One more post on Islam before I leave

(Update: See John Savage's analysis of the phrase "there are moderate Muslims, but there is no moderate Islam," over at Brave New World Watch. Also, I've added the link to the AFB discussion on the topic where an additional comment has been added very pertinent to this discussion.)

What is a moderate Muslim? This question has been on my mind a lot lately, and in fact some time back I argued over at the AFB along the lines that the Christian equivalent of a moderate Muslim would be someone the Bible describes as lukewarm. In other words, what the two individuals of different faiths hold in common is that neither of them is that serious about his faith, and most likely not that knowledgable about it. This is what makes them, with regard to their particular faith and practice, moderate or lukewarm.

There's something else here too. It has been said over and over that "there are moderate "Muslims", but there is no moderate Islam." I think it could be said of Christianity, by contrast, that "there are radical "Christians", but no radical Christianity." The whole point being, of course, that there's something peculiar about the religion of Islam. It is inherently radical and extreme. That there are "moderate" Muslims does not in any way detract from that basic truth about the religion of Mohammed any more than the fact that certain violent individuals that exist claim to be Christians yet violate Christianity's first precepts.

But back to my original question. What to you constitutes a "moderate" Muslim? I've told you what a moderate Muslim is to me. Now I'd like to know what a moderate Muslim is to you. And I hope that Lawrence Auster will tackle this question of what constitutes a moderate Muslim either here or over at VFR in the near future.