It's more than Islamism

Submitted by Pat (United States), May 8, 2007 at 16:33

It's easy for so-called moderate Muslims to voice approval of one Muslim candidate over another. Given a choice, have moderate Muslims ever elected a non-Muslim candidate in any election in which the Muslims were in the majority?

What is moderate about those in Pakistan and Turkey? Is it merely that they are moderate compared to the alternative or that they truly believe in human rights for all? Would the moderates sanction the building of new synagogues and cathedrals in either Turkey or Pakistan? Would they be willing to defend them? Actions speak louder than words. It's easy to be moderate when yours is the only viewpoint that matters.

Muslims appear unwilling even to accept other Islamic sects. The Shiites persecute the Sunnis and vice versa. Both consider themselves true Muslims. Both, if asked, would call themselves moderate.

Supporting one Muslim party over another is one thing. Being willing to live with non-Muslims without insisting that the larger community conform its behavior to sharia law is another. Where are those moderate Muslims? They're not driving cabs in Minneapolis and they're not living in Britain.

The people may be moderate, but what about the imams? Given Islam's dual role as a religion and a system of government, the religious leaders need to be taken into account. Will the people rebel against the messages of hate being preached in the mosque?

Will moderates loudly and publicly condemn al-Qaeda and all other groups who kill in the name of Islam? They didn't after 9/11 and they haven't in the years since, when people all over the world have been killed for the cause of militant Islam. The silence from the "moderate" Muslim community has been deafening. Only when their own rights are threatened have they found any voice. The question remains: now that they have come under the threat of militant Islam will they respect the right of non-Muslims to reject Islam and still live in peace? That's what many of us are still waiting to hear. The silence doesn't bode well.

It's more than Islamism. It's Islam.

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