This ritual is often repeated when the crime involves no clear religious or nationalist motive, such as the grotesque knife attack allegedly carried out by Alton Nolen in Oklahoma a few weeks ago.

Muslims must condemn crimes for which they bear no personal responsibility, the War Party insists, or be implicated in them. Of course, that perverse concept of collective guilt doesn't apply to Christians when Muslims are the victims.

A dawn prayer service at a mosque in Coachella, California was interrupted when a still-unknown assailant fired six gunshots at the house of worship. Thankfully, nobody was hurt. Although the identity of the shooter and his motives are still unknown, one member of the congregation recalled that several months ago the mosque received a phone call from someone who said "something about Islam" and vaguely threatened to "do something."