University of Florida: Saying "Radical Islam Wants You Dead" Offends Muslims

[Ambiorix]

December 6, 2007
http://www.jihadwatch.org/
University of Florida: Saying "Radical Islam Wants You Dead" Offends Muslims
"The university’s vice president for student affairs, Patricia Telles-Irvin, responded by sending a message to all students in which she called on those who put up the posters to apologize and said that the language on the ad 'reinforced a negative stereotype ... and contributed to a generalization that only furthers the misunderstanding of the religion of Islam.'”

How exactly? The jihadists are Muslims. The jihadists justify their actions by referring to Islamic teachings. The jihadists gain recruits by portraying themselves as the pure and true Muslims. The posters referred to "Radical Islam," not to Islam in general. Many have criticized that term itself for giving the impression that the jihadists are "twisting" or "hijacking" Islam's original peaceful teachings -- but now apparently even that term is off limits. While the jihadists act on their Islam, flaunt their Islam, and aggressively push their Islam among peaceful Muslims, non-Muslims must evidently see no Islam, hear no Islam, speak no Islam, and pretend that what is happening has completely different causes and motivations from what the jihadists themselves explain them to be.

At least Florida's attorney general is speaking out against this madness.

From Inside Higher Ed (scroll down; links in the original), with thanks to all who sent this in:

Florida’s attorney general, Bill McCollum, has sent a sharply worded letter to the University of Florida, saying that a vice president of the institution may have limited students’ free speech rights by criticizing posters put up last month to publicize a showing of the controversial documentary, Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West. Campus Republican groups sponsored the event, and their posters said: “Radical Islam Wants You Dead.” The university’s vice president for student affairs, Patricia Telles-Irvin, responded by sending a message to all students in which she called on those who put up the posters to apologize and said that the language on the ad “reinforced a negative stereotype ... and contributed to a generalization that only furthers the misunderstanding of the religion of Islam.” In the attorney general’s letter to the university (not yet released to the public, but posted on the Phi Beta Cons blog and confirmed by the university), McCollum said that Telles-Irvin “has chilled free speech” at the university and that she didn’t have the right to say, as official university policy, that the posters were wrong. “This may be the view of Dr. Telles-Irvin, but a great many Americans would disagree and argue that it is essential to the discussion and understanding of this war that the terrorists be properly and correctly labeled as radical Islamists who by their very actions clearly want us dead. Students and student organizations who hold this latter view should not be stifled in their free expression of it,” McCollum said. He urged the university to consider “appropriate remedial action” for what happened. A university spokesman said that Bernie Machen, the president of the university, and McCollum spoke on the phone Wednesday about the letter, but that he could not provide details of the conversation.

[newman]

At least ther's some sanity in the government.

[Ambiorix]

¿¿How you gonna promote diversity if the diverse kill you for being different??

[JTFFan]

At least ther's some sanity in the government.

yes, at least some.

[kellymaureen]

What DOESNT offend muslims...other than rape, murder, beheadings, child molestation, child brides, ownership of women, mating with farm animals.....etc