Moderates v Maniacs in Denmark

An interesting report in the Brussels Journal exposes deep divisions within the Muslim community in Denmark. On the side of sanity, Naser Khader, the leader of the moderate network and a member of the Danish Parliament, gives an interview to Jyllands-Posten, condemning the local imams:

If they cannot be loyal to the values of this country they should leave and by that do the majority of Danish Muslims a big favour. The imams should stop critizising the cartoons and instead critizise the terrorists that cut the throats of innocent hostages in the name of Allah and therefore abuse Islam. But on such occasions we never hear a word from them. Hence, they are hypocrites.

On the other hand, the Danish imams have been telling one thing to the Western media and the opposite to the Arab press.

Imam Abu Laban, the leader of the radical Danish Muslim organizations protesting the cartoons, said on Danish TV2 that he urged the Muslim world to abandon the boycott of Denmark, but told Al-Jazeera that “one could only be pleased” with the boycott. Imam Abu Bashar told Jyllands-Posten that the cartoon affair was an issue between Muslims and the newspaper and not between Muslims and the Danish government. However, in the Saudi newspaper Al Watan he critizised the Danish government for not apologizing for the cartoons. Imam Mahmoud Fouad Al-Barazi said at a meeting with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen that he wanted to advance better integration, but in an interview with the Egyptian daily Al Ahram criticized Danish kindergartens for “indoctrinating” Muslim children with Danish culture.


7 Responses to “Moderates v Maniacs in Denmark”

  1. martyn says:

    That’s the part of it all I don’t understand. If these religious mentalists want to live in the dark ages, go live in a country more suited to your beliefs.
    If there was a religion free state somewhere in the world I’d be off like a bloody shot.
    I see it like a man u supporter buys a season ticket at a rival club, say Leeds Utd, and then spends all his time moaning and complaining that Leeds don’t wear the same colours as his team, don’t sing the same songs as hes fellow manu fans, and then after making a song and dance about it, wonder why supporters around him don’t like him. Easy answer is go buy a season ticket at man u.

  2. skp says:

    Double standards. Problem is, Islamic dogma controls the thinking of most followers.

  3. Andy Gilmour says:

    You’re forgetting it’s their sacred duty to try to convince the rest of the world to start seeing it their way.

    Just like the damn fundie christians.

    Maybe that’s why we feel it’s our “in-no-way-sacred-whatsoever” duty to try to stop them.
    Shame we don’t get the best rhetoric/chants…

    “What do we want? Scientific rationalism…”
    “Bring about a peaceful end to claims to authority based on supernaturalism…”

    yeah. well. er.

    🙂

  4. Agamemnon says:

    One of the writers on http://www.tightladies.com/blog2/blog2.htm made an excellent point pertaining to the boundries of free speech versus the respect for religious beliefs.

  5. neil says:

    would you not agree when we go to there countries we abide by their laws. If they want to live in a democracy then they should accept opinions or media that doesn’t suit their opinions. If they desire to live in a theocracy and live in a controlled society then they should go back to the middle east and not distrupt the lives of the innocent who live in a different way, we should have to bend around the minorities in our countries across the west.

  6. Phil Stewart says:

    Sad isn’t it, that a whole great culture like the Danish are being punished for being open and democratic allowing those self rightious pricks a voice. We get the same in the states and lots of us are sick to death of this line of thinking. Turn the whole mideast area to glass and be done with it. Sorry for being glib but Danes are a great lot and I have many Danish friends and business partners, stumbled across this nice blog and I’m just venting.
    Ta 😉

  7. sugaree says:

    got three hours? go to

    http://thestudyofrevenge.blogspot.com/

    disregard the goggle auto-warning and forge ahead. the mo thread is nearing 400 comments and a ripping read.