The only way you can say that "the only real 'moderate' muslim is a muslim who does not practice islam" is if you hold a fundamentalist, literalist interpretation of the Koran and of Islam as a whole. There are really only 2 groups of people who interpret Islam in such a fundamentalist, literalist manner - Islamist extremists/terrorists, and xenophobic right-wingers (I refuse to use the term "conservatives" because I don't want to share that label with you) like you.
The rest of the world, and in particular the rest of the Muslim world, understands that Islam can peacably co-exist with peaceful people - does it bother you that you have so much in common (in terms of your interpretation of Islam) with the enemy?
"xenophobic right-wingers"
Why is it necessary to resort to insult against an opposing view?
I speak with a certain authority. In 2003-04 I was surrounded by an entire nation of moderate Muslims when I was deployed to Uzbekistan. And if you wanted to see an Uzbek's eyes light up with a smile to match, greet him/her with "Salaam Aleikum". But they tended to honor Sharia rules in the breach; the men like their vodka and the women (the young beautiful ones) like their lowcut jeans. And both are scared to death of Taleban-style Wahhabism imported from Afghanistan.
But moderate Islam in Uzbekistan is an entire branch in itself: Sufism, which does not reject the spirituality of other faiths. Uzbeks proudly claim that Jews and Christians have lived in Uzbekistan for centuries due to
Sufi tolerance. How true this is, I don't know.
But inside the U.S., so-called moderate Muslims are mostly Sunni or Shia adherents; they are moderate to the degree to which they disregard Sharia and say (I've heard this), "When in Rome, do as the Romans do".
Rebut my point or anyone else's, but maybe without the namecalling?
What bothers me is that there are so many fools such as yourself, who somehow trust that islam is 'peaceful', even though their entire history proves otherwise.
Islam was spread by the sword, mohammed was a theif, a murderer and a pedophile. He conquered lands through bloodshed and violence, not through preaching and example. Where islam presently concentrates itself, the middle east, north Africa, balkans, etc, these were once Christian lands with Christian peoples, who were conquered in a most bloody, barbaric fashion by your 'moderate' friends. The tiny minority of Christians who still survive in those lands live oppressed under the iron rule of sharia law, and/or under the constant threat of violence or death.
If history could show that any of your beliefs were true, I would perhaps listen and investigate more. But investigate I have already done, and have done so in depth. No matter what the historical source, islam is revealed as a bloody cult, whose doctrines keep its adherents in a perpetual state of fear, frenzy, and disdain for "infidels".
You are free to trust your life, your country and your family to the 'peaceful' beliefs of the mohammedans as they infiltrate and proliferate amongst us, that is your right, I suppose. But, thank God, it is my right to know the truth, the facts, the reality about islam; and islam is a demonic, murderous, lying, dangerous cult. Its doctrines are death to the body and to the soul. Believing that islam, steeped in the madness and frenzy of its koranic foundation, can be interpreted 'moderately' and exercised in peace, is to believe that Satan can be a nice guy, if you but treat him with respect and try to 'understand' him.
So my advice to you is to go live in an islamic country somewhere, if you don't already, and tell yourself, as you live and suffer under the iron rule of the mullahs, that "islam can be moderate and peaceful". Repeat these words over and over again, until you've gone completely insane, then you'll be right where Satan and his puppet mohammed wanted his dupes to be...... hellbound in a handbasket.