Read of the day!-----Islam—Facts or Dreams?

Islam—Facts or Dreams? - Imprimis:
"...For our present purposes, however, the fact is that the Blind Sheikh’s summons to jihad was rooted in a coherent interpretation of Islamic doctrine.
He was not perverting Islam—he was, if anything, shining a light on the need to reform it.
Another point, obvious but inconvenient, is that Islam is not a religion of peace. 
There are ways of interpreting Islam that could make it something other than a call to war.
But even these benign constructions do not make it a call to peace.
Verses such as “Fight those who believe not in Allah,” and “Fight and slay the pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem of war,” are not peaceful injunctions, no matter how one contextualizes.
Another disturbing aspect of the trial against the Blind Sheikh and his fellow jihadists was the character witnesses who testified for the defense. 
Most of these people were moderate, peaceful Muslim Americans who would no more commit terrorist acts than the rest of us. 
But when questions about Islamic doctrine would come up—“What does jihad mean?” “What is sharia?” “How might sharia apply to a certain situation?”—these moderate, peaceful Muslims explained that they were not competent to say.
In other words, for the answers, you’d have to turn to Islamic scholars like the Blind Sheikh.
Now, understand: there was no doubt what the Blind Sheikh was on trial for.
And there was no doubt that he was a terrorist—after all, he bragged about it.
But that did not disqualify him, in the minds of these moderate, peaceful Muslims, from rendering authoritative opinions on the meaning of the core tenets of their religion. 
No one was saying that they would follow the Blind Sheikh into terrorism—but no one was discrediting his status either..."
Lots here.
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