Howard Dean is a fool.
He was on Morning Joe talking about the Paris attacks and started by saying: “I stopped calling these people Muslim terrorists. They’re about as Muslim as I am.” Watch for yourself:
He also make the outrageous statement that ISIS is not Islamic!
What is it with these intelligent people (often liberals, as Sam Harris like to point out) and the overwhelming urge to appease all religion, especially it seems, Islam? You can debate all you want about whether extremists are Good or Bad Muslims, or how correct their interpretation of the Quran is. Fine. But to say they are not Muslim is preposterous. These assholes are about the most religious people on the planet. That’s the goddamn problem! When you are looking forward to being martyred in the name of Allah, the one thing you don’t lack is faith.
The ISIS flag features the seal of Muhammad with the text “There is no God but Allah”. Is that not the same God a billion and a half Muslims worship? Is there another Muhammad I don’t know about? We know where their beliefs and motivations lye, because they define themselves by that more than anything else. It is so unambiguous, I urge Howard Dean to consult a fellow doctor about having his head removed from his ass.
Reza Aslan, a Muslim scholar and somebody I don’t often agree with, makes it easy: if you say you’re Muslim, you’re Muslim. If you say you’re Mormon, you’re Mormon. Why wouldn’t we take people at their word? They’re very open about their motivations and beliefs. But that’s not Howard’s problem. He’s coming at it from the “all religion is good” camp. And what these guys do is bad. Ergo, they can’t possibly be members of a major religion – in this case Islam.
That’s bullshit and it’s a dangerous line to take. How are we supposed to have a serious conversation if we can’t acknowledge the most basic of facts? Religion just might be the problem.
*Update: There are lots of news agencies reporting about the refusal by the White House to label the attacks as “radical Islam”.
