The video song has been taken down. I don’t know the reasons, but I can certainly guess. The author’s eloquent response to criticisms of his product is still worth reading. Author “Patrick Henry” contacted me yesterday and stated that he wouldn’t do an e-mail interview with me out of concerns about the safety of his family. You might be able to watch the video here.
Watch the (possibly offensive) video song “It’s in the Koran.”
Then read the creator’s comments:
Until now I haven’t answered the criticisms people have made of my song. My reason was that I doubted that the critics would understand my answer any better than they understand the song. But I’ve decided to try to explain myself once, after which I won’t intrude again.
Many commenters argue that the Koran doesn’t say what the song claims the Koran says. To everyone who holds this view, I answer — and this is very important, so I’ll state it again below — I agree with you. I agree that the Koran says what you claim it says. Islam is one of the world’s great religions, and I don’t believe that billions could have followed it if it weren’t, at its core, beautiful and life- engendering.
The problem is this: all the incidents I describe in the song have happened, and all were caused by men who disagree with you. These men have a different view of Islam. They find inspiration and justification in the Koran.
To these men the Koran says that it’s proper that more than a dozen girls fleeing a fire should be trampled to death because they aren’t wearing headscarves. To these men the Koran approves, even demands, that these girls die. The Koran says this, not to you, not to me, but to them.The same goes for the other deeds I name: rape, torture, massacre, beheading, defilement of shrines. To these men, the Koran insists that they commit such acts.
I wrote the song from the point of view of these men because they’re the dominant force in Islam now. If you don’t believe me, consider this: in the West Bank, Palestinians have just elected Hamas to run their government, and Hamas is going to institute sharia. Muslims had a choice, and they chose as leaders the kinds of men my song is about.
If you want more evidence, go to MEMRI.org and read the translations of interviews with influential Islamic figures. It’s rare to find one criticizing anything done by Muslims to non-Muslims, or even to other Muslims.Here’s a comparison:
When the Abu Ghraib photos appeared, every American with a microphone — journalist, politician, religious leader — condemned the soldiers responsible.
When radical Muslims hide among civilians so that our soldiers can’t fight them without killing the innocent — do Arab and Muslim leaders, politicians, journalists unite to call their behavior cowardly and un-Islamic? No. When radical Muslims murder women and children? No. Gang-rapes in Scandinavia, forced mass starvation in Sudan — the list is long and wretched, and the men who commit these acts receive no criticism from the only people they might listen to: their religious leaders.
That’s why I wrote this song.
Again, I agree that the men who do these things aren’t behaving like true Muslims. But these men think that they are true Muslims, the only true Muslims, and that Muslims who disagree with them are apostates, the worst of betrayers.
I stand by every line in the song; it expresses what such men believe. All I did was make their beliefs rhyme, scan and bounce like a vaudeville tune.Kriskhaira, mrpunk, and others: I don’t have a problem with your view of the Koran. These men do. You should be arguing with them, not with me.
Now, if you’re still offended, Google the term “hostage beheadings” keeping in mind that the results you find are much more offensive than the above song could possibly ever hope to be.
Hat tip: The Rat’s Nest.