{"id":16851,"date":"2015-01-12T12:22:03","date_gmt":"2015-01-12T19:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=16851"},"modified":"2015-01-12T15:45:23","modified_gmt":"2015-01-12T22:45:23","slug":"eyes-wide-shut-to-islamist-threat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/01\/eyes-wide-shut-to-islamist-threat.html","title":{"rendered":"“Eyes wide shut to Islamist threat”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
The Baitalhuda Mosque in Sydney, Australia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I find myself in an awkward position \u2014 which is just about precisely the position that I think I should<\/em> be in and that I want<\/em> to be in:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

My attitude toward Islam and toward the contemporary Islamic world is far more positive than some can approve, and my attitude toward the contemporary Islamic world is much more negative than some of my Arab, Arabist, and Islamicist friends can accept.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I see the contemporary Muslim world as seriously dysfunctional in certain troubling respects. \u00a0Few would disagree with that, I think. \u00a0But I don\u2019t think that Islam or the Islamic world are intrinsically evil or irredeemable, as some vocally anti-Islamic writers and speakers claim.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

That said, I think that there are some issues in the formative early history of Islam that need to be openly discussed by people of good will, both Muslim and non-Muslim. \u00a0There needs to be some frank conversation. \u00a0Perhaps, among other things, a conference should be convened\u00a0in which such matters could be candidly aired and examined. \u00a0Perhaps I\u2019ll try to do a bit\u00a0of that myself. \u00a0Perhaps I\u2019ll even try to hastily frame one or two\u00a0of the issues on this blog over the next week or so.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the meantime, here\u2019s an Australian voice that\u2019s worried about some of the same things that worry me:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.theaustralian.com.au\/opinion\/columnists\/eyes-wide-shut-to-islamist-threat\/story-fn7078da-1227181490317<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Later postscript: \u00a0 Thanks to Immo Beijerling for bringing this to my attention. \u00a0Apparently, you need to access it through\u00a0a\u00a0Google Play news app, or something of that sort. \u00a0That\u2019s apparently how I first did it, because I had no problem. \u00a0But now I can\u2019t access it. \u00a0Good luck!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still later postscript: \u00a0Will this work? \u00a0http:\/\/google.com\/newsstand\/s\/CBIw9_-D8Bo<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 I find myself in an awkward position \u2014 which is just about precisely the position that I think I should be in and that I want to be in: \u00a0 My attitude toward Islam and toward the contemporary Islamic world is far more positive than some can approve, and my attitude toward the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n"Eyes wide shut to Islamist threat"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    I find myself in an awkward position -- which is just about precisely the position that I think I should be in and that I want to be\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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