Milo Yiannopoulos, the British writer and critic of Islam who thrives on controversy (pronounced CON-Trev-esy in British) is coming to Tulsa! At least he wants to speak here if he can. The University of Tulsa, a private school, flat out said NO. Tulsa Community College (TCC), a public institution, was then approached by Milo but they have set their own conditons. According to Milo, TCC has set a list of conditions that are impossible to follow. He told KRMG radio on April 11, 2019 that TCC demands Milo provide them a copy of his speech before the talk, not hire private security for the event, 400 seats in the auditorium could not be sold for the talk, TCC would allow Milo to speak on a Wednesday between 2 and 4 pm. And TCC could cancel the event at any time prior to the event and keep all the money! TCC was much more accomidating to a pro-Islamic talk given in November of 2015. I attended that lecture on a Sunday afternoon. Below is what I observed.
I heard he sang a good song
I heard he sang a good song
I heard he had a style
And so I came to see him
to listen for a while
- Roberta Flack,
"Killing Me Softy with His Song,"
as modified by “with Islam”
by Theodore King
Sunday, November 15, the Islamic Society of Tulsa, along with the Jewish Federation of Tulsa, Boston Avenue United Methodist Church, Phillips Seminary in Bartlesville and other organizations, sponsored a two-hour event at Tulsa Community College's south Tulsa campus which they billed as an, “Educational Program” and titled: “Should we fear Islam?" Because the Islamic Society was one of the events sponsors' the answer to the question was predetermined. Imagine the Southern Baptist Convention sponsoring a talk titled: "Is Jesus the Messiah?" or Focus on the Family sponsoring one titled: "Is the Nuclear Family Good for Society?" Author and attorney Hannibal B. Johnson was the moderator for the event. He set a condescending tone for the event by quoting from the song “Carefully Taught” from Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific:
You've got to be taught To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught From year to year,
It's got to be drummed In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.
Given the terrorism in the previous 48 hours in Paris in which more than a hundred people were slaughtered and several hundreds more were were wounded by Islamic terrorists, it probably wasn't an appropriate way to begin this event. Sadly, Mr. Johnson's remarks quoting from the Carefully Taught Song and his related remarks were not directed toward the radical Muslims who approved of the Paris killings, some of whom may have been in the audience. Mr. Johnson was directing them toward the non-Muslim audience members. It was a well coordinated show from the comments of the other three men who spoke to the quotes provided on a large screen above the stage to the questions for the speakers which had to be submitted in writing and filtered through Hannibal B. Johnson. No questions were allowed directly from the floor. At the end of the event, a bearded man wearing a Muslim knit cap and a "Say No to Hate" t-shirt stood guard at the exit thanking everyone for attending.
Sunday, November 15, the Islamic Society of Tulsa, along with the Jewish Federation of Tulsa, Boston Avenue United Methodist Church, Phillips Seminary in Bartlesville and other organizations, sponsored a two-hour event at Tulsa Community College's south Tulsa campus which they billed as an, “Educational Program” and titled: “Should we fear Islam?" Because the Islamic Society was one of the events sponsors' the answer to the question was predetermined. Imagine the Southern Baptist Convention sponsoring a talk titled: "Is Jesus the Messiah?" or Focus on the Family sponsoring one titled: "Is the Nuclear Family Good for Society?" Author and attorney Hannibal B. Johnson was the moderator for the event. He set a condescending tone for the event by quoting from the song “Carefully Taught” from Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific:
You've got to be taught To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught From year to year,
It's got to be drummed In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.
Given the terrorism in the previous 48 hours in Paris in which more than a hundred people were slaughtered and several hundreds more were were wounded by Islamic terrorists, it probably wasn't an appropriate way to begin this event. Sadly, Mr. Johnson's remarks quoting from the Carefully Taught Song and his related remarks were not directed toward the radical Muslims who approved of the Paris killings, some of whom may have been in the audience. Mr. Johnson was directing them toward the non-Muslim audience members. It was a well coordinated show from the comments of the other three men who spoke to the quotes provided on a large screen above the stage to the questions for the speakers which had to be submitted in writing and filtered through Hannibal B. Johnson. No questions were allowed directly from the floor. At the end of the event, a bearded man wearing a Muslim knit cap and a "Say No to Hate" t-shirt stood guard at the exit thanking everyone for attending.
