I heard about this when I was still in Michigan, but I didn't want to post anything until I had some documentation. I waited for the Detroit Free Press and other local media to report the story, but I gave up after more than a week of searching. Fortunately, Gadi Adelman (GA) interviewed Ruben Israel (RI) and posted the disturbing news over at Front Page Magazine.
On Sunday, June 17th, 2012, Ruben Israel's group of street preachers went to the Islamic Center of America (the same mosque I had visited two days earlier). While the group was preaching, a Muslim emerged from the mosque, got into his SUV, and tried to run them over. Mosque security naturally blamed the preachers for provoking him.
Everyone should take note here. Ruben Israel's presence at the Dearborn Arab Festival was national news. The media jumped at the chance to show images of intolerant Christians harassing Muslims (check out Niraj Warikoo's coverage over at the Detroit Free Press). While I have no objections to calling attention to (and criticizing) the actions of Ruben Israel and his associates, we should all be horrified to realize that nine counts of attempted murder by a Muslim targeting Christians isn't even considered newsworthy by local media in Michigan.
Here's an excerpt from Adelman's interview:
GA: Now give me the exclusive; what happened on Sunday?
RI: We were at the Arab fest on Friday. On Sunday we went to the mosque in Dearborn.
GA: Were you on mosque property or out on the side walk?
RI: What mosque doesn’t have a sidewalk, but we stood by the street where the side walk would be. Of course the Dearborn Police showed up instantly. We were able to use our megaphone. We were able to fly our banners and there was no problem. The officers said everything was fine and we’re doing good. There were 2 squad cars and they flanked us just to make sure we were safe. Some of the Muslims came out and were screaming at us and we yelled back and forth and we did not go on their property, and according to police it was fine.
Unfortunately, one of the Muslims got in his SUV, drove up over the hill, accelerated and came right at us where we were standing. This guy came directly at us and we had to jump out of the way and he came screaming by us. Both of the police cars stopped him, pulled him out and cuffed him and he showed no remorse. The police actually have it on video because both police cars had there dash cameras on, so it’s not like it’s my word against his.
Then mosque security came out and said that they knew this guy and that we provoked him and the Dearborn Police officer yelled at the security guard and told him if he didn’t back off he would also be arrested for hindering a police investigation.
GA: Did the guy in the SUV pull over or was he forced to?
RI: They had to block him in. Once he was on the street they were headed his way and he was blocked in. They threw him against the car, cuffed him, frisked him, checked his car and again. It’s not like we can make this up. He is now officially charged with 9 counts of attempted murder.
GA: This never hit the news, not even in Dearborn?
RI: No, of course not, but if I had attempted to run down a Muslim that would be the head news on CNN, CBS, NBC, but when a Muslim wants to take out 9 Christians. We were the visiting team. This guy may walk; he has the potential to walk. At the very best they may take away his library card for a few weeks, but he’s out on bail. He’s out on high-dollar bail and from what I was told by the detective in charge, he does have a high-dollar attorney, so he’s not going to go down easy. He’s going to fight this thing.
Hmmm. It seems police have video footage of the attempted murder of the group. Since the Dearborn Police Department and I aren't on the best of terms, anyone care to put in a FOIA request for the footage and police reports?
I've been looking forward to this debate ever since it was first proposed by Dr. Wood in his own unique style. After having finally viewed it, I still lean heavily towards Wood's thesis, but I must admit that Spencer made a compelling argument.
As they both mention in this debate, higher criticism of the Bible and other scriptures is already a "mainstream" thing and their theories/conclusions are easily accessible to the layman. This is not yet the case for Islam.
Higher criticism of Islam has existed for a long time, but it is insignificant when compared to the amount of critical scholarship devoted to Judaism and Christianity, and their conclusions are rarely discussed outside of scholarly circles.
This is in part due to the fear produced by Muslim intolerance, a fear which "moderate" Muslims reap the benefit of. For example, Bart Ehrman is an agnostic scholar which Muslims love to use in order to attack Christianity. When asked if he would consider subjecting the Qur'an to such study, he replied, "When I stop valuing my life, that is what I'll do." In fact, Wood, Spencer and Pamella Gellar have just received some more very public death-threats. The Muslim is so emboldened by the West's special treatment of Islam, he doesn't bother hiding his home address (who wants to bet the police don't give a damn?)
Muslims are often very hypocritical, in that they gratuitously accept this higher criticism of other religions, claim that their scriptures have been distorted, etc., but refuse to accept the same about their own religion. Basically saying, "This is what we believe, and if scholars say it is false, we don't care". As Wood and Spencer also point out, even the Islamic texts themselves refute the myth of "One Qur'an, perfectly preserved".
This much-anticipated debate took place Monday, May 28, at 8PM on ABN. Recently David and I teamed up against Anjem Choudary and Sheikh Omar Bakri to debate the same question, did Muhammad exist? (Watch that one here.) As David explained before our Monday debate, "we showed that two Muslim apologists couldn't defend the existence of their prophet....Choudary and Bakri relied on a backwards, archaic, absurd methodology ('The Qur'an says it, so it must be true!'). Can a more sophisticated argument show that Muhammad existed? Only one way to find out."
In my opinion, David Wood ranks up there with Pat Condell when it comes to clarity of thought and expression. These guys really know how to get their points across, and they both do it with a helping of humor.
The Qur'an is filled with violent passages. Yet Muslims assure us that these passages, when read in context, are peaceful. In this video, we examine the historical, immediate, and extended literary contexts of Surah 9:29, which commands Muslims to "fight those who do not believe in Allah."
