The Jihad Against the Jihadis

[Crabtownboy]

The moderates are fighting back, and winning.

But, in fact, the entire terrain of the war on terror has evolved dramatically. Put simply, the moderates are fighting back and the tide is turning. We no longer fear the possibility of a major country succumbing to jihadist ideology. In most Muslim nations, mainstream rulers have stabilized their regimes and their societies, and extremists have been isolated. This has not led to the flowering of Jeffersonian democracy or liberalism. But modern, somewhat secular forces are clearly in control and widely supported across the Muslim world. Polls, elections, and in-depth studies all confirm this trend.


The most influential statement on Islam to come out of the post-9/11 era was not a presidential speech or an intellectual's essay. It was, believe it or not, a United Nations report. In 2002 the U.N. Development Program published a detailed study of the Arab world. The paper made plain that in an era of globalization, openness, diversity, and tolerance, the Arabs were the world's great laggards. Using hard data, the report painted a picture of political, social, and intellectual stagnation in countries from the Maghreb to the Gulf. And it was written by a team of Arab scholars. This was not paternalism or imperialism. It was truth.


http://www.newsweek.com/id/233607

 

[Justin76]

I've listened to Ravi Zacharias say multiple times that if there was sufficient social reform in the middle east so that freedom of religion were allowed, there would be a huge number of Muslims come to Christ. That would be awesome.

 

[rbell]

The moderates are fighting back, and winning.

Not sure if that jives with what I see going on in Yemen (to some degree) and (especially) in Pakistan. Not sure about Afghanistan yet.

Maybe so...but then again, I'm not as convinced as Newsweek. Of course, they have so little credibility with me, my default setting is to be contrarian to their position.