http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/an-open-letter-to-bill-maher-from-an-american-muslim
i like Bill Maher but sometimes he makes that smile turn upside down and i don't see the comedy. this letter is very interesting and long so i'll post a few excerpts and please read it in entirety i agree with this guy, too many host on American TV ask questions of bigoted, racist, opinionated, biased individuals and all the audience gets is negativity even those times he tries to call them out it does unring the bell. we expect it on Fox and other right wing media but those we used to see as really fair and balanced are now leaning right orders from the top but to compete with Fox you have to become Fox lying and fabricating your own news. might help ratings but in the end you'll end with the same dirt on your call letters NBC/COMCAST.
Dear Mr. Maher,
On April 25th you asked, “If ISIS is so anathema to moderate Muslims, how come zero have gone to fight them?” My question to you is this, sir: How do you define “moderate Muslims”? And how exactly do you propose that they go fight ISIS?
I read your comments about Islam and wonder why you often pose provocative and oversimplified questions to non-Muslim guests, seemingly ignorant of the numerous statements from both Muslim public figures and ordinary Muslims against extremism. Why, I wonder, are you asking the editor of the Weekly Standard about the perceived inactions of “moderate Muslims”? Why not ask actual experts who study this issue and who have spoken to Muslims about their views? Better yet, why not ask an actual Muslim?
My mother, a practicing Muslim who quietly fights against ISIS’s ideology every single day by simply rejecting extremism and teaching her children and grandchildren to do the same, still counts herself among your fans. Do you realize how hurtful it is for her to watch you deride her faith, likening it to a diseased orchard filled with bad apples when she is as disturbed as you are about the rise of extremism? Do you propose that she instead buy a one-way ticket to Syria, pick up a weapon, and face ISIS on the battlefield? Would you actually label her more “moderate” if she had an AK-47 in her hands?
Immediately after the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris, Time published an article where I challenged the views of the radical British Imam Anjem Choudary and asked him not to speak for the millions of Muslims he did not represent. I also pleaded with non-Muslims not to fall into the same trap—the trap that ISIS has so deftly set for us. This is not about “us versus them” and it’s not about what moderate Muslims are doing or not doing. It is about what we as a community of concerned citizens are doing together to combat extremism of all kinds.
As you continue to discuss this issue, I implore you to include Muslims in your conversations. I’m confident that many others besides me would be thankful for that opportunity.
Respectfully,
An American Muslim
