Disagree with #6

Submitted by Anon (United States), Jul 21, 2018 at 15:38

"Marginalize Islamism and help strengthen moderate Islam."

Dr Pipes is a prominent scholar and thinker on these topics but I have to respectfully disagree with him here. Its a noble thought and a sign of an open mind but also wishful thinking to think that the West can accommodate a "moderate" Islam because these aspects are never static and it is only a matter of time before radicalism takes root in any muslim society. The active ingredient in the inevitable turn towards radicalism is the fact that Muslims generally believe that their religion, civilization and culture are superior to every other and must always prevail. They further believe that any of the inevitable problems in the society they live in can only be cured by a turn towards pure and fundamentalist Islam. This is also how the Taliban or ISIS have gradually come into existence and how virtually every Muslim society is within striking distance from radicalism even in places that are generally far removed from Arab politics like Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and so on. Kashmir was considered to be an example of a moderately muslim society but in the last 30 years they have ethnically cleansed all non muslims from Kashmir and ISIS flags are a common sight in Kashmir.

The belief that becoming more Islamic will bring utopia is a dangerous path from where there is no return. First these societies turn to some version of shariah and then when there is no sign of the promised utopia - they conclude that they need to become even more religious and fundamentalist (because they haven't been Islamic enough) and this then becomes a vicious never ending cycle that has given us some of the most hideous forms of barbarism humankind has ever seen. Unfortunately this process never happens in reverse because that would be tantamount to an admission that Islam is not the best civilization, culture or religion.

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