Yes, but Dr. Pipes are you not skirting the issue?

Submitted by J.S. (Canada), Dec 30, 2005 at 15:14

So, given all the problems with establishing a "moderate" Islam, do you still believe in your aphorism?

Frankly, I am beginning to have my doubts -- can Islam be "modernized"? Do you think going to an all out war will "modernize" Islam? or change Islam's core values? (the more one looks at Islam -- normative Islam -- the more I think their "values" are diametrically opposed to those in the West...well, excluding the UN, the EU, and so on ...) As Brumberg suggests, there are so many barriers to liberalizing Islam...I don't see it happening...Even in the event of a war, I suspect there would still remain pockets of radicals.

You also once said that if Islam cannot be "moderated" -- if Islam itself is the "problem" -- then the "solution" would be a quarantine...that is, like a disease, the adherents would have to be isolated...hospitalized or jailed...maybe that's not so far-fetched?? (perhaps do something like Huntington has argued -- stop all immigration, let Islam reside in Islamic states -- develop two solitudes...or perhaps multiple solitudes...have "true" multiculturalism over seas, just don't import it into the West)

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