It's Islam, not Islamist

Submitted by Ludvikus (United States), Feb 6, 2015 at 23:53

Dear Daniel Pipes,

It was 17 years ago, in 1998, that you drew the distinction between the notions of Islam and Islamist.

Today, it appears that our President Obama made again the effort to maintain that distinction.

I think that in the 17 years since you wrote this article much has happened in the clash between the Muslim populations of the world, and the non-Muslim peoples, and that distinction can no longer be maintained.

Here, in the New York Times, is the observation of historian Deborah E. Lipstadt had to say about Obama's reference to the Crusades in order to show that the terrorism in the name of Muhammad and Muslims who are terrorts aren't true Muslims and part of true Islam:

Deborah E. Lipstadt, a professor of modern Jewish history at Emory University, said the president's remarks seemed to be an attempt to avoid alienating Muslims by blaming their religion for groups like ISIS.

She said the remarks at the prayer breakfast will rightly bolster critics who insist that Mr. Obama should simply say that the United States is at war with Islam.

"He has bent over backwards to try to separate this from Islam," Ms. Lipstadt said. "Sometimes people try to keep an open mind. And when you have too open a mind, your brains can fall out."

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/07/us/obama-trying-to-add-context-to-speech-faces-backlash-over-crusades.html?_r=0

So, Daniel Pipes, it's time you embrace the views of Geert Wilders and stop causing your readers from "having their brains fall out," by telling them, for example, that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria isn't Muslim. Or that al-Qaida isn't Muslim. Or that those who behead and burned their hotages weren't Muslim. Let me also remind you that Turkish President Erdogan not too long ago himself said that "Islam is Islam, and that's it."

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