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Front Page Magazine interviews acclaimed Islamic affairs expert, Robert Spencer on the release of his new book 'Religion of Peace?: Why Christianity Is and Islam Isn't'.
Is Islam a Religion of Peace?
Front Page Magazine, Bernard Chapin, September 14, 2007
Robert Spencer is one of the nation’s foremost experts on Islamic affairs. He is the editor of the website, Jihad Watch, and the author of two recent books, The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades). The former holds the particular distinction of being banned by the government of Pakistan. His latest effort, Religion of Peace?: Why Christianity Is and Islam Isn't, analyses and contrasts the world’s most popular belief systems. Mr. Spencer’s articles can be regularly read on frontpagemag.com.
BC: Congratulations, Mr. Spencer, on your recently released, Religion of Peace?: Why Christianity Is and Islam Isn't. Tell us the main theme that you focused in on.
Spencer: Thank you. Religion of Peace? is a comparison and contrast of certain aspects of Islam and Christianity, an attempt to refute the common claim that each is equally likely to incite its adherents to violence, and a means to rally those who enjoy the fruits of Judeo-Christian civilization, whether or not they are Jews and Christians, to an awareness of how seriously that civilization is threatened by the global jihad and Islamic supremacism. I hope that awareness will lead to a stronger defense of that civilization.
BC: Over the course of the past two years you have also published The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades). What are you saying in your new book that has not been said previously?
Spencer: The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) is a general overview of the elements of Islam that jihadists are using to recruit and motivate terrorists today. The Truth of Muhammad is a biography of the founder of Islam. Religion of Peace? is neither of those things. It is an evaluation of the Christian theocracy scare (as enunciated by bestselling books such as American Fascists by Chris Hedges) and a comparison of various aspects of Christian and Islamic Scripture and history in order to demonstrate what the real threat is, and to resist the moral equivalence that blankets the popular culture today.
BC: How virulent has been the reaction to your work in Islamic quarters? Have you had a fatwa declared against you? Any good stories to share?
Spencer: Well, I always hope that there will be a reasoned response to the points I raise, and a genuine dialogue between people who disagree, but I’m still waiting. Invariably reactions from Muslims feature denial of the points I make about Islam, despite the fact that I work exclusively from Islamic sources and the words of Islamic spokesmen, plus personal abuse. I haven’t received a formal fatwa, but many death threats, including one from a man who was determined to kill me because Islam is a religion of peace. One of his messages read in part: “I will be violent against anyone who hurts muslim feelings about Prophet. It is a religion of peace for everyone until some duckhead sprews out his damn saliva on a senstive topic as this. Spencer will be delivered.”
BC: If you had to estimate, across the world, what percentage of the Muslim population is radicalized?
Spencer: In the sense of actively pursuing jihad violence, only a tiny minority. In the sense of supporting those who perpetrate violence, a considerably higher percentage. Note, for example, that on September 11, 2006, Al-Jazeera asked Muslims, “Do you support Osama bin Laden?” 49.9% of respondents said that yes, they did.
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