By Ted Belman
NEVER.
“Moderates†do not “march†for reasons that go beyond intimidation. It has also to do with the loyalty and conformity that Islam demands. Furthermore they would be marching against their religion. not a radical interpretation of it. “Moderate” Muslims either move away from Islam emotionally and become secular in thought and deed or they acquiesce silently. But they are not motivated to join a reform movement.
Can you imagine a Christian movement to disown Jesus as the Messiah? No. Any such disbeliever would just move away from Christianity. Why expect “moderates†to want to reform their religion. If a moderate wanted to drop the odious parts, he might as well be Jewish. But they would never do that because hating the Jew could not be excised from their souls. It would be like a Hindu choosing to be an “untouchable”.
One of the core beliefs of Islam is that believers, Muslims, are superior to non believers,, Christians and Jews. Accordingly western notions of multiculturalism, diversity and equality can never be embraced by Muslims. These notions and Islam are mutually exclusive.
Another core belief is Jihad which requires a struggle, yes, a violent one, to conquer the world.
To remove both of these notions from Islam is to gut it. Imagine removing a neck of a giraffe to normal size or removing all the arms from an octopus. They would no longer be giraffes or octopus because what defines them has been removed. The same for Muslims.
It reminds me of the story, reputed to be true, that Sharon was appointed manager of the Zoo in Israel. He managed to achieve, what appeared to be, a miracle. He got the lion to lay with the lamb day after day. When asked how he managed to do it, he said “every day a different lamb.” Take from that story what you will.
Why is it that there are Jews who attack Jews and Israel whereas there are virtually no Muslims who attack Islamists, let alone all Muslims?
There are two reasons for the difference. Judaism has always fostered a tradition of dissent, whereas Islam has no such tradition. Its tradition is conformity.
Secondly, for two thousand years, Jews have been denigrated by Christians and Muslims. Christianity and Islam in their teachings have fostered this. (Thankfully a part of Christianity is working to change this.) As a result of this denigration, many Jews have embraced the message that something is wrong with them and as a result, hate themselves. Furthermore, some take a stand against their fellow Jews to demonstrate they are different from the “odious Jews”.
Muslims would never act in this way because no one vilifies them and they do not feel inferior.
So do not ascribe their passivity to intimidation. It is far more than that.
