If there is a moderate Islam, it is time to speak up

Submitted by Peter Waldo (China), Nov 30, 2008 at 09:20

I detest extremists of any stripe, including some from the American religious right. There also is no denying the shabby treatment of the Palestinian people by the world at large. I believe George W. Bush's so-called War on Terror was a reckless even lunatic act. His aggression toward Iraq was a provocation No doubt the majority of Muslims are decent people. Injustices toward people who happen to be Muslims deserve redress. Nonetheless, it can hardly be denied that extremism has come to dominate Islam. and so it shall remain as long as those who consider themselves to be mainstream Muslims, cower and acquiesce in the politicization of their faith into a brutal, fascist, savage doctrine of intolerance.

I am the kind of "liberal" American conservatives loathe. I believe that each person should be given his due. I am inclined to treat Muslims in my acquaintance as individuals. However, when the Archbishop of Canterbury suggests it is time for the U.K. to adopt the Sharia, the man demonstrates he is slipping and perhaps has become too old to hold his position. One may argue that it was extremists who stroned to death a 13 year old rape victim in Ethiopia for committing "adultery." The innocent victim of this human atrocity was sentenced under the Sharia.

I don't want people who hold to such savage doctrines in my country. I don't want them permitted to form a lobby so that incrementally, draconian punishments may be enacted into law and meted out to those who are guilty only of misdemeanors. I don't want my freedom to live as I choose within an established social contract restricted so that I do not offend their sensibilities. Should I travel to their country and attempt to live according to my way, I might be publicly flogged.

If Islam wishes to live in peace, then let the majority make themselves heard and join the world in putting an end to cruelty and animal savagery that has come to be associated with Islamist fundamentalists.

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