Tugging on Overton's Window

Submitted by Jhimmi (United States), Sep 10, 2010 at 14:25

It seems Islamists have succeeded in moving what is considered mainstream Islam so far over to the side of fundamentalists that someone like Rauf (and Tariq Ramadan) are considered 'moderate'. What is needed is high profile coverage of 'radical liberal' Muslims like Irshad Manji (surely there must be others) to widen the gap between the two 'extremes', thereby redefining the middle ground or moderate position.

There is also an element of 'good cop, bad cop' here. Much like Malcom X's extremism made Dr. Martin Luther King's rhetoric seem tame by comparison, so Bin Laden and Achmedinejad's rhetoric make Rauf seem moderate.

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