Debatten om moskébygget på Manhattan (som jag skrev om här) sammanfattas klokt av Fareed Zakaria:
Ever since 9/11, liberals and conservatives have agreed that the lasting solution to the problem of Islamic terror is to prevail in the battle of ideas and to discredit radical Islam, the ideology that motivates young men to kill and be killed. Victory in the war on terror will be won when a moderate, mainstream version of Islam—one that is compatible with modernity—fully triumphs over the world view of Osama bin Laden.Det är kanske ett litet bråk men av enorma symboliska proportioner. Dessutom finns många kopplingar till frågan om islam kontra islamism i Europa. Det är helt uppenbart att om fredlig samexistens ska kunna råda i västvärlden så måste islamismen förkastas som inkompatibel med västerländsk demokrati. Men samexistens kommer aldrig fungera om man därtill lägger till all form av islam och muslimskt religiöst utövande. Gränsen håller på att suddas ut och det gagnar endast extremister i alla läger.
As the conservative Middle Eastern expert Daniel Pipes put it, “The U.S. role [in this struggle] is less to offer its own views than to help those Muslims with compatible views, especially on such issues as relations with non-Muslims, modernization, and the rights of women and minorities.” To that end, early in its tenure the Bush administration began a serious effort to seek out and support moderate Islam. Since then, Washington has funded mosques, schools, institutes, and community centers that are trying to modernize Islam around the world. Except, apparently, in New York City.
Inlägg
