It’s a contentious and difficult time to talk about America’s fight against terrorism. But that’s exactly what happened during a sometimes heated debate during KTTH’s “Freedom Series” event held Wednesday at Washington State History Museum in Tacoma.

KIRO Radio’s Jason Rantz led a panel discussion and took questions on the role Islam plays in terrorism and potential solutions to the global issue.

KTTH’s Michael Medved led things off by answering whether he thinks the teachings of Islam are responsible for global terrorism.

“No, perverted teachings of Islam it seems very obviously are responsible for this upsurge in world terrorism,” he said.

Aneelah Afzali, a member of Muslim Association of the Puget Sound, added that it’s important to remember that American Muslims and an overwhelming majority of Muslims around the world believe that God favors the peaceful.

“There are outliers in every religion,” she said. “There are people who do things in the name of Judaism, or Christianity or even no-faith backgrounds, where they will do things that are not consistent with the true teachings of their faith.”

Photo courtesy Linda Yoshi Photography