Posted by
Mark McConnell on Tuesday, September 19, 2006 8:47:12 PM
For sheer short-term practical effectiveness, the subversive tactic of
marginalization requires us to enlist vocal "Moderate Muslims" to fight
for us. The benefit is that we can comfort ourselves by having some
"good Muslims" to listen to, who denounce their co-religionists in the
name of their own religion. We can use what they say, to humiliate the
enemy.
As a confessional Presbyterian - a fundamentalist in newspeak - I can tell you that nothing marginalizes like the word "moderate". Since only "moderates" speak for Presbyterians in the media, their customers know nothing of the rest of Presbyterianism, except that it is "extreme". Never mind that "fundamentalism" simply means to stand with historical Christian faith on even the most minimal grounds - fundamentalism is extreme. We know this, because it is not represented by the "Moderate".
Therefore, regardless of the great rift of religious conviction that exists between me and the jihadists, speaking simply in terms of the sociology of religious marginalization as I have experienced it, this tactic cannot work in the long run. I can use my own experience to assure you by analogy that, these
wafflers and quacks called "Moderates", who tremble and fawn
before world opinion, are the invention of the press. When they presume to lisp their fatuous, embarrassing opinions on PBS in the name of my religion, against my religion, they are warmly received by those who hate my religion. But, they strengthen my resolve to eventually throw off the illusion, and to resist this attempt to empty my religion of its reality, transforming it into an insipid sentiment. To put it plainly, they make me more "extreme".
What we need in the long run is authentic, recognizable representatives of the groups that hate us, to be our allies. They must be peace makers, not traitors. Such men are not presently available, among the jihadists, frankly, but we must seek them. And when we find them, whatever we call them, we must not call them "Moderates".
In the absence of a peace maker, we must wage war. For religious warfare, we require that time-tested instrument for the sowing of confusion, disunity and humiliation among the enemy: the "Moderate". For cessation of hostility, we require mutual understanding and good will despite our disagreements.