Reply to Andria

Submitted by Lucas (Ireland), Apr 19, 2007 at 05:22

You've obviously only started reading about Islam.
You might also want to look at www.ijtihad.org - another moderate site.
Unfortunately such voices are few and far between. All attempts in the past to moderate Islam have failed. It would be nice to believe it would be possible - but the more you read about the past and the present of Islam the more pessimistic you will become. The reasons for this are simple:

Those who view Islam as currently on a "winning" streak, will not be inclined to moderate their religion. Any attempt to dethorn Islam is seen as a Western plot to destroy Islam/ prevent its victory. So there is no motivation to change and every motivation to resist. Also note that even historically when there was no suspicion that change was a Western plot, that innovation (bida) was very much frowned upon.

Enjoy your moments of optimism regarding the future relationships of Islam and the World - they will pass.

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