Islam appears to be inherently radical

Submitted by Mark Sharp (United States), Dec 31, 2004 at 15:18

This list of questions brings to mind a thought I recently had. I was watching a CSPAN forum on religious extremism. It was sponsored by a "moderate" Muslim advocacy group. Everyone on the panel was a Muslim. I really wanted to hear what they were saying, but with every sentence they spoke (primarily against the Bush administration and Christian Evangelicals) the thought kept going through my mind, "What would happen to you and/or your family if you converted to Judaism or Christianity?" I believe the answer is self- evident.

I know Christian church history fairly well. As such I have been willing to cut a lot of slack to Muslims who say that the Wahhabi movement is a perversion of Islam. But I am slowly coming to the conclusion that you cannot be a Muslim and be moderate at the same time. Even the moderates HAVE to believe in some ideas that the West would consider extreme (rights of women, supremecy of Islam over all religions, etc). It is an inherently radical religion.

I have been waiting for the "moderates" to join with us against the radicals, but they seem reticent to put their collective necks on the line when it really counts. I could understand why they would be fearful of nasty revenge. But if I were them, I wouldn't count on a secular Western society to fix Islam's problems, I would want to do it myself. I just don't see it happening though. It makes me think that the "moderates" aren't as moderate as they claim. I would like to be proven wrong.

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