Debunking the “Moderate Muslim” Myth

Islam and The Last Days

176. Debunking the “Moderate Muslim” Myth

This issue looks at the “Moderate Muslim” Myth.
SINCE YOU ASKED
We are told daily that Islam is a religion of peace and that the vast majority of Muslims are moderates who simply want to live in peace. While this may be true in some cases, the assertion is irrelevant. I recently wrote about what would happen psychologically to so-called “moderate Muslims” in America (and elsewhere) when they see their “team” starting to win. A renewed sense of pride and “membership” begins to grow. They no longer want a piece of the American dream. Now they think they can have the whole pie. In this issue, we’ll look at another reason not to look to moderates to “keep the peace.”
The basic fallacy in the assertion that moderates want peace is that it isn’t the moderates who are directing the course of Islam in the world today. It’s the radicals. It’s not the moderates who are marching in the streets, waging the wars, beheading their enemies, inciting violence, and teaching their young children to become suicide bombers. It’s the radicals. Where is the outcry from the community of moderates against all the violence they claim to reject? Except for a few isolated incidents, it’s been non-existent.
History offers some valuable lessons in this regard. In Hitler’s day, very few Germans were true Nazis, but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy with their own interests to care. Many thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. Most did nothing to stop them. Then, when it was too late, the majority woke up to find that the Nazis had gained control. Many families ended up losing everything.
Communist Russia consisted of people who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of over 20 million people. Those representing the “peaceful majority” were irrelevant. China’s huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.
AS I SEE IT
The message from history is that the silence of peace-loving moderate Muslims has made them irrelevant. If they are not willing to speak up, they will awaken one day to find that the radicals own them, and they will be faced with a choice- join the radicals or be treated as an enemy combatant. As we have seen, millions of peace-loving people around the world have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late. In addition to Germany, Russia, and China, consider what happened to the  Japanese, the Rwandans, the Serbs, the Afghans, the Iraqis, the Somalis, the Nigerians, the Algerians, and many others.
I hope this explodes the myth that peace-loving Muslims will exert a moderating force against the radicals. It hasn’t happened yet, and it never will. It’s up to us to pay attention to what the radicals are doing and to stop our government from playing into their hands. Please pass this on to your friends.