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'Islamo-facism': A Dumb Idea
By J.D. Porter
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 26, 2007
Like David Horowitz, CC ’59, I believe that we could end most of America’s problems if we simply repeated the word Islamo-fascism enough times, preferably from some sort of stage. We diverge on the exact methodology, however. He believes in victory through categorizing things, whereas I believe that the whole idea of Islamo-fascism deserves nothing but the utmost derision from everyone who ever encounters it. If we mock it enough, I think we might find problems that exist, as opposed to those invented by frenzied reactionaries.
One argument that really gets Horowitz’s goat is that Islamo-fascism is racist, or at the very least anti-Islamic, since it seems to demonize all Muslims. Horowitz and company deny this, arguing that it’s a simplistic understanding of the word. Apparently the “o” injects some kind of subtlety, because otherwise the word literally consists of “Islam” combined with “fascism”. You can see how some people, such as everyone, might be confused.
The conundrum doesn’t stop there, however, since Islamo-fascism seems to be neither fascist nor characteristically Islamic. Ahmadinejad might be a fascist, although he probably doesn’t have enough power, but you can’t call Al Qaeda fascist—terrorism is by definition anarchic, which is kind of like the opposite of fascism. Mussolini didn’t make the trains run on time by allowing lunatic zealots blow up the stations. Other problems in the Islamic world, like genital mutilation in Africa or “honor killings” in South Asia, don’t seem to have much to do with fascism at all, other than being bad things. You might as well call American gun violence fascistic, since, you know, fascists liked to shoot guns and stuff.
Not only that, but anyone paying attention to Iraq has probably noticed that violent Islamic organizations don’t seem to like each other all that much. I know it’s kind of nice to envision America’s enemy as one monolithic force, like the USSR, or Lex Luthor, but the problematic sects of Muslims can’t even get organized in Iraq. These guys can’t resolve an ancient dispute about the caliphate, much less band together to make some kind of evil League of Nations. It’s like Horowitz is secretly hoping to get a job writing for Saturday morning cartoons.
Even if all the Muslims in the world did have a secret plot against America, I’m not sure how using a nonsensical term would help us to thwart it. Let’s say we all agree that the real problem is not some complicated geopolitical hokum, but rather Islam (got it in two syllables, boys). Then what? Does he plan to infiltrate Islamo-fascist club meetings and ask disruptive questions? (Can Allah make a rock so big he can’t lift it?) America has a decent history of fighting fascists, but we kind of suck at fighting Muslims (killing civilians doesn’t count). In fact, everyone sucks at fighting Muslims. Other than some wins for Britain, the West has a losing record in the Middle East at least since the Crusades.
In part, this is because we don’t know what we’re talking about. While making Princeton aware of Islamo-fascism, Horowitz said of Islam, “I don’t think there has been another religion that has made saints out of murderers.” I can think of one: Christianity. It’s an easy answer because, unlike Islam, Christianity actually has saints. Two of my favorites are Saint Louis, who killed Muslims while losing the second Crusade, and Saint George, a Roman soldier who is now the patron saint, literally, of knights, cavalry and butchers. I don’t think anyone expects Horowitz to cite Catholic arcana, but it might be nice if he knew some basic facts about religion, like, “Islam isn’t just Christianity with different words,” or “People in many religions have done bad things”.
Since Islamo-fascism so successfully merges racism, ignorance, and impotence, we may need a new term. I propose that we have a Repubofascism Awareness Week, dedicated to understanding the ways that Republicans are fascists. Unlike Horowitz, I would like to point out that I am explicitly yoking the American Republican Party to fascism. As justification, I would like to cite an explanation of Islamo-fascism written by Christopher Hitchens for Slate, one that Horowitz himself has endorsed.
As Hitchens puts it, fascists endorse violence and hate “the life of the mind,” so they might, say, start wars and oppose the theory of evolution. Both dislike “modernity” and are nostalgic for “lost glories,” like, for instance, the Reagan years. Both obsess over past humiliations and are “thirsty for revenge,” so that they might endlessly reference Sept. 11, 2001 or invade Iraq. Both are paranoid (Hitchens says paranoid of Jews, but I think fear of “Islamo-fascism” is a good parallel). Both practice “leader worship,” which could lead to expanding executive power, and both believe in “the power of one great book,” like the Bible (to be fair, God wrote it). Both are sexually repressive, especially of “deviance,” like the gays with their marriage hoohah. Hitchens says both despise art and literature, too, but I think I would characterize Bush and company as simply indifferent to all that.
That’s just one definition of fascism, of course, but it’s surprising how many definitions you find would apply pretty well to the Bush administration. I’ve also noticed that many problems, such as the drought in the American Southeast, homophobia, and the War in Iraq happen in places where there are a lot of Republicans, indicating an undeniable causal link. What I can’t understand is why the right-wingers refuse to say the word Repubofascism. It can’t be because it sounds stupid, means nothing, and is offensive and pointless. They must be scared of it.
