It’s not often I find myself agreeing with André Carson, the Muslim Congressman from Indiana. He spoke at a news conference yesterday on behalf of himself, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib. They were reacting to Congresswoman Lauren Boebert who caused controversy with her ill-considered remarks about the “Jihad Squad” and her insinuation – meant to be a joke – that Ilhan Omar is a terrorist who would blow up the Capitol building. This was just stupid. Boebert made herself an easy target and handed Carson and the others a golden opportunity to make hay and score points. The Muslim penetration of American political circles raises serious concerns, but what Boebert did is absolutely the wrong way to address those concerns.
At the press conference, Carson said, “Words have consequences and can incite violence.” [C-SPAN at 2:48] Words have consequences – they sure do. Words can incite violence – they sure can. Let’s open the Muslim holy book, the Quran, and see what the words say, shall we?
- Make war on them until idolatry shall cease and God’s religion shall reign supreme. Quran 8:40
- I shall cast terror into the hearts of the infidels. Strike off their heads; strike off the very tips of their fingers. Quran 8:12
These words, among many similar passages to be found in the most authoritative Islamic source there is – the Quran – have had horrible consequences. They have inspired innumerable doctrinally-motivated jihad attacks around the world for centuries. Here are just two relevantly recent examples from the U.S.:
- Omar Mateen spoke about jihad before killing 49 and wounding 58 more in the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando in 2016.
- Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani killed three and wounded eight before being shot dead when he attacked the Pensacola Naval Air Station in 2019. The Justice Department officially classified the incident as an act of terrorism, motivated by “jihadist ideology”.
There are Muslims who admit their doctrine inspires attacks, starting with the Egyptian government that has stopped the teaching of some passages from the Quran in schools there because the passages are known to inspire violence. The hateful doctrines, the savage attacks, and the admissions from Muslims themselves they know they have a problem – all this ground is covered in my court filings in my FOIA case against the FBI currently pending in federal court. The documents are available on my website, Liberato.US.
“Words have consequences and can incite violence.” That’s right, André Carson. I’ve criticized Lauren Boebert for being stupid and I’m criticizing you for not renouncing the passages in the Quran promoting sharia supremacy and espousing jihadi violence as the means to achieve it.
There’s a right way and a wrong way to proceed. If you are upset by a group of people who believe their religion and not the Constitution should be the supreme law of the land, and whose holy book imposes a religious duty on followers to wage violence to achieve world domination, then roll up your sleeves and get to work. Stop your ranting, stop making personal insults, and use their own doctrine and their own words against them. You can’t be accused of hate speech or anything else if you simply throw their own scriptures back in their face. Start confronting Muslim politicians about the many conflicts between their religious beliefs and the Constitution on the campaign trail and elsewhere. Educate activists in your area about how sharia supremacy and jihad are subversive and threaten the American way of life. If you don’t know how to do these things, get up to speed. Lots of resources are available, including the Muslim Oath Project and the Journalist’s Guide to Vetting Muslims and Mosques on my website, Liberato.US.
