reply to Shlomo

Submitted by Peter Herz (United States), Dec 21, 2009 at 21:05

Well, maybe Obama is guilty of dissimulation. But, my suspicion is that its the dissimulation of a secular American Leftist pretending to be sophisticated about theological traditions of which he really knows very little. I think the point of Dr. Pipes' article is that it is not up to someone who is largely ignorant of Islamic theology to say who is and who isn't a good Muslim.

As a Christian, I admit to being resentful and hostile (God forgive me!) towards those who love the counsel of the ungodly and sit in the seat of the scornful when they try to pontificate to me about what Christianity "really is". I suspect that a secularized American president trying to pontificate to Muslims that Muhammad was really a 7th century mix of Quaker and Gandhian would also grate and work towards damaged relations.

As for Shi'ite and Sunnite leftism and rightism, I can't really comment. I know Vali Nasr speaks of Shi'ism as being born of the aspirations of the have-nots; but it seems that Sunnites like Moammar Qaddafi and Yasr Arafat also liked to graft Marxist catch-phrases into their rhetoric.

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