Unfortunately, Dr. Pipes is wrong

Submitted by Gloria Stewart (United States), May 22, 2014 at 15:08

I am afraid that any hope for genuine reform in Islam is like seeing the mirage of a river in the desert. We often see what we want to see in order to have hope. But hope is not a policy.

There are so many reasons why a Muslim can appear moderate. Perhaps if we substitute the word pragmatic for moderate, we would have a better understanding of the situation. Didn't Erdogan say (and I paraphrase) that he would gladly ride the democracy train if the final stop would be an Islamic state?

As for differences: Muslims have always argued among themselves and often killed over differences. More Muslims have been killed by fellow Muslims than by non-Muslims. Eventually any liberal (using the word in the classic sense) government would have to be based on the rule of law, and Islam is incapable of that. Kamal Ataturk recognized that when he created a state that was absolutely secular with the Army taking a vow to maintain it as such. Now that has evaporated, and Turkey is headed toward Sharia - how quickly it gets there is the only matter of conjecture. As any good Muslim will tell you, Allah's time is not our time.

Often, as in the case of Iran, pulling back on the rules is similar to letting steam gradually out of a vessel reaching the boiling point. Whether a woman wears a drab body covering or a fashionable one is of no consequence. Let me know when the woman has a choice to wear what she chooses.

I wish Dr.Pipes was correct. But I am afraid he is not. The West is in for a long battle. We had better win it. We have seen post-Nazi free governments and post Communist free governments. I cannot imagine a post Islamic free government. If Islam wins, it will be a long time before the sun comes up again.

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