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March 01, 2006

Moderate Muslims Making a Stand

The war on terror was always a bad name; you don't wage wars against tactics, you wage war against enemies. This war has always been against radical Islam. However, it is also inappropriately termed a clash of civilizations. Rather, it is really a clash within a civilization: Islam. And so far the radicals have been running the table. Now, some outspoken moderates are banding together.

Together facing the new totalitarianism

After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new totalitarian global threat: Islamism.

We, writers, journalists, intellectuals, call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all.

The recent events, which occurred after the publication of drawings of Muhammed in European newspapers, have revealed the necessity of the struggle for these universal values. This struggle will not be won by arms, but in the ideological field. It is not a clash of civilisations nor an antagonism of West and East that we are witnessing, but a global struggle that confronts democrats and theocrats.

Like all totalitarianisms, Islamism is nurtured by fears and frustrations. The hate preachers bet on these feelings in order to form battalions destined to impose a liberticidal and unegalitarian world. But we clearly and firmly state: nothing, not even despair, justifies the choice of obscurantism, totalitarianism and hatred. Islamism is a reactionary ideology which kills equality, freedom and secularism wherever it is present. Its success can only lead to a world of domination: man’s domination of woman, the Islamists’ domination of all the others. To counter this, we must assure universal rights to oppressed or discriminated people.

We reject « cultural relativism », which consists in accepting that men and women of Muslim culture should be deprived of the right to equality, freedom and secular values in the name of respect for cultures and traditions. We refuse to renounce our critical spirit out of fear of being accused of "Islamophobia", an unfortunate concept which confuses criticism of Islam as a religion with stigmatisation of its believers.

We plead for the universality of freedom of expression, so that a critical spirit may be exercised on all continents, against all abuses and all dogmas.

We appeal to democrats and free spirits of all countries that our century should be one of Enlightenment, not of obscurantism.

12 signatures

Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Chahla Chafiq
Caroline Fourest
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Irshad Manji
Mehdi Mozaffari
Maryam Namazie
Taslima Nasreen
Salman Rushdie
Antoine Sfeir
Philippe Val
Ibn Warraq

These people need our support and that of the West, which should stop appeasing and excusing the radicals.

Posted by Jonathan R. on March 1, 2006 10:13 AM

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Comments

Lots more of this here:
http://www.somebodyhelpme.info/RIGHTEOUS_MUSLIMS/righteous.html

Posted by: Lover of Zion at March 1, 2006 04:38 PM

There is a growing division within Islam, and a growing number who point out that the Koran does not allow for the killing of women and children, does not promote the killing of innocent men not involved in conflict, and does not promote world domination.

So if some people who claim to represent Islam are killing women, children, and noncombatant men, and are actively striving for world domination, why do we insist on acting as if they represent the religion of Islam?

We understand that there are religious Jews and secular Jews. Why do we resist the opinion that we should clearly label those whose actions are in defiance of the Koran as "secular Muslims"?

I personally thing the effect of such labeling would have a chilling effect on the recruitment of young men, in particular, to the cause of wanton murder in pursuit of world conquest. If it were made clear that joining these groups would be in defiance of the Koran, and not in devotion to it, there might be less passion for martyrdom.

If we would admit that Muslims are a culture as well as a religion, if we were to define those who are acting contrary to the rule of Mohammed but who are clearly of Muslim descent as "secular" we might make a little progress. It would certainly be less offensive to good Muslims than the term "radical Islam" which still lumps terrorist acts under the umbrella of Islam, merely defining those acts as "radical" rather than in direct opposition to the true teachings.

Posted by: Almiranta at March 2, 2006 01:56 PM