[Celtjew Libertarian]

Either Imam's don't have a vested interest in speaking out against the radicals and incentives encourage silence. Or the MSM is pushing what radical Muslims are saying at the expense of more rational Muslims for their own reasons. Or the radicals have the power and it doesn't matter what everyday powerless Muslims think. Or truthtellers are afraid. Or the lies or Islam and the truth of Islam are so intertwined and interputed by so many, that only the radicals speak with certainty. Or it's something else. Do you know?

It's a lot of things. Squeaky wheels get the grease, so all the statements of outrage are going to get more publicity than stories of people just trying to live their lives. It doesn't take any MSM conspiracy to do that -- it makes for good news.

For that matter, radicalism tends to kill off alternatives, when it can. For example, in the wake of the 6-day war there were Palestinian leaders calling for negotiation with Israel. They were almost all assassinated by Arafat's thugs or even more radical Palestinians. When the alternatives are shut up or die, moderation tends to shut up.

Point is, there is a history of moderate Islam. There is present day moderate Islam, not just in individuals, but in the nation of Turkey, the desires of most Iranians, and the determination of at least the Kurds of Iraq. There is a good possibility of a future of moderate Islam, if we can get through the present crisis and break the radical, Arab-centric form of Islam that has a stranglehold on the religion, the region, and the world headlines.

To condemn all of Islam as narrow, radical Islam is to deny Ataturk's secular legacy, the aspirations of the Iranian population, and (at the risk of coming off as a shill for the administration) the possibilities of democracy in Iraq, Lebanon, and Egypt.

[GOPJ]

Point is, there is a history of moderate Islam. There is present day moderate Islam, not just in individuals, but in the nation of Turkey, the desires of most Iranians, and the determination of at least the Kurds of Iraq. There is a good possibility of a future of moderate Islam, if we can get through the present crisis and break the radical, Arab-centric form of Islam that has a stranglehold on the religion, the region, and the world headlines.

To condemn all of Islam as narrow, radical Islam is to deny Ataturk's secular legacy, the aspirations of the Iranian population, and (at the risk of coming off as a shill for the administration) the possibilities of democracy in Iraq, Lebanon, and Egypt

I believe voices of reason are necessary ... just not now. This is the time for us to be outraged and them to be defensive. As the adults in Muslim cultures take control, we'll back off. Being reasonable too soon is not a good idea. If all goes well, I'll be standing with you in a year or so.