The Deafening Silence of Moderate Muslims

President Bush and many Muslim leaders insist that Islam is a religion of peace. There are one billion Muslims in the world, yet few have demonstrated against evils perpetrated by Muslims in the name of Islam. We always hear that only a small minority of Muslims (10% is usually the number quoted) that are radicalized enough to participate in or support acts of terrorism or civil unrest. Whether that number is correct or not, it is clear that the radicalized Muslims are responsible for the Western perception of Islam today because they dominate the headlines. Countless acts of terrorism, including the 9/11 attacks, are committed by Muslims, but consider just a few other examples.

Islamists in Iraq regularly kidnap and behead Westerners in the name of Islam. One of these beheadings that received a lot of attention was the execution of Matt Berg, an American civilian working in Iraq, in May 2004.

Disenchanted Muslims started a massive riot centered in Paris, France that quickly spread out to all parts of the country. The rioters torched thousands of cars and were responsible for tens of millions of dollars in property damage after two youths were accidentally electrocuted when French law enforcement authorities attempted to detain them.

Violent protests erupted throughout the Muslim world when Danish cartoonists published drawings depicting the Prophet Muhammad and some of the teachings of Islam in a negative light.

In addition, almost every month we see Muslims in Palestine killing innocent Israeli men and women in the name of Islam. In any of these instances did America or other countries in Western civilization hear from moderate Muslims denouncing these acts? The answer is “not really.” We may hear the standard well-used response from Muslim leaders of “of course we condemn the latest act of violence in the name of Islam.” However, the vast majority of time that line is followed by a “but.” Often this mainstream Muslim spokesman implicitly defends terrorism on the grounds that Israel occupies Palestinian lands or some other reason based in moral equivalency. It should be the responsibility of Muslims worldwide to police their own religion, and by excusing violence they ensure that it will continue. We see torture and murder in the name of Allah, but we see no anti-torture and anti-murder demonstrations in the name of Allah. The West, which has its foundations rooted in Christianity, has little or no moral authority over the Muslim religion. Therefore, if Islam does not take radical action to purge itself of its violent members it will continue to be perceived, rightly or wrongly, as a religion centered on violence.

The persecution of other religions by Muslim countries also needs to be addressed by Muslim leaders worldwide. Saudi Arabia does not allow churches or synagogues to be built inside its borders and practicing Christianity inside Saudi Arabia can, and has been in the past, punishable by death. In Afghanistan, the Taliban destroyed some of the greatest sculptures of the ancient world because they were Buddhist. The Islamic regime of Sudan continues to murder thousands of Christians every year in the southern region of Darfur. Yet, instead of confronting these problems, the Muslim world as a whole ignores them.

The continued silence and moral equivocation of many Muslims today is partially due to fear of reprisal from the more radicalized elements of Islam. However, if moderate Muslims continue to allow acts of violence to occur in the name of their religion, the West and the Islamic world will continue to move closer to all out war with each other. No Western country wants to fight that war, but eventually it will have to be fought to preserve Western civilization in the face of Islamic force. Preventing the escalation of violence between the West and Islam is a heavy burden for moderate Muslims to bear, but they must do it for the continued peace and security of the world.

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~ The Conservative Guy