(via. Islamophobia-watch)
Daniel Pipes accuses Obama of enforcing Sharia law
Over at the Washington Times Daniel Pipes opines that he found Pastor Terry Jones’ plan to ban the Qur’an “distasteful”. But actual the object of his attack is the Obama administration, who Pipes claims capitulated to the threat of “Muslim violence” when they persuaded Jones to call off his book-burning stunt. Pipes explains: “That violence stems from Islamic law, Shariah, which insists that Islam, and the Koran in particular, enjoy a privileged status. Islam ferociously punishes anyone, Muslim or non-Muslim, who trespasses against Islam’s sanctity.”
Pipes concludes with the following charge against the Obama administration: “Its pressure on Mr. Jones further eroded freedom of speech about Islam and implicitly established Islam’s privileged status in the United States, whereby Muslims may insult others but not be insulted. This moves the country toward dhimmitude, a condition whereby non-Muslims acknowledge the superiority of Islam. Finally, Mr. Obama, in effect, enforced Islamic law, a precedent that could lead to other forms of compulsory Shariah compliance.”
Pipes has found himself rather sidelined recently by more newsworthy Islamophobes like Pamela Geller or Newt Gingrich. Maybe this is Pipes’ attempt to show he is still a major player when it comes to whipping up hysteria against the US Muslim community.
September 23rd, 2010 at 3:27 pm
How ridiculous. Did Obama jail or fine or punish Pastor Jones? No? Then the first amendment wasn’t violated.
September 23rd, 2010 at 3:29 pm
Also, the Daniel Pipes link at the top of the page deserves an update. Pipes has a decade-long history of nasty stuff he’s said, and deserves a list as big as Robert Spencer’s
September 23rd, 2010 at 3:30 pm
Perhaps he should accuse General Petraeus of enforcing Sharia law. I’m pretty sure Petraeus told Jones to stop burning Qurans before Obama did.
September 23rd, 2010 at 3:58 pm
So if an Imam planned a burn-a-bible day and people were outraged then Obama interfered and urged the Imam to cancel his plan to avoid escalation\, can we say that “Obama is implementing Biblical Law”? If Imam Faisal condemned the burn-a-bible day as well, will he also be implementing “Biblical Law”?
It takes very low IQ to come up with super smart conclusions like Pipes’!
September 23rd, 2010 at 4:07 pm
Uh huh, that makes a lot of sense/sarcasm. Seriously, who comes up with this stuff? Do they even have a triple digit IQ? I am not an Obama fan, but to accuse him of implementing Shariah is just plain nuts.
September 23rd, 2010 at 4:10 pm
Actually Pipes is wrong, he created a straw man, and pretends Obama said something he did not.
Obama didn’t ban Pastor Jones from burning the Quran. He made it clear that the Pastor did have the right to do that under the First Amendment.
No, that is not what he did at all.
What Obama did do was make it clear that as Commander in Chief of the US armed forces, he had a duty not to endanger the lives of American personnel serving in Afghanistan. That was the reason he appealed to the Pastor not to do it.
Does anyone remember his speech? Obama was merely doing his duty any good military chief would do, ie. take action not to put his men at risk from those who would be inflamed by Pastor Jones. Those people don’t understand the free speech freedom. Even in Europe they have trouble coming to grips with the total freedom the first amendment in the US allows. How then can you expect militiants in Afghanistan to? expecially when they see their land under occupation.
Daniel Pipes should apologise to Obama.
September 23rd, 2010 at 4:42 pm
When a newspaper here in Britain publishes an article about a celebrity that they don’t like — they sue the hell out of them! But no one screams “freedom of speech”.
Obama made a smart move but the damage is already done. Watching Pakistani national news shows my point — everyone thinks Obama personally blessed the burning of the Quran. It should have been stopped straight away.
September 23rd, 2010 at 4:55 pm
Notice how Pipes says, “Islam ferociously punishes anyone…” as if “Islam” is a conscious being that acts in the world. There is no entity “Islam” that acts, just as there is no “America” that is a conscious being that acts. There are only people who act, Muslims and Americans, but not “Islam” or “America.” Imagine if I said “America demands invasion and occupation of any country that opposes it.” Is that accurate? So, this is a way he can essentialize (and generalize) about the religion, as if Islam in all times and all places under all circumstances demands the harsh punishments he is talking about. He knows very well that is not true. As a matter of fact, however, there were many times the Prophet (pbuh) was insulted and he showed principled restraint and compassion. I believe most Muslims want to follow this beautiful example set by the Prophet (pbuh).
