Don't let the fundamentals spoil your values.

Submitted by atheist mohammed (United Kingdom), Aug 24, 2008 at 12:25

I've read through your comment and I would like to say that in my previous comment I was concerned about the effectiveness of the suggested measures that were proposed by Mr Pipes to tackle Muslim infiltrators. Perhaps this comment shed more light on my concerrns of these measures.

1- I agree with you that moderate Muslims have done NOTHING to prove that they are against radical Islam. They have absolutely no excuse for this stance. However, it seems to me that your response is more like a REACTION to the moderate Muslims stance rather than an original stance against radical Muslim infiltrators.

2- I would also add ( a personal opinion) that moderate Muslims are, to some extent, potential radical Muslims. Moderate Muslims are moderate only because they are more attached to the worshiping rituals than the ideology. All you need to do to convert a moderate Muslim into a radical Muslim is to drag them towards the Islamic ideology, which is radical in its essence. This can easily be done using emotional motives, for example the Jihadists' propaganda. Perhaps this point is what Mr Danial Pipes and yourself are worried about.

3- Radical Muslims have short-term and long-term objectives. Their long-term objective is destroying the Western culture (including its moral and social values) and establishing their long lost Ummah (i.e. the Islamic nation). Invoking their destructive terrorist operations is one of their short-term objectives. This is because they can not destroy the Western culture using explosive and assassinations. But this can be progressed if their terrorist activities succeeded in changing your values. The moment you (as a civilized individual) accept to compromise one of your values (e.g. by violating a basic human right) then you are actually helping them in their long-term mission.

4- Confronting terrorists is the responsibility of everyone who wishes to live peacfully in this world. If someone is not doing enough, or simply doing nothing, then I don't think that this gives a civilized individual or a civilized government a well-founded argument for imposing collective measures and punishments against all Muslims. These measures may serve you in the short term, But if you sincerely believe that your values are fundamental part of your culture, then the damage caused by these measures may hardly be recoverable in the future.

5- How do you know for sure that some moderate Muslims and ex-Muslims are not doing their best in confronting terrorists and radical Muslims? Let me give you a personal case. After becoming an atheist I've started a blog (titled: Atheist Mohammed) to promote reason and science in the face of Islamic dogma.

I've also joined several Muslims and Arab atheist discussion forums on the Web to confront the propaganda of fundamental Muslim members in these forums. I've also involved in debates with few potential-fundamental Muslims, joined and participates in the British Humanist Association and the National Secular Society activities in the UK , and gave a talk in one of the Humanist group about human right abuses in Islam. All these activities are self-motivated and are based on my sincere feeling that I have a responsibility to tackle radical Islam and its ideology.

Perhaps you don't know about me doing these things, and you may also do not know about many other activities done by other people (both Muslims or ex-Muslims) who also feel and share the same responsibility and facing huge risk in doing so. If any of them was unfortunate to be discriminated against by these measures, this will deeply distort (if not damage) the image they have about your culture and its sublime compared to their current or previous Islamic belief, and may consequently dampen their enthusiasm in tackling radical Muslims.

All I ask you is to look at these meaures from a civilized perspective rather than from a reaction perspective.

Regards
Atheist Mohammed

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