Who Speaks for Islam?, written by John Esposito and Dalia Mogahed, is one of the most important books on the War on Terror. In the seven years since 9/11, we have been subjected to all kinds of ignorant pontification--much of it from the left, but some also from the right--on "why they hate us." This book, written by a leading scholar of Islam and the head of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, brings a wealth of real data to bear on this important subject.
The book is full of fascinating data on Islamic radicalism, on Muslim support for democracy, on the role of women, and on the values of Western popular culture. At first glance the results seem confusing: An overwhelming majority of Muslims rejects 9/11 style terrorism but a significant number of Muslims support the Palestine suicide bombers. Huge majorities of Muslims support democracy but reject the Western understanding of rights and liberty. In fact, a substantial majority of Muslims--including Muslim women--support some form of sharia or Islamic holy law. Most Muslim women want equal rights but even champions of those rights emphatically reject Western-style feminism.
What's going on here? Esposito and Mogahed argue that traditional Muslims, who make up the bulk of Muslims in every Muslim country, strongly identify with the Western principles of rule of law, self-government, and religious toleration. In fact, their main critique of America is that, as they see it, America backs secular dictators in the Muslim world who deny to Muslims the rights that are taken for granted by Americans. Many Muslims who back Hamas do so because they see the group as fighting for Muslim self-rule.
On the other hand, Muslims reject what may be termed 1960s liberalism. They reject the shamelessness and frequent depravity of American popular culture. They reject the type of feminism that relinquishes the home in favor of careers. They are resolutely anti-abortion. They consider homosexual marriage to be an abomination. Rather than import these "alternative lifestyles" into their society, Muslims want to live according to their own traditional values and elect their own governments that will defend Muslim interests.
Esposito and Mogahed shrewdly note that the values of traditional Muslims worldwide are very similar to the values of traditional Jews and Christians in the West. For instance, only around 15 percent of Muslims in Europe consider homosexuality "morally acceptable." That's way below the figures for the general public in Britain, France and Germany. But when conservative and religious Europeans and Americans are polled, it turns out that the percentage of people who are fine with homosexuality is about the same as that of the traditional Muslims.
Yes, I could say that I predicted all this in my book The Enemy at Home. But the great contribution of Esposito and Mogahed is to put a mountain of data behind these conclusions. Over six years their group has conducted tens of thousands of face-to-face surveys of Muslims in more than 35 countries making what they rightly call "the largest, most comprehensive study of contemporary Muslims ever done."
This book is a huge embarassment to conservatives like Victor Davis Hanson who, based on no data and very little familiarity with the Muslim world, have been portraying Muslims as violent theocrats who reject modern science, modern democracy and modern capitalism and spend most of their day performing honor killings and genital mutilations. This portrait of the Muslim world is about as accurate as that of a Muslim who believes that typical Americans live their daily lives according to the values of "Natural Born Killers" and "Brokeback Mountain."
What can we conclude from this book? First, that the values of the cultural left are an important source in alienating Muslims worldwide. Second, that Muslims don't reject modernity or the West: rather, they embrace what may be termed "1950s America" while rejecting the libertine values of the 1960s. Third, America can build alliances with traditional Muslims by showing them the face of traditional America, so that they see that Hollywood values aren't necessarily American values. Finally, left-wing groups like International Planned Parenthod and Amnesty International should stop pushing feminism, gay marriage and libertine values in the Muslim world.
Pundits like Chalmers Johnson love to say that American intervention in Iraq and elsewhere has produced a "blowback" of terrorism from the House of Islam. Wrong! It is in Iraq that America is allowing an elected Muslim government to rule according to Muslim interests and Muslim values. Iraq is the only country in the Middle East where the Muslim population actually chose its own rulers. Iraq is not the problem. Rather, it is the values of the cultural left, and the cultural imperialism that seeks to impose those values on reluctant Muslims, that is the real source of Muslim rage, and the best recruiting tool of the radical Muslims.
Reader Comments ( Page 6 of 13)
76. Move 10
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not-pboyfloyd at 9:20PM on Sep 12th 2008
77. The ignorance of the liberals amaze me... You can't see that the majority of the world thinks your liberalism is an obamanation... well abomination... same thing.
Man_in_Wilderness at 10:40PM on Sep 12th 2008
78. Mary-
It was the rightists, the Republicans, who embraced the civil rights movement. Only one more lie from the so-called progreesive so-called "liberal, open-minded" movement.
Conservative values are the basis of this GREAT country.
God bless America!
mary at 10:44PM on Sep 12th 2008
79. Dinesh,
I don't disagree that the 60's and Hollywood style America is abominable to orthodox Muslims, but I wouldn't regard it as the main source of their anger and hate.....I don't purport to be a scholar or expert but, from what I've deduced, Muslims bitterly hate the Jews and, thus, hate America for supporting them.
Sundar at 10:54PM on Sep 12th 2008
80. If they are kicking us to the curb....we should meet wherever this asshole ( Dinesh) goes and make him uncomfortable in his new cyber-home .
mac at 11:01PM on Sep 12th 2008
81. MIW...
you say, "the majority of the world thinks your liberalism is an obamanation..."
hehehehe,,,, you live IN that 'small' world tho', (of the 'right')right?
You believe that everyone in the world speaks english, or can understand it if you speak slowly and loudly enough, right?
not-pboyfloyd at 10:56PM on Sep 12th 2008
82. Conservative values are the basis of this GREAT country.
God bless America!
mary at 10:44PM on
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Only partialy true mary.
This country was founded by liberals, radical liberals.
