“Anti-Shariah” Activists Row over Rick Perry

At OneNewsNow, Robert Spencer complains about the reaction to his attack on Rick Perry’s links with the Aga Khan:

Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch says with the enthusiastic support of Perry in 2004, the Aga Khan Foundation along with the University of Texas created what became known as Muslim Histories and Cultures (MHC) curriculum, which is reportedly still being taught in some Texas public schools. (See details from Jihad Watch)

…”The curriculum is a complete whitewash and it’s got the endorsement of Perry,” says Spencer. “It’s not going to give you any idea why people are waging jihad against the West — it’s only going to make you think that the real problem is ‘Islamophobia.'”

According to Spencer, the Perry camp is not happy with his reports. “Never have I seen the furious reaction to anything that I’ve written,” he shares with OneNewsNow. “I’ve criticized all sorts of candidates — I criticized Bush, I criticized Obama, Romney — and never have I seen this kind of reaction except from the Perry camp in the most furious terms.”

By “furious reaction”, Spencer is refering individuals who have actually looked into the details of the subject, primarily David Stein. Stein found the sole lesson plan associated with the programme:

After a little research, I located the MHCP lesson plan that is intended for use in Texas public schools, and I interviewed its author, a retired history teacher named Ronald Wiltse. Wiltse, a self-described Christian Zionist and staunch supporter of Israel, volunteered for the MHCP program, completed the training sessions, and submitted a lesson plan, which was accepted. Wiltse’s lesson plan was the only one on the MHCP website.

Wiltse’s lesson plan is pro-West, pro-Israel, anti-Sharia, and it strongly highlights Muslim terror (even stressing the connection between Muslim terror and the Muslim religion). Wiltse told me that the training session for the program included no proselytizing or coercion to create a “pro-Islam” lesson plan.

….[Pamela] Geller couldn’t deny the anti-Sharia nature of the lesson plan, so she misrepresented excerpts from the abstracts (summaries) of the teacher training seminars, and claimed that they are being “forced upon unsuspecting students attending Texas public schools.” It’s an absolute lie. The teacher training seminars (the ones that Ron Wiltse completed) were not intended for, nor attended by, ANY children in Texas public schools…

In contrast to Stein’s “furious” use of research, Geller reportedly opined that Stein is an “Asshat”.

Stein believes that Geller and Spencer have been manipulated by Justin Elliott at Salon:

August 19: Elliott emails me…

“My piece was merely pointing out that Perry had an unusually warm relationship with Muslims as compared to the Cains and Santorums of the field. The particulars of the curriculum are irrelevant.”

Chew on that for a moment. “The particulars of the curriculum are irrelevant.” In other words, Elliott asked the question, “Rick Perry: the pro-Sharia candidate?” but the answer didn’t concern him! The answer is “irrelevant” to him. He didn’t CARE if there’s a “pro-Sharia” curriculum. He didn’t CARE to know anything at all about the curriculum.

His intent was not to investigate or explore the claim that Perry might have helped launch a pro-Sharia curriculum. His intent was merely to whip certain members of the “anti-Sharia crowd” into a frenzy.

Of course, only Elliott knows his own intent, but given the way the likes of Geller and Spencer “see pro-Shariah” conspiracies under every bed it was reasonable to consider how their approach might apply to Perry.

Perry’s links with the Aga Khan have also been raised by Glenn Beck’s “End-Times Prophet” Joel Richardson, writing at WorldNetDaily:

…cause for deep concern is an apparently close relationship Perry has fostered over the years with a Muslim leader know as “His Highness” Prince Shah Karim Al-Husayni, the Aga Khan IV.

….It should also be mentioned that one of the doctrines espoused by Ismaili Muslims is the doctrine of Taqiyya. In simple terms, the doctrine of Taqiyya allows Muslims to purposefully hide or lie about their true religious beliefs to “unbelievers” or even Muslims of different sects… Of course, while lying in the name of religion may seem like a foreign concept to most, it is the principle of “the ends justify the means” that underscores many aspects of the Islamic approach to win the West.

Richardson – whose book on how the Bible predicts an imminent Muslim anti-Christ comes with an endorsement from Spencer –  later complained that the above was being misrepresented:

For clarity, I never painted Perry as being a “pro-Shariah” candidate. Nor did I attempt to portray “the Aga Khan”, whom Governor Perry is a friend, as some sort of secret radical Muslim.