hold. Der Spiegel also said that “only Germans” would think in such a way, indicating that Muslims (and everyone else?) are more advanced than primitive German totalitarian dictators. Through euphemism, this German newspaper was saying that Angela Merkel was acting like Adolf Hitler for simply expecting Muslims to be more tolerant of Western society. In fact, the closed, parallel societies of Poland were conducive, not detrimental, to creating an atmosphere of cultural ignorance that led to Polish Catholic participation in the Holocaust.
As bad as it is to be compared to Hitler (albeit through euphemism) in Der Spiegel, merely for calling for your nation to become more of a “melting pot” society, there are worse things. In The Netherlands, MP Geert Wilders is literally standing trial for speech…because it is speech that is critical of Islam. Slate characterized Wilders’ criticism of this totalitarian political/religious system “anti-Muslim rhetoric“. In other words, Slate refuses to differentiate between hating an “idea” and hating the “people” who hold those ideas.

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Geert Wilders, Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy all understand the dangers of allowing closed, intolerant societies such as we see in the Muslim communities of Europe.
The big media conglomerates of the Left have become intolerant societies, as well. While media has become much more open with the rise of cable and the internet, people still move within information bubbles. All people, no matter how free-thinking they may be, have a natural tendency to gravitate to those they most agree with. Much of what is out there is leftist in nature, and is very destructive. The burden of judgment regarding what is ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong’, or what is ‘fair’ and what is ‘unfair’ is largely on the individual when it comes to analyzing the media. With the Left pressing so many intolerant and inaccurate messages, we can only hope that media consumers will have the good judgment to make the right choices. Freedom always comes with responsibility.
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same. — Ronald Reagan
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Follow Lisa Graas on Twitter and visit her blog at LisaGraas.com

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Article printed from NewsReal Blog: http://www.newsrealblog.com/
URL to article: http://www.newsrealblog.com/2011/03/08/the-ten-commandments-of-leftist-reporting-on-islam-1/