CBS:0, Cruz: 1 (or ""Anti-Islamism Is NOT "Anti-Muslim")

And check the additonal commentary at Truth Revolt. Cruz really calmly, rationally shoots down all the left's talking points on the issue, to their great frustration, especially this one:

"There is a difference between Islam and Islamism. Islamism commands that you either murder the infidels or you forcibly convert them. You wage jihad. And here is the consequence of President Obama and Hillary Clinton and Bill de Blasio refusing to acknowledge what we are fighting. You end up with policies that don’t keep us safe.

And this one:

"Let me give an example: If you're concerned with gang violence, gang violence is a real problem in a lot of places across the country. What does law enforcement do with proactive policing? You go into the neighborhood where gang violence is a problem and you work proactively to get the gang members off the street. And by the way, the people you are protecting are the residents of those communities who are typically the victims. With gang violence, it is often African-Americans and Hispanics and low-income Americans often the victims of those violence. By having a serious police presence there, you're protecting those communities. The same is true in the Muslim community where radical Islamic terrorists don't just murder Christians and Jews, they murder other Muslims as well. And we need to fight and defeat radical Islamic terrorism."

Do you really want police to completely avoid areas where gang violence is a real problem? I kind of doubt it, especially if you're one of the ones needing protection from gang violence.

And the silencing of moderate, peaceful American Muslims is already happening, thus intimidating any others who would wish to speak up for the possible majority who don't favor jihad.

Another complicating bind for peaceful Muslims, in particular European but also American Muslims, is the requirement to consume only halal meat. When purchased from a halal-certified seller of halal meat, like it or not, Muslim or non-Muslim, you are funding terrorist groups, at least in part:

"Therefore, whenever you buy one of the many halal-certified products increasingly found in our Western countries, even without your knowledge and against your will, you are indirectly contributing to Islamic terrorists, killers of Christians in the Middle East, al-Qaeda-linked groups and so on."

Another area where peaceful Muslims may be conflicted is in the obligatory paying of the zakat and zakat fitr religious taxes, considered not voluntary but a requirement of their religion by many Muslim majority states, including Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Pakistan, as well as all Sunni Muslims:

"Southern California businessman Safi Qureshey plans to contribute to charity during Islam's current holy season of Ramadan, when it is said that the blessings of all donations are multiplied 70 times in the book of God...[since 9/11] Qureshey is far more cautious about which charities he supports. Now, he says, he no longer contributes directly to individual charities but funnels his giving through the California Community Foundation and Citibank, which check the recipients for him to make sure they have a clean bill of health.

"'We have all become much more cautious,' said Qureshey, one of Southern California's leading Muslim philanthropists, whose largess includes a $1-million gift to UC Irvine for brain research and seed money for a new foundation to produce documentaries promoting understanding of Islam and harmony with other religions. 'Now you feel much more of a burden as a donor that you have never felt. If you see an appeal that looks OK on the surface, how do you know the details? You just don't know where your money may end up.'

"For many American Muslims, the war on terror is forcing modern adjustments to Islam's age-old tradition of charitable giving. Their faith requires them to contribute a religious tax known as zakat, amounting to 2.5% of their assets, to the poor and other needy people listed in the Koran. In addition, Muslims are required to pay zakat fitr, or a fee to feed a family during Ramadan; without that contribution, many Muslims believe, their spiritual benefits gained from fasting and praying will be forfeited."

Again, from the Front Page Magazine article:

"The principle of 'zakat' in Islamic law makes it obligatory for all Muslims to give 2.5% of their income to charity – only in aid of their coreligionists, of course. Zakat has to be distributed among 8 categories of recipients, one of which is the jihadists fighting in Allah’s cause. From Mission Islam:

'Zakat can be given in the path of Allah. By this is meant to finance a Jihad effort in the path of Allah, not for Jihad for other reasons. The fighter (mujahid) ["mujahid (Arabic: مجاهد‎), the term for one engaged in Jihad."] will be given as salary what will be enough for him. If he needs to buy arms or some other supplies related to the war effort, Zakat money should be used provided the effort is to raise the banner of Islam.' [my emphasis]

...
"In early July [2013] the Gatestone Institute published a report documenting the many links discovered between the Islamic Relief Worldwide charity, with headquarters in the UK, and terror groups with an anti-Western agenda."

What happens if Muslims refuse to "practice {pay} zakat"?

After Muhammad's death in 632, several Arab tribes, while still identifying themselves as Muslims, refused to pay zakat, much of which was being used to fund ongoing military operations. Abu Bakr, the first "righteous" caliph, responded by launching the Apostasy Wars, which claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Arabs. In this context, neither the uses of zakat, nor Abu Bakr's murderous response, seem very "charitable." (Who ever heard of killing people for not being "charitable" enough?)

Modern day interpretations of the penalites of refusing to pay zakat:

"The penalty of one who refuses to give the Zakaat out of greed and love of money, then it is on the ruler to take it by force plus half of what he owns wealth, The Prophet ﷺ said...and on top of that, any group which has influence which refuses to give zakat, then war is declared on them as is clear from the example of Abu Bakr after the Prophet's ﷺ death with those that refused to give zakat."

And why didn't we hear about this December 2015 news story from every mainstream news outlet and the rooftops? Probably because the press wanted instead to trumpet its increased clarion call for more gun control in the wake of San Bernadino:

"It takes courage to stand up publicly to radical Islam, even if you’re Muslim. Maybe especially if you’re Muslim.

"Ask Asra Nomani. On Friday she and a dozen of her fellow Muslims went to the Islamic Center of Washington, D.C., and posted a declaration on the door denouncing violent jihad, rejecting Islamic statism and opposing the 'ideology of violent Islamic extremism.' ...
"The declaration announced the formation of the Muslim Reform Movement, an international organization aimed at countering the beliefs of Middle East terrorist groups like Islamic State in what the document describes as a “battle for the soul of Islam.”

"Was Ms. Nomani nervous? No doubt. But the recent bloodshed in Paris and San Bernardino, California, spurred by radical Islam has convinced her the Muslim community needs to confront frankly the connection between terrorism and religion, not deny that it exists.

“'Ultimately, the reason why we, as Muslims, stood on Friday and went to the mosque and took the risks on our own lives, is because we’ve had enough,' Ms. Nomani said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” 'I think the world has had enough.'
...
"Ms. Nomani said [the] approach [of] denouncing the violence but refusing to acknowledge any link to radical Islam — is part of the problem. She cited the '3-D strategy' — 'denial, deflection and a demonization of those of us who want to speak honestly about these issues of extremism.'

“'We don’t want to bury our heads in the sand about serious issues,' said Ms. Nomani, author of 'Standing Alone in Mecca: An American Woman’s Struggle for the Soul of Islam.'
...
"The Muslim Reform Movement’s declaration calls for equal rights for women, an end to institutionalized Shariah law, a separation between 'mosque and state' and an end to bigotry based on a list of traits, including 'sexual orientation and gender expression.'

“'We stand for a respectful, merciful and inclusive interpretation of Islam,' the declaration says. 'We are in a battle for the soul of Islam, and an Islamic renewal must defeat the ideology of Islamism, or politicized Islam, which seeks to create Islamic states, as well as an Islamic caliphate.'"

Kind of right along the same distinguishing definitions that Cruz said to CBS, isn't it?