If this is moderation ....

Submitted by George Laker (United States), Nov 2, 2011 at 12:43

Perhaps the acknowledgment that Muslim communities are varied in their ideological strictures and political views is a source of comfort to some. However, I do not believe this rather obvious condition does anything to mitigate the fact that the standard for moderation is set so low.

That a Muslim population, of which a vast majority stands in firm support of some form of Sharia law, is a hopeful measure of moderation is rather disappointing. Given these statistics, what do you imagine comprises an extremist population?

You mention that 10-15% of Muslim populations are, as a general rule, Islamist. The 3% groups are what you label the "hard-core" Islamists. However, you do not seem to be comfortable with ascribing the remaining population as being, for lack of better terms, "soft - core Islamists." I see that you are quite dedicated to this distinction but I do not believe you have ever really made clear the substance of this label other than asserting that it is, what it is. Why do you designate a desire for Sharia in its entirety "Islamist", whereas a desire for partial implementation places such sympathies outside the scope of the term?

I think prior to assessing these statistics you need to refine your definitions with clear margins. Otherwise, it makes little sense to categorize religious populations with an ambiguous term, especially one that is not present as an internal distinction within the Muslim population.

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