Posted on 08/16/2005 12:19:25 PM PDT by ZGuy
One of the nation's leading experts on Islam says that "moderate" Muslims are actually a tiny minority of the entire Islamic movement, with most Muslims either being jihadists or supportive of jihadists.
Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch and author of the book 'The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam and the Crusades'.
He says there is a gross misunderstanding about moderate Muslims.
"People talk about a tiny minority of extremists, [but] actually in terms of the truth about the Islamic world, it's the moderates who are the tiny minority -- not the jihadists," he says.
Spencer says while very few Muslims actually commit violence, the number of people who applaud the jihadists is much higher than most people realize -- and that, he says, could affect genuine reform efforts.
"Until we face this, we're going to be undercutting any genuine moderate Muslims as opposed to those who are simply trying to deceive westerners," the author explains. "We're going to undercut any actual possibility that they really have to reform Islam because they're denying that there's anything that needs reforming at all."
Spencer says that while there are moderate Muslims, Islam itself is not moderate.
I think that the Muslims that are doing the fighting, bombing, etc are the actual true believers of their book. The ones that aren't out pushing jihad are not true believers as they aren't following the teaching of their religion.
BTTT
Apostate Muslims? Absolutely, there are millions of them.
Sorry to butt in but please excuse me, I can't help myself.
Jump into a muzzie head - and think of how Islam might get rid of about 257,000,000 infidel Americans, plus a whole bunch of other Western-thinking 'pigs' (remember, their thinking).
Use their thinking, which eschews politics per se. The answer should come quickly to you and others with the same concerns.
"Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Qur'an should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth"
--Omar Ahmed, Chairman of the Board of CAIR (Council of American Islamic Relations), San Ramon Valley Herald, July 1998
But on a serious note, islam is also a political problem, just as war is. It would be nice to wage this war or that one, but, in the end, it still has to work politically (otherwise the leaders who seek to handle the problem don't get elected).
Don't get me wrong, I hate politics, but it is a necessary evil in the world of democracy/republics. Politics stinks but can you think of a better alternative?
I guess I can go ahead and redo my tagline by upping the percentage. I have been much too kind and PC.
I heard a former terrorist say the very same thing, and he should know.
Gosh. I've heard this someplace before. I wonder where.
Oh, wait, I remember...
"There’s no such person as a ‘moderate Muslim’. You either believe or you don't."- Mansoor Ijaz
I wonder what the numbers are in the US? Of course, definitions come into play. I would like to think that the most assimilative culture on this planet, can digest Muslims, and make them every bit as American as well, prior ethnics arriving on the shore.
Ping
That says it just about right. Thank you, Travis for stating it perfectly.
"According to the islamic scriptures, a "moderate" moslem is not a moslem at all."
LOL - This is one of the funniest statements that gets repeated -
I'm supposing that you are not a muslim, but you are expert enough in their religion to be able to decide what a "real" one is.
""Until we face this, we're going to be undercutting any genuine moderate Muslims as opposed to those who are simply trying to deceive westerners," the author explains. "We're going to undercut any actual possibility that they really have to reform Islam because they're denying that there's anything that needs reforming at all."
The author is going to have to do a lot more explaining to make any sense of this -
It DOES appear that he is saying that his own writings are undercutting the moderate muslims.
Great idea Mr. Spencer, drag the rug out from under those that would like to have the problems end.
Moderate Muslims are those biding their time.
Thanks for your observations. The question of the role of politics is worth more thought and discussion.
In the current world, politics (including diplomacy) makes things happen, e.g., the UN resolution on Israel/Lebanon.
I am wondering if politics can lead to an islamic political majority in a non-islamic nation-state. Maybe SA or Pakistan are examples--but both regularly ignore their border to let muslim believers in for hajj or al-qaeda training camps.
In the mind of an islamic fanatic, politics must be destroyed for the theocrats to "win". That would be the source of their distaste (to put it lightly) for Pakistani and Saudi leaders. Now Blair's foreign policy is coming under rhetorical attack by UK muslims, expressing disapproval of the political process using a political means (open letter to the media). The video and audio tapes we've heard through al-Jazeera are another example of "political" tools.
Politics is one dimension for islamic fascists to gain ground by building political power (e.g., the radical left, hiding behind the first amendment, CAIR lawsuits, our higher eduation system, populating in high electoral vote states). However, using the whole range of attacks, adding threats and physical force, they are using every means at their disposal, the most valuable to them being that which we cannot imagine due to our political mindset.
America is not (at least openly) using such a range of defense matching the threat. Should we? The buck stops there. If someone threatens our lives directly, we (at least some of us) are ready to defend ourselves. The rest is politics.
In the US Army, only a small percentage of the Army are actual trigger-pullers. The majority are engaged in transporting, feeding, housing, and generally supporting the trigger pullers
Does this make the US Army the "Organization of Peace(tm)"?
Lets hope that Abd al-Rahiim actually reads this.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.