Bombings in Britain

The Dallas Morning News | Rod Dreher:

“I don't believe that all Muslims are hateful, violent, wicked. That would be absurd, and anyway, I know from personal experience that this is untrue. The point I keep trying to make ... is that there appears to be something about the Islamic religion that predisposes its adherents to violence against non-Muslims. One would have to put out one's eyes and pierce one's eardrums not to notice this.”

Ed Cognoski responds:

There are a billion Muslims in the world. There are a few thousand that are driven to violence against non-Muslims. Agreed, it is their interpretation of their religion that predisposes this tiny minority to do this, just as Rod Dreher suggests. But what about the billion who don't wage war? Is their religion (the same Islam) predisposing them not to wage war on infidels? If so, why? That is the question the West ought to be focusing on.

The West can't eliminate Islam. It can't wall itself off from it anymore, either. It's time the West started learning about the Islam that predisposes a billion Muslims to lead full, fruitful, and, yes, peaceful lives. The West doesn't have a clue about that side of Islam, either. It's time we learned. We'll need the support of a billion Muslims in the world's fight against the many fewer Islamic terrorists.

By taking Rod Dreher's lead and focusing on what it is about Islam that predisposes a tiny few of its adherents to violence, the West will never understand what it is about Islam that predisposes so many to peace. Worse, it risks alienating the billion Muslims who are peaceful, driving more to the very violence the West seeks to quell.