AL QAEDA ATROCITIES

Responses to the murder of Paul M. Johnson:

The concept of collective responsibility

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About hate Emails, and the concept of collective responsibility:

Engineer Paul M. Johnson, an employee of Lockheed Martin, was kidnapped and beheaded by Al Qaeda operatives in Saudi Arabia on 2004-JUN-18.

During the first two days after the murder of Paul Johnson in cold blood by militant, radical, extremist, and Fundamentalist Muslims, this web site received over a dozen unsolicited E-mails expressing hatred towards Muslims. Those originating these E-mails spotted one of our  essays on Islam, and apparently incorrectly assumed that we are a Muslim site. We certainly would have received more responses, except that a Google search for "Islam" places us at the bottom of the first page.

The hatred in most of the E-mails was not directed at the handful of fanatics who murdered Johnson, but to all Muslims everywhere. In our opinion, the writers were following the same fallacy as did the murderers -- the concept of collective responsibility.

Answering these Emails collectively was too difficult. So we prepared a form letter. It suggested that, by the same logic, we should hold all Christians responsible for the genocide of Muslims in Bosnia Herzegovina which was perpetrated during the 1990s by some Serbian Orthodox Christians. We doubt that our responses had much effect.

Responses to the atrocity:

We received one letter from a visitor to our site who had always assumed that Al Qaeda were "an aberration" among Muslims. But the visitor noted that: "I have yet to see any Muslim priest or spiritual leader of consequence speaking out and condemning these actions in the strong terms that are demanded." A good point.

A Google search for the string "Paul Johnson beheading" revealed dozens of pages of quotes reflecting the opinion of western leaders:

Also reported by many media were comments by other political leaders:

However, there was considerable response from other Muslim sources that was underreported in the media:

"The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today condemned the murder of American civilian Paul M. Johnson Jr. in Saudi Arabia who had been held since last week by kidnappers linked to Al-Qaeda."

In its statement, the Washington-based Islamic civil rights and advocacy group said:

'We condemn this act of senseless violence and repudiate all those who believe such murderous behavior benefits the faith of Islam or the Muslim people. We call for the swift apprehension and prosecution of the perpetrators.'

CAIR recently launched an online petition drive, called 'Not in the Name of Islam,' designed to disassociate Islam from the violent acts of a few Muslims. Individuals and organizations representing more than 600,000 Muslims worldwide have already signed the CAIR petition. ₃

The 'Not in the Name of Islam' petition states:

'We, the undersigned Muslims, wish to state clearly that those who commit acts of terror, murder and cruelty in the name of Islam are not only destroying innocent lives, but are also betraying the values of the faith they claim to represent. No injustice done to Muslims can ever justify the massacre of innocent people, and no act of terror will ever serve the cause of Islam. We repudiate and dissociate ourselves from any Muslim group or individual who commits such brutal and un-Islamic acts. We refuse to allow our faith to be held hostage by the criminal actions of a tiny minority acting outside the teachings of both the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him'."

The CAIR web site page that discusses the petition states: "We hope this effort will demonstrate once and for all that Muslims in America and throughout the Islamic world reject violence committed in the name of Islam," said CAIR Board Chairman Omar Ahmad. "People of all faiths must do whatever they can to help end the downward spiral of mutual hostility and hatred that is engulfing our world." ₃

"Such outrageous and despicable behavior can not be justified in the name of Islam, and we continue to categorically reject any assertion by al-Qaida that its terrorism is sanctioned or in anyway supported by Islam or the vast majority of Muslims."

"MPAC thanks various media outlets that have made the distinction between Islam and these barbaric acts of terrorism, and for reporting the outrage of the American Muslim community in response to this terrible event." ₄

We have not been able to find references to either condemnation or approval of the execution by any Muslim religious leader in the Middle East. They probably do exist. However they are probably few in number. It is often a life-threatening act to oppose terrorist acts there.

References:

1. "Bush Calls Johnson's Killers Barbaric. Says American's Beheading Was Meant to Shake U.S. Will," Associated Press, 2004-JUN-18, at: http://abcnews.go.com/
2. "CAIR Condemns Murder of American in Saudi Arabia," Council on American-Islamic Relations, 2004-JUN-18, at: http://www.cair-net.org/
3. "CAIR launches 'Not in the name of Islam' petition drive. Rights group urges Muslims to sign online petition against terrorism ," Council on American-Islamic Relations, 2004-MAY-13, at: http://www.cair-net.org/
4. Quotation taken from MPAC's mailing list on 2004-JUN-20. The home page of their web site is at: http://www.mpac.org/
5. "Arab Americans Condemn Saudi Killing," UPI, 2004-JUN-18, at: http://interestalert.com/
6. "Beheading Evokes Revulsion," Arab News, 2004-JUN-20, at: http://www.arabnews.com/
7. "Islamic society based in Indiana condemns beheading," Associated Press, 2004-JUN-20.
8. Abdul Quayyum, "True Muslims reject violence and terror," Letter to the editor of the Lexington Herald-Leader, 2004-JUN-20, at: http://www.kentucky.com/
9. Meesum Ashraf, "Islamic Society Condemns Killing," The Toronto Star, 2004-JUN-21.

Copyright © 2004 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 2004-JUN-29
Latest update: 2004-JUN-22
Author: B.A. Robinson