Friday, January 16, 2009

An open letter to James Taranto

In today's edition of "Best of the Web Today" -- always a must-read -- the Wall Street Journal's James Taranto made a proposal that prompted the following:

Dear Mr. Taranto:

Your proposal that the term "Islamic supremacy" be used in preference to "terrorism" is sound. However, it behooves you to note that this term has been in use for at least a couple of years at the Jihad Watch website by Robert Spencer, the eminent scholar and polemicist who, as far as I am aware, was the man who coined it.

Moreover, you speak of "non-supremacist Muslims" -- a term that is quite problematic, in view of the sundry verses of the Qur'an assuring Muslims that they are "the best of peoples" (e.g., verse 3:110) and that unbelievers are "the worst of creatures" (e.g., verse 98:6). Given the status of such characterizations in Islam as the eternal, uncreated word of God, passed down to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel, how many genuinely "non-supremacist" Muslims can there be? Few if any, I venture to suggest.

Sincerely,

Paul Green

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