Frank over at Internet Commentator blog takes aim at many liberals and leftists who act as apologists (unwitting or otherwse) for radical Islam. My initial reaction was one of annoyance: I know a lot of liberals and leftists and I've never met one who had the slightest regard for radical Islam. One can reasonably argue that many leftists have in the past been accomodating to some autocratic ideologies (most notably Soviet and Chinese totalitarianism). But these folks tend to be virulently opposed to all religion-based politics, which explains their bitter opposition to the modern US Republican Party, Israeli settlers, etc. If anything, these folks are usually accused to being too radically SECULAR.
Frank countered that this tendency toward apologia may be more a British thing than an American thing, which I concede could well be true. Many on the American right have insiduously smeared all opponents of President Bush, the ill-directed war on terrorism and the Iraq aggression as being terrorist appeasers and apologists; so perhaps my reaction was more reflexive than reflective. I concede that I am not as familiar with intellectual and pseudo-intellectual trends in Britain as I am with American ones. And by all that I've read and heard, radical Islamic teaching in mosques and elsewhere is far more prevelant in the UK than in the US.
Radical Islam is a fascist ideology that every self-respecting progressive should oppose unreservedly; your opinion of the Bush administration or the Iraq aggression is irrelevant in that regard. Bush may be its Great Satan du jour but Islamism's aims are anything but liberal. Even aside from the strategy of gratuitous terrorist attacks on civilians, look at how the Taliban ran Afghanistan or how the Wahabbites run Saudi Arabia. Women can't leave the house without being accompanied by a man (relative only). Women can't drive or vote. Gays and adulters are stoned. Alcohol is banned. 'Hedonism' is worst possible crime. You think Church and state are muddled here in the US just because of a little 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance? They're a Theocracy Brigade times ten. Radical Islam and western progressivism are as divergently opposed as you can possibly get.
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Well, as a liberal/progressive, I'm more interested in the moderate, reform, and liberal wings of Islam. These include feminists like Laila Ahmed and Fatima Mernissi as well as progressives like Khaled Abu El Fadl and Ziauddin Sardar. These writers envision an open-minded, flexible vision of Islam, the exact opposite of these religious extremists.
Sardar's "Introducting Islam" is an accessible guide to the faith which offers an another interpretation of the religion. "Taking Back Islam" is another book that I recommend.
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