We already talked about today's profile of Jeff Greene in the Washington Post and highlighted a bit where he seems to say something controversial about the Muslim faith:
"I'm not an expert on Muslims," Greene said. But he added that anyone who knows anything about the Koran knows that it contains "all kinds of this crazy stuff. And unfortunately that's motivating a lot of these extremists."
Well, it seems that Washington Post writer Jason Horowitz edited the quote to make it seem a lot more controversial than it is. Post on Politics has the full transcript, in which Greene ironically says, "I believe what I read in the media." Well, here's a prime example that you shouldn't.
The quote comes from a meeting of the Wynmoor Democratic Club, and Greene is responding to a woman who does seems irrationally fearful of Muslims:
Female club member: "I don't know what's going on in the Muslim world. They are scaring me very much. Over in Europe, there are Muslims taking over the population. Here in America, they talk about building a mosque at the scene of the Twin Towers. What is your take on whats going on, really, and what can be done if there is a bigger problem?"Greene actually handled the question quite well considering where it was coming from, and as anyone who has encountered a fundamentalist of any religion (including Christians) knows there are some who take things a little too literally.
Greene: "I'm not an expert on Muslims. It is my understanding that there are 1.2 billion Muslims, and that about 200 million of them are pretty devout followers of parts of the Koran. Parts of it that say something like, everyone has a chance to accept Allah and Muhammad's teachings and if they don't the infidels must be killed, there's all kinds of this crazy stuff. I think, unfortunately, that's motivating extremists. Most Muslims are like everyone else in the world, they want peace. But there are people that follow some of those crazy teachings, you know, the suicide bombers. It's a scary world out there. I believe what I read in the media, and I'm scared, and I'm scared for the world, and I'm scared for America, and that's why I'm running for office. Like I said earlier, we have to make our enemies tremble. We have to stand by our friends, be they Europeans or Israel or anywhere, and not let these extremists do anything to destroy the wonderful lives we've created for ourselves."
