THE TRENTONIAN: America is desperate to find un-Muslim-like allies among the world’s Muslims. That is, Muslims who believe as Americans do that no particular religion should have the upper hand in politics and government.
Alas, the Pew Research Foundation polls keep revealing that this search is a chimerical quest. The Pew polling regularly reports overwhelming support in the “Muslim world” for the rule of Sharia, Islamic law, and for Islam-dominated policy and government.
Which inevitably means that Muslim nations are going to be suspicious of, if not hostile to, U.S. notions of what constitutes Islamic extremism.
This perhaps is why President Obama avoids using the modifier “Islamic” when referring to extremism, even extremism obviously based on interpretations of Islam. He perhaps believes such references would be counterproductive. (Perhaps he’s right, perhaps not.)
Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes has a mantra that goes: “Extreme Islam is the problem, moderate Islam is the solution.” Problem is, our notion of “moderate” may bear little resemblance to the notions prevalent in Muslim countries.
What if Muslims endorsed a particular religious perspective for Christians in American — Gnosticism, say? Not only would there likely not be a rush to embrace is, there would likely be a stampede to condemn it — and demands that Muslims mind their own damn business. » | Tuesday, May 21, 2013
