Liberals should be the vanguard - I am definitely a liberal.
Reader comment on item: Jasser: America Will Benefit from Muslim Radicalization Hearings

Submitted by Ellen Hunt, Jan 4, 2011 12:39

It has long been clear to me that liberals should be the vanguard calling for investigation of Islamism. It is still a puzzle to me why this is not the case. The only explanation that makes sense to me is that it is an accident of history.

Current day liberals know literally nothing at all about Islam. They do not know its doctrine, they do not know the life of Mohammed, and they do not know Ha'dith. But they are intimately familiar with Christianity and the old and new Testaments. They are distantly familiar with Judaism and Torah. Consequently, they presume that Islam's books are the same.

Because of apologists like Karen Armstrong and the fact that the first vocal Muslim group in America that spoke to liberals starting in the 1960's were Sufis, liberal views on Islam were set by that experience. Almost no liberals in America know that those Sufis have fatwas declaring them heretics. (Which is one reason they fled their native lands - threat of death for heresy.) Many liberals believe that Ba'hai's are orthodox muslims and Sufis are the mystics. Muslims, of course, know that Ba'hai's are not muslims.

I think that is why muslims were adopted by liberals as being "like buddhists or hindus". (A quote.) Buddhists and Hindus are different, but neither religion was founded in war by a man who committed what we now would call war crimes. Those religions are deserving of the wholesale tolerance given to them, as are most new religions (we call the latter "cults".)

America was founded on tolerance for different forms of religion. But that milieu was one in which the foundations of the tolerated religions were peaceful. Certainly the doctrines were. And the many Pietist sects, from Labadists and Shakers to Mennonites and Hutterites are doctrines of radical pacifism. It was that pacifism that brought difficulties on their heads since they would not sign up for Europe's wars. The Hutterites were slaughtered and pillaged by both sides in several European conflicts before coming to North America. Similarly, many peaceful Sufis and Ba'hai's sought refuge here.

Thus, for liberals, Islam represents a serious challenge. It does indeed have a tiny splinter minority of Sufis who practice itjihad. Bahaism arose within Muslim lands and were mistaken for muslims by liberals in the past. That microscopic minority of refuge-seeking heretics to mainstream Islam are what most liberals believe Islam to be.

Thus, the major task is to dispel this confusion. The confusion is understandable. The problem is not helped by the fact that the political movement trying to address the confusion is, across the board, dead-set against 99% of what liberals in America believe in. It is extremely difficult for American liberals to listen when the images they see calling for investigation of CAIR, etc. are young white men insisting on their right to carry an unloaded AK-47 near the first black president of the USA.

So this outreach is a big challenge. It is an educational matter, and it is very challenging. It must be accomplished though. Win that group over, and you have won your case.

Note: IPT will moderate reader comments. We reserve the right to edit or remove any comment we determine to be inappropriate. This includes, but is not limited to, comments that include swearing, name calling, or offensive language involving race, religion or ethnicity. All comments must include an email address for verification.