Moderate Muslims Beginning to Emerge, and more

In light of all the terrorist attacks, Danish cartoon riots, intifadas and other Muslim violence, many people have begun to question whether moderate Muslims truly exist. If they're out there, the doubters say, then where are they? Why haven't they risen their voices in unison and condemned the barbaric behavior being committed in the name of their religion?

My view is that moderate Muslims do exist (and in large numbers), but that by and large, they are cowed into submission by the radicals. If the fundamentalists can through threats prevent major newspapers in a free nation (America) from publishing the Danish cartoons, just imagine the fear they must drive into moderates in their own autocratic countries.

It's very heartening, therefore, to see this open manifesto from some true moderates unafraid to express themselves. These Muslims reject violent jihad, condemn terrorism on moral grounds, support democracy and secular law, value womens' rights and freedom of religion, and affirm Israel's existence. We must strongly support moderates such as these, and getting their voices heard is the first step. Visit their website, Muslim Manifesto, for more information.

In other news:

To solve the nation's dependence on Middle Eastern oil, many forms of alternative energy have been proposed, from ethanol to coal to nuclear power. So which one should we use? Former Clinton advisor Dick Morris has the answer: try them all.

Time to stop worrying about the trade deficit. The department chair of econ at George Mason University explains in layman's terms why America's trade inbalance is good, not bad.

WorldNetDaily's Joseph Farah knows how America and Israel can conquer the terrorist regimes of Hamas, Al Qaeda, and Iran and finally achive peace - though total victory. I agree entirely; as discussed in the previous post, appeasement never works, and the Western world must learn this lesson immediately.

Here's another article on why the Dubai ports proposal is a very bad idea.

Blog of the Day: The Autonomist

Comments

[Jester6]

The debate over the existence of Moderate Muslims is purely an academic exercise. Moderates Muslims are not relevant. The Nazis came to power with 2.5% of the German population. With compulsory membership for government workers they only reached 11% of the German population. You don't need anything near a majority to hijack the machinery of state.

Everyone thinks there were more Nazis because all film propaganda from that era showed marching SA and SS. The moderates were being moderate, they acquiesced.

More examples and citations here:

Jester6: Millions of Moderate Muslims Exist - So What?

[Mini Me]

Jester6,

I disagree with your claim that it does't matter whether or not moderate Muslims exist. Assuming they exist and that they are simply afraid or unable to manifest their voice, I think they are very crucial....Considering how things have gone so far with Iran I think military action will most likely be neccessary. If eventually a war similar to Iraq occurs in Iran, if we know that many Muslim moderates exist, it shows that the chance of a democratic government or at least a peaceful government working in Iran is much greater than if all of the Muslims in Iran were radicals. (BTW the current Iranian government is run by radical Muslims, and we see what that has produced)

[Solid Surfer]

Jester6,
Thanks for writing. I agree with you fully that moderates are irrelevant if the radicals take everything over, such as in Nazi Germany. But nevertheless, it's still better to have moderates than to not have them at all, and the fact that they do indeed exist at least gives us the opportunity to try and empower them in places like Iran before we have to result to all-out war.

The only problem, of course, is that time is running out on the moderates, as one way or another, we need to stop Iran before it develops nuclear weapons. But while we still have this time, I'm very happy at any step forward by moderates, no matter how small.

[Verdant]

Hi Surfer,

Moderate Muslims exist and are important. However, in the short run, their voice is being supersceded by the anger and the hate of the fascist Imams who wish to maintain political power. Hate is always louder than peaceful rhetoric, and facilitates the projection of feelings of inferiority into the racial or religeous dehumanization and demonization of others.

We must raise the taxes on gasoline, require increased fuel economy, subsidize the production of alternative fuels for set periods of time and build more nuclear power plants in order to wean ourselves off of our oil dependence.

Our trade deficit is a symptom of our low savings rate. The problem the imbalance produces is that it is possible that forigners may someday find dollar returns to be inadequate, and mat at that time sell their investments and convert their dollars into foreign currencies. This will reduce the value of the dollar markedly, increase or prices of imported goods, increase inflation, increase U.S. interest rates and likely cause a recession. Moreover, direct investments in the U.S. are offset by our overseas investments; foreigners primarilly purchase U.S. securities with the profits they make from the imports U.S. residents purchase. U.S. citizens are not as likely to sell dollars and purchase foreign currencies, so, to that extent we are losing control of our economy to some degree by virtue of foreigners' purchase of our securities. The point addressed in the Boudreaux are valid, however, the U.S. budget defecit is the most important issue we face. It is caused by overspending. That we can control.

[Solid Surfer]

I agree - government spending needs to go down. The problem right now is that so much is being spent on entitlements (Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security) that the current system is highly unsustainable.

Solving it is a tough dilemma, but I think privatizing Social Security is the best option. Without doing so, the only other real solution is to raise the retirement age, which many people don't want to do. Although raising the retirement age is probably better than raising Social Security taxes, which wouldn't work in the long run.