Muslims arrested for Terror charges, entrapment?

A Virginia resident has been indicted in connection with an alleged plot to bomb several Metro stations in Washington, DC. Farooque Ahmed, a US citizen originally from Pakistan, was arrested Wednesday after a six-month undercover sting. But as with other recent cases alleging terrorist plots, questions are being raised over whether Ahmed was subjected to government entrapment. He discussed the alleged plot with agents posing as Islamic militants, and US officials say the public was never in real danger. Defendants in other cases nationwide have accused government informants and agents of devising the plots for which they were accused.

Entrapment or Foiling Terror? FBI’s Reliance on Paid Informants Raises Questions about Validity of Terrorism Cases

Pursuing an Islamic metamorphosis

Reformists should focus on the merits of the rule of law, rather than the legal tradition from which law is draw

In his book, The Autumn of the Middle Ages, Dutch historian Johan Huizinga describes the decline of the medieval world as a process of "dying and rigidifying of a previously valid store of thought".

The main thesis of Huizinga’s book is that, by the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the cultural forms and norms on which medieval Europe was based became overused and exhausted. When any ideal becomes exhausted, it fails to be a source of inspiration; rather it becomes an artificial burden.

From Huizinga’s perspective, the European world of the late middle ages was a world of artificial vanity and self-deception, a ruin of a world that had died a long time before.

I think that the abstract aspect of Huizinga's thesis on cultural forms is enlightening, and can be extended to explain transitional moments in other cultures, including contemporary Islamic culture. The cultural legacy modern Muslims inherited from their ancestors is exhausted, and - with lack of self-criticism - much of this legacy is becoming a burden rather than a source of inspiration.

It's not Ok to Bash Islam.

Anti-Mosque Rhetoric in US Reportedly Boosts Taliban Recruitment

Newsweek is reporting that Taliban operatives in Afghanistan say the backlash against the construction of an Islamic cultural center in Lower Manhattan has been a boost for the militant group. An operative named Zabihullah told the magazine, "By preventing this mosque from being built, America is doing us a big favor...It’s providing us with more recruits, donations, and popular support." Zabihullah’s comments mirror what many US terrorism analysts have been saying about the rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric in America.
Evan Kohlmann recently said, "We are handing al-Qaeda a propaganda coup, an absolute propaganda coup."

Candlelight Vigil in Tennessee Condemns Arson at Mosque Site

In Tennessee, more than 150 people gathered last night for a candlelight vigil in the city of Murfreesboro to protest the recent arson at the construction site for a new mosque and Islamic center. Andy Woloszyn of Middle Tennesseans for Religious Freedom helped organize the rally.

Andy Woloszyn: "We had a candlelight vigil condemning the arson and terrorism committed against the site of the future Islamic center, where they torched a construction vehicle down. And the very next day, when members of the board were out there, they heard several gunshots. So we came here today to support the Muslim community, to be here for them so they don’t feel alone, so they’re not the ones suffering by themselves." (Video courtesy of Seth Spuff Limbaugh / SethLimbaugh.com).

Attorney John Green spoke prior to the candlelight vigil in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

John Green: "It is my personal belief that to be here tonight evidences a respect for everything that we, as citizens of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County, hold dear: the integrity and dignity, respect with which we will treat our neighbors and our friends and our colleagues." (Video courtesy of Seth Spuff Limbaugh /SethLimbaugh.com).

A group of counter-protesters in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, gathered to openly oppose the construction of the mosque. One of the counter-protesters, Kimberly Kelly, expressed support for the use of arson to stop the mosque from being built. She told The Tennesseannewspaper, "I think it was a piece of their own medicine. They bombed our country."

Republican Culture War

If we had any sense, the fall elections would be about just one thing: the economy. But we do not have any sense. We are facing what Wall Street would call the “triple witching hour.” Republicans have their finger on three social-demographic hot buttons. The first is illegal immigration (in proposing a review of the 14th Amendment), and the second is Islam in America (inobjecting to the mosque at ground zero). They won’t be able to avoid pushing the third, race, even if they wanted to, given that the two leading congressional Democrats facing ethics charges are African-American. The Democrats, in response, label the GOP xenophobic and intolerant—and those are the nice words. If Barack Obama’s inauguration—could it have been only 19 months ago?—was a moment of proud, blessed calm, we are now looking at a nasty, community-shredding season of fear.