Rep. Peter King Hearing on Radical Islam

Rep. Peter King is holding March 10 hearings before his Committee on Homeland Security entitled "The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community's Response." About 1000 protesters against these hearings showed up at Times Square. Some protesters called it a witch-hunt. National Council of Churches chief Michael Kinnamon joined other clergy of the political Left at the rally. Kinnamon warned that Americans are “in danger of succumbing to a bigotry that will scar our generation in the same way that bigotry scarred those who came before us.”  He then referred to European conquest of the Americas, slavery, and the WWII internment of Japanese-Americans. It has become part of the myth developed by the Left that Muslims in America are the new oppressed minority. “No matter what Rep. King may say, his hearings convey the implicit message that Muslims aren’t part of ‘us’—and to this sort of bigotry, all citizens of conscience must say NO!” He then said, “On behalf of the fifty million members of our churches, I declare as loudly as possible that whenever Muslims are threatened or demeaned, so are we—because ‘Today we are Muslims, too!’” Actually, the membership is 35 million, but who is counting. 


The term "witch hunt" is used to disparage people who believe there are terrorists and potential terrorists hiding among us. We know there are no witches, so the implication is that there are no terrorists living within the American Muslim community. Events dating back long before September 11, 2001 prove there are.


Cal Thomas (March 10, 2011) identifies several of the witnesses. It includes Abdirizak Bihi and Melvin Bledsoe, whom one can do an Internet search for why they are witnesses. Rep. Keith Ellison, Minnesota Democrat and one of two Muslim members of Congress, is a scheduled witness, as is Rep. Frank Wolf, Virginia Republican. Ellison will no doubt warn us against stereotyping all Muslims because of the actions of "a few." But what if those "few" (and it doesn't take many to kill, as we have seen) are hiding among peaceful Muslims? Although not yet called, he identifies some other interesting witnesses Daniel Pipes, Steve Emerson, and Bernard Lewis. 


In these hearings, and in dealing with the radicalization problem in general, do we fully understand that radical Muslims believe their religion allows them to lie to "infidels" and to advance their cause of creating a world Islamic caliphate? Shouldn't that make us wary of their testimony?


Is any investigation of radical Islam acceptable to those on the religious Left?  Kinnamon says the King investigation should be expanded to all extremism. Must there be the ongoing pretense that “extreme” American Methodists or Lutherans are just as likely to host terror cells?  Further, can I not assume that most American Muslims want violent radicalism exposed and expunged from among them?


Thomas points out that one of the quite real issues will be that if there are specific findings, will the government take adequate steps to protect Americans from further Islamist attacks. Alternatively, will fear of the accusation of of Islamophobia keep this administration from acting, even if the hearings expose legitimate concerns?