To borow an expression from Mr D'Souza; check your history books .
mac at 10:58PM on Sep 12th 2008
83. ATHEIST
Title: God and Her Puppet
Writer: Dinesh D'Souza
Logline: OH GOD meets SUPERBAD. GOD AND HER PUPPET is about a sexist schmuck who must content with a somewhat crusty God after landing in a coma. Will he do as She would do or be sent to the claws of Hell?
Synopsis:
Many years ago, Jimmie Martini, 10, is forced to stand by as his mother is raped and murdered. Then, in 2008, Jimmie meets with God as the result of landing in a coma. God is not so sure that Jimmie deserves eternal salvation so She returns the sexist schmuck and prison regular to Earth with special powers and missions toward doing good and proving himself an improved human being. Much a rascal, he does not always successfully handle the challenges of an idolizing nephew, an abused ex-flame, a sexually adventurous great grandmother, or a giant-assed woman at the grocery store. Jimmie, despite his maltreatment of the aforementioned powers and a loss of faith in God, does learn the virtue of accepting people for who they are. Is it too little or too late? Not in America. In the end, God keeps him on Earth but with renewed purpose and a better and kinder soul.
____________
I think this (satire) demonstrates the Dumbing Down Effect of Christianity.
What do you think? Will M. Night Shyamalan make this movie? Or not?
William Hays at 11:20PM on Sep 12th 2008
84. Anybody have any ideas where we might blog instead when they shut these boards down?
Saint Brian the Godless at 8:52AM on Sep 13th 2008
85. "Rather, it is the values of the cultural left, and the cultural imperialism that seeks to impose those values on reluctant Muslims, that is the real source of Muslim rage, and the best recruiting tool of the radical Muslims." As a Christian I am also feeling the cultural left is imposing their no moral, everything is goes, value on me. I understand how the Muslims feel, they do not want it either and like me do not want their country trashed by what Christians and Muslims call sin.
Mary at 9:13AM on Sep 13th 2008
86. Mary-
It was the rightists, the Republicans, who embraced the civil rights movement. Only one more lie from the so-called progreesive so-called "liberal, open-minded" movement.
Conservative values are the basis of this GREAT country.
God bless America!
mary
xxx
More revisionist bullshit from the far right. This country was founded by liberals on liberal principles. The rightists, the conservatives were the tory's who fought as all conservatives did, and that was to maintain the status quo. The did so then, they do so now.
That's what conservatives do. That's what defines them. They fear progress, they fear change. That's why you bozos cling to your book of fables with such fervor. That's why you bozos supported slavery, and Jim Crow. It's why you didn't want women to vote then, and it's why you want them barefoot and pregnant now. It's why you don't support sex ed and it's why you are against reproductive rights.
It's why you teach your kids the stork method of child bearing and why you think the earth is a couple of centuries old and that their really was a man named Noah who built a boat that carried two to seven of each of the worlds creatures in it.
Yuou guys have always tried to keep people in the dark and in spiritual, social, and intellectual bondage.
It's what you do. It's who you are. Be honest. While you're at it go take a history class and find out why it was that the Dixiecrats bolted en masse to the republican party when the civil rights laws were passed. Funny, if the conservatives were the agents of progress as you propose, one would think the dixiecrats who in no manner supported the civil rights movement, would have stood in firm opposition to the republican party and remained loyal to the democratic party, which you think was opposes to the passage of civil rights laws. Instead after Johnson signed these laws into effect, the Dixiecrats jumped ship and became members of the party you claim parented said laws. Splain that one,'kay?
Tim at 9:19AM on Sep 13th 2008
87. As a Christian I am also feeling the cultural left is imposing their no moral, everything is goes, value on me. I understand how the Muslims feel, they do not want it either and like me do not want their country trashed by what Christians and Muslims call sin.
Mary
Screw your strawman and the horse the two of you rode in on. Now, if you wish to live in a reluigious dystopia, feel free to move to any one of the muslim nations where god is first and foremost in eryones lives. You will of course be beheaded within a day or two after making eye contact with a male who isn't a relative or for being raped and not complaining loudly enough while being so. Yeah. Godbots and their "morals". It's a beautiful thing.
Tim at 9:27AM on Sep 13th 2008
88. Here are some other interesting statistics on Muslim polling I found.
In the most modern countries, Muslims have no conflicts being devout to their religion and living in a modern society.
http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=253
Muslims hate Jews with a passion while there is mixed feelings on Christians. Why isn't this mentioned by DD? We know that Jews are the most conservative, none liberal group. One could say they are more Godly, sinless than Christians when you compare their
Jews have the fewest divorce rates, abortions and everything that the religious extremist would embrace with a passion yet they are hated more by the majority of Muslims, more so than liberals and liberalism ideology.
Meanwhile American foreign policy and its support for Israel is the number one reason Americans are despised. Why don't you right wing pundits talk about that? Liberalism, the ideology that created this country, has very little to do with Muslim hate towards America and much more to do with policy and support for another religious conservative group yet I haven't heard this comparison of this from any right winger here.
Why don't the likes of Mary and Gassgett, man in wilderness, Denish and others discuss this? It’s a truth mentioned in the book DD so cleverly censors and in many political polls.
You are hypocritically pointing the finger in the wrong direction and making yourself look foolish.
goddess1prevail at 9:38AM on Sep 13th 2008
89. God bless America!- Mary
America?
How about God bless the world? This is the type of thinking that creates separation and hate amongst people. Thanks Mary for constantly reminding us on how much you ONLY love yourself and those like you!
goddess1prevail at 9:40AM on Sep 13th 2008
90. Goddess; The Gassgetts, MIWs, and Denishs of the world are incapable of discussing Israel without calling those who do not share their view and who do not support Israel 100% anti-semitic. There is no point in even engaging them on the subject.
Ryan Anderson at 9:45AM on Sep 13th 2008