Them

Last week in response to an Obama speech that called for us to "remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ" I posted a list of invasions and battles committed by Islam in the four centuries preceding the 'First' crusade; the historical context in which that crusade occurred.  In the ensuing discussion it wasn't long before someone resorted to the Pee Wee Herman defense (I know you are but what am I?) citing an article referencing all the occasion of incitement to genocide in the Bible. I responded with "forget the books, judge them by their actions".  Jez wisely asked me "But who is "them," exactly?"

Since that post ISIS has beheaded 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians on the beach of the Mediterranean and threatened to invade Rome and "Break the crosses of the infidels".  

My reference to 'them' at the time was primarily to ISIS, one need not judge them by their religion but solely by their actions which are damning enough, their motives are irrelevant.  In retrospect 'them' can also be in regards to the entirety of Islam, to the Ummah.  In honesty one can not judge all of Islam by the actions of ISIS, but one can certainly judge the Ummah by their responses and reactions to ISIS.  In 1933 there were only 850,000 members of the Nazi Party, at its peak it only claimed a membership of eight million a mere 10% of the population of Germany.  In the end, all of Germany and the German people paid the price for the actions of a relatively small minority of radicals.

Is the Ummah waking up to the threat posed by ISIS, not just internally but in the context of the global geopolitical situation?  So far Iraq, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E, Jordan, and Iran have committed themselves militarily in opposition to ISIS.  Following the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians Egypt has also committed itself militarily, launching airstrikes against the ISIS stronghold of Derna in Libya.  While Christians, Yezidi, and western hostages get the news coverage, by and large the greatest victims of ISIS have been their fellow Muslims.  In the end it is the Ummah that must police itself lest in the long run they pay the price for the actions of a relatively small minority of radicals.

What are your thoughts?  Is the Ummah doing enough? If not, what should it be doing?