I have weighed in favor of Lawrence Auster

Submitted by David S. Jacob (United States), Feb 11, 2005 at 19:37

I have read Auster's article, "The Search for Moderate Islam", and with all due respect, Dr. Pipes, I lean towards Auster's arguments over yours. I regard both of you in high esteem and I feel you are both working for the same cause. Your premise, which I quote, is flawed, "It's a mistake to blame Islam, a religion fourteen centuries old, for the evil that should be ascribed to militant Islam, a totalitarian ideology less than a century old. Militant Islam is the problem, but moderate Islam is the solution."
I even have misgivings on this premise after reading your book, "Militant Isalm Reaches America" and many of your articles.

As Auster argues the problem is ISLAM itself, as manifested in Wahhabism and its ramifications. Yes I agree that Wahhabism is a relatively recent version (circa early 19th century). However Wahhabism, especially coupled with Saudi money, is a powerful, and pre-eminent adversarial ideology (not just a religion), which we in the West must must forcefully combat to achieve total victory.

Yes, there are a very few moderate Muslims, but they are totally intimidated. Their words only resonate within the Western communities but do not inspire the Muslim masses. We must defeat Islam as it is practiced today and only then will moderate Muslims have a chance to be heard by the masses.

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