I’m a Christian. But Muslims are misunderstood. Intentionally misunderstood. We should all be more like them. They make sense, especially with their children. There is no other group like the Black Muslims, who put so much effort into teaching children the right things, they don’t smoke, they don’t drink or overindulge in alcohol, they protect their women, they command respect. And what do these other people do?
They complain about them, they criticize them. We’d be a better world if we emulated them. We don’t have to become black Muslims, but we can embrace the things that work. (Source)
Since then, Bill Cosby has come under heavy criticism. People have interpreted his words as an endorsement of Islam. I respect David Wood but I think what he said about this misses an important point.
If Bill Cosby had praised some specific Muslims for being good parents or being good people, I would have no objections. I've known many Muslims that I respect as parents and as people. But Cosby went much, much further, claiming that we should all strive to be more like Muslims. And here we must ask what he could possibly mean. Should we be more like Osama bin Laden, or the Muslims who blew up innocent people at the Boston Marathon, or the Muslims who butchered Lee Rigby? Of course not. Cosby means that we should be like Muslims who live better lives than their religion commands them to live. But if we're looking for people who live better lives than Islam commands, that's almost everyone in the world.
I think that what Allen West, Sean Hannity, and even David Wood are missing is that Cosby was not endorsing Sharia or the Quran. He basically just said that there was somethings about the Nation of Islam (Black Muslims) that are worthy of emulation. I don't know if Cosby understands the difference but I'd like to think that West, Hannity, and Wood do know the difference between Islam proper and the Nation of Islam. If you study the Nation of Islam you will find many differences between it and what Muslims throughout the world believe. I wouldn't endorse the Nation of Islam but its definitely not the same as the Islam practiced by "Osama bin Laden, or the Muslims who blew up innocent people at the Boston Marathon, or the Muslims who butchered Lee Rigby".
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Answering Muslims: Allen West Responds to Bill Cosby's Praise of Muslims