The views offered by at the “educational program” were pleasing to the Muslims and deceiving to the non-Muslims in the auditorium. Rabbi Charles Sherman of Temple Israel in Tulsa told the audience that Jews thrived in Spain under the Muslims. What he didn't tell the audience was how the Muslims arrived in Spain. They invaded it in 711 A.D. He spoke of the "ignorance and irrational fear'" people have of Muslims. In support of his saying that, he mentioned a sign at the Veterans' Day parade the previous week that read, "Every real Muslim is a jihadist." This sign was no doubt displayed at the parade as a response to the Council on American-Islamic Affairs (CAIR) having a float in that parade. Sherman, a member of the left-wing Oklahoma Center for Community and Justice (OCCJ), complained about the "far-right propaganda" he said presents a perverse distortion of Islam. "Those who kill in the name of God and hijack Islam must be denounced." He called on moderates of all religions to denounce their violent extremists. His speech was followed by the appearance on the large screen of several quotes from the Muslim holy book, the Quran. none of which could inspire Al-Queda or ISIS members because they were all about justice, peace, and love. There were no quotes shown at that time about injustice, war and killing of Infidels which the Koran also promotes.
Professor Charles Kimball, an ordained Baptist minister and professor of theology at the University of Tulsa, spoke about fanatics in all religions. He said religion is a powerful force for terrorists. In an attempt to make his point, he used as examples the Klu-Klux-Klan; the Westboro Baptist Church in Wichita, and Timothy McVeigh, the man behind the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. McVeigh was a fallen away Catholic, and by his own admission his acts were motivated by politics not religion. For professor Kimball to state that McVeigh as a Christian fanatic was not a statement of the truth. And he mentioned Indonesia as an example of a Muslim country where people live relatively peaceful lives. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population of any country in the world. Tulsa native and convert to Islam, Imam John Ederer complained about the "right-wing media," especially Fox News, for bad coverage of the Muslim community. However, not all critical coverage of Islam comes via Fox News. In the midnight hour between Saturday and Sunday CNN anchors interviewed Yasser Louati a spokesman for the Paris Muslim community. Louati told CNN the Muslim community takes no responsibility for the attacks, and they are on the side of France. He went on to say he believes the reason for the attacks on Friday the 13th were a result of France's "failed foreign policy." He also complained about the treatment of Muslims in France.
The CNN anchors were irritated with Louati in that he didn't believe the Muslim community had any responsibility for the attacks when the terrorists were Muslim and that he was blaming the French who were the terrorized victims of Muslims. Imam Ederer mentioned Ahmed Mohamed, a.k.a. Clock Boy, as an example of racial and religious bigotry. Ahmed is the 14-year-old boy in Texas who took a Radio Shack alarm clock apart and put it back together to make it look like homemade clock. When he took it to school, the clock looking something like a bomb caused an alarm, and the police were called. Ahmed would not tell the police that it was just a clock, and he was arrested. He was given salutations from President Obama and others for his "brilliant" clock. "If it was anybody else, it wouldn't be that way," Imam Ederer said. Given the hyper sensitivity of schools today, it is certain that any and every student who brought something to school that looks like a bomb would receive the same treatment.
Imam Ederer failed to mention the meeting in October of "Clock Boy" had with the president of Sudan Omer Hassen al-Bashir who is wanted by the United Nations for having committed war crimes against Christians in the southern part of Sudan which is now South Sudan, and against other Infidels the western Sudanese province of Darfur. He mentioned Alton Nolan's name in context of controversy surrounding Islam, but he didn't say anything about him. Alton Nolan is the convert to Islam who in Moore, Oklahoma, in September 2014 beheaded Colleen Hufford and attempted to behead a second woman after being fired from his job at the Vaughn Foods Company. Nolan was prevented from taking his second victim when the owner of the factory shot and wounded him. One point of Imam Ederer's speech was really telling. He talked about the treatment of women in Islam. Ederer said that Mohammed's wife - he had many; Ederer didn't mention that - owned her own camel. He mentioned a television interview by Diane Sawyer of a Saudi princess. Sawyer asked the princess about the treatment of women in Islam. The princess responded that some Muslim countries have women prime ministers and that the United States has never had a woman president. Ederer never mentioned that women in Saudi Arabia under Sharia, the law of the Quran, are not allowed to drive, leave their homes unattended, and are considered second class citizens. This moment was especially telling in that neither Rabbi Sherman nor Professor Kimball, men who likely consider themselves progressives ever said a contrary word. They were silent when the Imam glossed over Islam's treatment of women. It is important to note that the speakers never sought to explain or excuse the motivations for Islamic terrorism. Instead, they roundly denounced terror acts.
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| Theodore King |
