Snuggling time for the Times

Here we go again.

The New York Times, which ran articles praising Joseph Stalin in the 1930s and Fidel Castro in the 1950s, is snuggling up to the Muslim Brotherhood. Impressively, it's doing so by-in the same article-equating the Brotherhood to the Roman Catholic Church and to the evangelical movement.

Here are highlights from yesterday's article, headlined "As Islamist Group Rises, Its Intentions Are Unclear." Quotation No. 1: "As the Roman Catholic Church includes both those who practice leftist liberation theology and conservative anti-abortion advocates, so the Brotherhood includes both practical reformers and firebrand ideologues."

Quotation No. 2, from author Carrie Rosefsky Wickham: The Brotherhood's goal is "roughly analogous to the evangelical Christian goal of sharing the gospel."

Hmm. As the Times acknowledges later in the article, the Brotherhood's "leaders have endorsed acts of terrorism against Israel and against American troops in Iraq." That seems a bit different from both Catholic and evangelical understandings. As my post yesterday noted, Brotherhood boss Muhammad Mahdi Akef has said that "martyrdom" bombings in Iraq and Israel (excuse me, the land temporarily controlled by "Zionist gangs") are an obligation for Muslims.

Sharing murder seems a little different from sharing the gospel.