Loyalty oaths in America have their roots in the Civil War era, but in the
50s, they were an ugly product of the "Red Scare." Some people, including
university professors, were asked to sign them as testimony to their not
being a communist, or a communist sympathizer.
Now comes a proposal for a different type of loyalty oath, which may help
answer the question: how do we tell the difference between a peaceful Muslim
and a non-peaceful Muslim who wants to kill us? Granting that the majority
of Muslims are not terrorists, is there a method by which we can do a better
job of exposing those who are?
This week, the "Proposed Charter of Muslim Understanding" is being presented
to the European Parliament. According to Gerard Batten, a member of the
European Parliament from London, who contributed the foreword, and the
charter's author, Sam Solomon, a Sharia law expert, the charter will "enable
Muslims from all strands of belief to make it plain that they reject those
extremist interpretations of their religious texts that promote or excuse
violence and bring Islam into conflict with the modern world."
The Charter calls upon Muslims to:
- Respect non-Muslim religions and issue a fatwa (an Islamic religious
decree) prohibiting the use of force, violence or threats to their
followers.
- Respect all civilizations, cultures and traditions and promote
understanding of the precedence of national laws over Sharia law.
- Respect Western freedoms, especially of belief and expression and prohibit
violent reaction against people who make use of these freedoms.
- Prohibit the issuing of any fatwa that would result in violence or threat
against individuals or institutions.
- Request Islamic institutions to revise and issue new interpretations of
Qur'anic verses calling for Jihad and violence against non-Muslims.
Solomon says, "We call on organizations representing the Islamic faith Š to
endorse and sign this Charter as an example to all European Muslims." By
doing so, they will make it clear that "Islam is a religion of peace Š and
that acts of terrorism committed in its name are the acts of misguided
individuals who have misunderstood and misinterpreted its teaching."
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