Useful Idiot Apologists

These days apologists arguing Islamist terrorism has no real basis in Islam are still repeating the same tired old clichés without appearing to understand how counter-productive they are. If criticising Muslim religion and culture or pointing out it's many beliefs that are in conflict with normative Western culture is all that is required to create violent, murderous jihadis then they're pretty well proving the opposite of their bullshit.

ISIS are the current (2016) spokespeople for fundamentalist Islam and they're straightforward about the reasons for Islamist terrorism:

"What’s important to understand here is that although some might argue that your foreign policies are the extent of what drives our hatred, this particular reason for hating you is secondary … we would continue to hate you because our primary reason for hating you will not cease to exist until you embrace Islam."

In September 2016 Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull warned outspoken critics of Islam that:

Tagging all Muslims with the crimes of a few is fundamentally wrong and it's also counter-productive … Seeking to demonise or denigrate all Muslims or seek to alienate all Muslims and suggest they're somehow not part of Australia or shouldn't be in Australia, that is exactly what the extremists and terrorists are saying to the Muslim community.

Not even someone as ignorant and bigoted as Pauline Hanson has ever actually demonized or denigrated all Muslims. A surprisingly considerable number of Australia's Muslims have accepted violent extremism as being the heart of Islam's teachings but the majority of ISIS members and sympathisers have never been to Australia, know little or nothing of Australia and so our attitudes have nothing to do with their extremism. In fact, most of them come from countries that are nearly 100% Muslim.

Some politicians, like Bill Shorten, are so devoid of integrity that they try to use these disproven ideas to score political points. He has accused Malcolm Turnbull of enabling right-wing extremists, who are doing the "dirty work" of death cult ISIS, by turning Muslims against the West only a few days after Turnbull's statement attacking critics of Islam. Nice work Bill, ignorance and scumbaggery at the same time. He should take care, even 40% of Labour voters are prepared to say they want an end to Muslim immigration into Australia and Labor gained two seats in Queensland on One Nation preferences. He's not the only Labour wannabe politician who can put a knife in the back of the current leader though only Shorten knifed 2 former leaders in the back on his way to becoming leader of the Labour Party.

In September 2016, London Mayor Sadiq Khan was reported in The Telegraph apparently criticising Donald Trump:

We play straight into the hands of those who seek to divide us, of extremists and terrorists around the world, when we imply that it is not possible to hold Western values and to be a Muslim. … It only makes it harder to build integrated and cohesive communities and it makes it easier for terrorists to radicalise our young people, making us less safe, whether in the USA, France or Britain, because it’s dividing rather than uniting and because it builds walls to keep us apart rather than bridges to bring us together.

Khan doesn't seem to understand that he is arguing that Muslims hold Western values so tenuously that they grow so enraged when they hear people implying that they can’t hold Western values that they reject those values and join jihad groups. Apparently it has nothing to do with Islam and Muhammad's example and teachings.

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Nicholas Kristof attempted to counter criticism of Islam and to demonstrate reformism in Islamic countries in a PBS debate in 2015:

… the picture you are painting is to some extent true, but is hugely incomplete. It is certainly true that plenty of fanatics and jihadists are Muslim, but the people who are standing up to them, Malala [Yousafzai], Mohammad Ali Dadkhah in Iran, imprisoned for nine years for speaking up for Christians. A friend that I had in Pakistan who was murdered this year Rashid Rehman for defending people accused of apostasy.

The people he mentions have either been killed, imprisoned or suffered assassination attempts by fellow Muslims.

Karen Armstrong, Oprah's religious expert and prolific author on religion goes even further. She claims that modern jihadism is an innovative movement that promotes an entirely new Islamic doctrine though a less incoherent thinker can see they are directly following Muhamad's example, as they claim to be.

The extremists believe that mainstream Muslims have failed to respond to the current crisis and are proud of their own deviance. Attempting to shift the blame to the already beleaguered Muslim community could further alienate the disaffected. It will certainly not prevent another London bombing.

Some well-known apologists for Muhammad include Karen Armstrong and Tariq Ramadan.