In the past week, I have heard two brave Muslims on the air not only condemning radical Islamic violence in the abstract, but actually renouncing those who fail to do so. The experience confirmed for me that there are moderate and peaceful Muslims out there - but they are at present a small (and often frightened) minority as the dominant force in Islam at this time is decidedly radical and irredentist.
I came by this
article written by a muslim.
Such people seem very few and far between and largely ignored by the media. They are no doubt at high risk of violence from their 'brethren'. Compounding our problem in believing such people is
Al-taqiyya which allows muslims to advance the cause of Islam by lying.
When we judge Islam, we do so on the basis of the behavior of the overwhelming majority of the worlds billion+ muslims. Our survival depends upon it.
There are times when I wonder how different recent history would have been had the Shah of Iran not been deposed.
Thanks for the links - I will read them later today. As for the Shah of Iran, I will only say that the decision of the US not to protect him and preserve his government was a seismic policy shift that set in motion a chain of events that is still unfolding 35 years later.