Confronting Islam

Submitted by Prashant, May 1, 2017 at 23:04

Dear Dr Pipes,

Many of your readers have commented on how Pope Francis 'confronted' Islam. Pope Frances is said to have equated Allah with God, have called Muslims and Christians as brothers, and have invited Italian churches to welcome Muslims. You readers objected to all these three things. I have a different opinion. All these methods or dealing with Muslims are valid. We have to be true to our faiths and civilized cultures, after all. But when we interact with Islamic societies as a whole, we should not forget the following order of business:

First, we should expose the Islamic hypocrisy where ever it exists. For example, Muslims' love of democracy in all countries barring the Islamic theocracies must be highlighted.

Second, we should expose the culture of violence that exists in the Islamic societies.

Third, we should expose every example of non-symmetry in Islamic thinking. Muslims must be relentlessly challenged on Islam's non-symmetrical rules involving men and women and non-symmetrical rules involving Muslims and non-Muslims.

After these and similar issues are addressed, then we can handle other issues like whether moderate Muslims exist or not, who is an Islamist and who is not, is Islam consistent with democracy etc.

We have to follow this strategy for two or three decades. Then Islam/Muslims will be ready for a change.

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