Furthermore, the violence in Pakistan is mostly about military occupation, drone strikes, and government corruption. Quran burning adds insult to injury. But most Americans can’t appreciate this context, so people like Pipes will continue to cynically portray it as solely religiously inspired violence.
September 23rd, 2010 at 5:18 pm
“…Whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. (2 Chronicles 15:13)..”
Actually, burning the Qur’an is BIBLICAL law.
September 23rd, 2010 at 5:28 pm
Nur Alia, what point are you trying to make?
That verse is talking about people (pagans) not Books, and isn’t Chronicles the New Testament? Pipes is Jewish, so doesn’t believe in the New Testament.
That said, I wonder what Pipes has to say about the Bible burning in Israel, by the Jewish Taliban, who see Christianity and the proselytising Evangelicals there, as idolatory.
September 23rd, 2010 at 6:32 pm
@Nur & Beautiful:
1 & 2 Chronicles are Old Testament books. The context of the passage is about the king of Judah killing Israelites who were not faithful to Torah (the law of Moses). It says nothing about burning books, but about killing people for their religious beliefs–a fact often ignored by Jews and Christians who feign horror at the idea of killing people for apostasy.
September 23rd, 2010 at 9:25 pm
@ Daniel
Interesting how they scream at Muslims about apostasy but there is far more support for capital apostasy laws in their own scriptures than in the Quran or Hadith.
September 23rd, 2010 at 10:40 pm
Ahhhhh he felt left out he has been a nobody for a long time since he accused muslims of setting off the Oklahoma City bombing Sorry Daniel Pipes should have thought up the cash cow “SHERIA LAW” long time ago someone allready beat you to it and its little bit late to get in the game now
September 23rd, 2010 at 11:32 pm
Well said, Justin.
September 24th, 2010 at 6:34 am
What a worthless piece of shit this is…spencer’s lost brother
September 24th, 2010 at 7:02 am
Pipes is a paranoid hypocrite suffering from persecutory complex. If an imam is to hold an ‘International Burn the Diary of Anne Frank Day’ on May 15th, or if a vet is to organise an ‘International Burn the Union Jack Day’ for Commonwealth Games, odds are Obama will be just as disapproving. Desecrating things that are precious to a group of people is unfortunately a protected right but (unless this right gets abused more often) it isn’t exactly American.
September 24th, 2010 at 9:30 am
Just came to say I love this website! Thanks so much to whomever started this. Also, is Daniel Pipes a Zionist? that would explain alot.
September 24th, 2010 at 9:39 am
Very well said guys, now put that in your pipe and smoke it, Daniel Pipes!
September 24th, 2010 at 10:13 am
I think its fairly sure that Mr Pipes is a zionist as is the Pope a catholic
September 24th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
The only reason he hates Muslims is because they are the only thing standing between Israel and a world free of Palestinians.
Pipes wasn’t given the Guardian of Zion award for nothing. He is Israel’s very own Goebbels.
September 25th, 2010 at 6:16 am
Please write more on Daniel Pipes in the future loonwatch team.
September 29th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
Enough with your Koran idolatry ! That’s just a book, full of insanities.
September 29th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Thank you for your contribution to the conversation Eternal.
October 1st, 2010 at 2:11 pm
Yeah Eternal, thanks for the weekend’s entertainment…
October 1st, 2010 at 3:44 pm
@Justin: “Interesting how they scream at Muslims about apostasy but there is far more support for capital apostasy laws in their own scriptures than in the Quran or Hadith.”
True, but Muslims still take their scriptures seriously to a degree not matched by Jews and Christians. For “moderate” Islamophobes, the issue is that Islam has not been “broken” as Judaism was “broken” by the Diaspora and as Christianity was “broken” by the 30 Years’ War.
The “extremist” Islamophobes on the other hand want to eradicate Islam altogether, even though it could probably only be done only by wiping out close to a quarter of the world’s population. My gut reaction to them is “Hell no! I’d rather be a f***ing dhimmi than that!”
November 7th, 2011 at 6:15 am
Looks like you all are Pro-Islam.
November 7th, 2011 at 1:08 pm
I would not say that Peggy as many of us are not muslims we just hate the haters if you know what I mean .