Samson
Póg Mo Thóin
They wouldn't get far with us, I assure you.Ok, "only in ignorant minds."
Ignorant Minds have Exterminated Millions.
I hope you're right, my friend.
My point wasn't to suggest there should be an "Islamic Pope."
My point was to suggest that some Islamic country lead others in vigorously condemning Islamists that resort to violent threats against anyone, including South Park Producers.
In that case, I apologize for misinterpreting your post. I'll assume that you mean violent threats against non-combatants. Still, this raises several issues. Having one nation at the helm of the religion would be inappropriate, because Islamists reject the notion that Muslims should be divided by political boundaries in the first place. The call would have to come from a scholar, which brings us back to the issue of decentralization. No single scholar or body of scholars exercises influence over a large enough portion of believers to speak for the entire religion (though that doesn't stop them from attempting to do so.)
Secondly, any person or group who is "vigorously" devoted to denouncing threats runs the risk of being disregarded as a stooge of the West.
Thirdly, I don't think it makes sense to hold the entire religion accountable when a single person posts a threatening remark on a blog. This incident doesn't deserve the amount of attention it's receiving; death threats are issued on the internet every day and nobody has time to monitor and condemn every one of them.
Your first point doesn't make sense to me: How come leaders can call for fatwah, but leaders cannot denounce violence?
The second point is well taken: But its not called "Leadership" because its popular. I'm not really blaming Islam for not producing such a leader, since they are rare in any case. I'm only saying that if Islam had such a leader, then it would suppress the ease at which some condemn all Islam for the actions of a few.
I agree with your third point. But Islam doesn't offer much in defence (or better, prevention) when it is accused of being a religion that encourages death threats. Maybe I'm wrong? Please show me how ignorant I am: Quote Islamic leaders who have condemned violence.