Moderate what?

Submitted by Gideon Kanner (United States), Nov 26, 2003 at 13:49

I started out thinking as you do but in the past couple of years it has become increasingly clear that "moderate Muslim" is an oxymoron.
In spite of repeated atrocities committed by Muslims against Americans (and others) all over the world, I have seen nothing of substance emanating from the sizable Muslim community in America by way of forthright denunciation of these atrocities, or unequivocal, clear-cut expressions of support of or loyalty to America. What we get is praise by faint damning (to obvert the old expression) and equivocations that as often as not segue into poorly disguised justifications for the Muslim atrocities around the world.
In World War II we were suspicious of the Japanese and imprisoned them in detention camps. Though they were wronged, they responded by raising the 442nd Regimental Combat Team that covered itself with glory in fighting on America's side. Can you visualize a similar sequence of events involving today's American Muslims? I can't.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".