Compared to Islamo-fascism, Repubofascism is both real and logically plausible. Unlike the billion Muslims across the world, the Republicans really are working together, and they really are doing something that at least vaguely resembles fascism. Fortunately, like any problem, we can stop it now. All we have to do is raise awareness.
J.D. Porter is a Columbia College senior majoring in English.
The Lion’s Roar runs alternate Fridays.
Specopinion@columbia.edu.
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This article and the comments slay me. Too funny.
One thing which JD can do is to just SHUT UP! George Bush and republicans which is are CHRISTIANS are the only best of all the government. Think about what you said, because people in college are losers because they just like to LEARN, while in the real world america people don't learn, they just SUPPORT THE TROOPS, and also maybe work for a living how about? I can tell you are so dumb because you are such a ivery tower liberal hollywood liberal who likes gays! you said it yourself! islams are bad people because they blow up our country. think about that next time you wanna be such a dumb!
If anything, the discussion about this column shows how poor the public discourse in this country is. Nobody goes beyond ad hominem attacks on the other side. Apparently, since Porter is terrorist lover, his comments on the absurdity of the term 'Islamo-fascist,' the contradictions between the people who use the term with the political actions they themselves support, and the xenophobia, racism, and ignorance the term encourages are no longer issues. If anything, the ignorant debate this column has incited only proves the stupidity of the issue at stake. If Islamo-fascism was a legitimate term, it would incide legitimate debate, not pithy attacks on character and absurd comparisons to people being hit in the face by bricks.
hypocrit @ 1:02am: So, those who use the term "Islamo-fascist" are all ignorant, racist, xenophobes? What's with the name-calling? Can't address the legitimate evidence?
Clearly, your ad hominem condemnations identify you as a smug, condescending hypocrit.
If this opinion piece were legitimate, it wouldn't have made such an easy target for derision.
And the only thing absurd about the case of the bricked girl is the way street rioting Marxists refuse to recognize the face of fascism in their own mirrors. Own it, you fascists.
the first sentence of this article engages dishonestly with David Horowitz's ideas. some of the arguments are equally straw. i like most of it though.
what goes on inside your head?
your logic--or lack of it--is dangerous and foolish..
i hope you actually went to the talk tpday ecause it was really interesting and maybe you would have learned a thing or two.
Good article and Horowitz et all are ridiculous, maybe. But the simplifying ideology of these foolish blowhards is felt in the media, in the boardrooms and also among our elected officials, as in the case of the NYC Department of Education banning CU Professor Rashid Khalidi and forcing minstream Muslim Debbie Almontser to resign rom the supposedly "controversial" Khalil Gibran International Academy--- and there are still others victimized by the smoke & mirrors of the radical right.
The War on Terror will never keep us safe while it is based largely on hype and fear. And sure there are radicals and oppressive practices among the over 1 billion Muslims but the Horowitz way is not the way to effectively win hearts and minds.
In his blogs Horowitz has been offering misleading generalizations and smears only good for fueling the engines of the War on Terror. Daniel Pipes does the same--and are you aware? Do you see the pipeline of lies and half truths that runs from think tanks to media to elected officials? Risks must be taken to oppose the construction of this vast sewer, moving its sinister cargo of xenophobia and free market absolutism, and even Columbia must rouse itself from its fitful (or is it thoughtful?) slumber to attend to this little plumbing problem.
So, Mr. English Major....
Think carefully as this will be graded.
Part A: Islamo-Facism
The Taliban. Are they not Islamic, are they not fascists, or are they neither? References required.
Extra Credit. If these terms do not apply, what term would you suggest be used to describe the ideology behind that and other, similar groups that share a common religious belief and a desire to destroy the US and/or convert its inhabitants to their belief system? (All definitions must be from credible sources.)
Part B: Repubofascism
Which is a greater attempt to set up long-term control over a population of individuals, the Democratic Welfare System that has created generations dependent upon the State, or the Republicans' attempt to prevent the word 'marriage' from being redefined which requires individuals of the same sex to enter into civil contracts resembling marriage, but prevents the misuse of specific terminology. Cite total number of individuals impacted and the impact(s) upon those individuals by these defining initiatives.
Extra Credit. Provide examples of Republican repression resembling that found in Afghanistan and Iraq such as (real) torture/death chambers, the systematic repression and lack of rights for women and girls, and the persecution and murder of those whose belief system do not agree with that of the ruling party. Please compare like examples and do not engage in hyperbole.
Commentary:
Comparing anything currently happening in this country to the systematic repression and the abridgment of basic human rights that was occurring in either of those countries under the leadership of the true fascists that just happened to identify themselves as Muslim is absurd. You need to get out of your little Academic Ivory Tower and realize that the real world is a lot different than what you are being spoon fed.
Have a nice day.
"Nothing says, "I bought my Che shirt with Mom's American Express card" more that calling people "frenzied reactionaries"."
Yes, this is a well-reasoned response to the points he brings up.
"typical rejoinder... so common to Leftist posers. Nothing says "cranial-anial inversion like using your head for a colonoscopy, then crabwalking across the stage of wacademia expecting everyone to admire your new hat."
What does this even mean? Why don't you respond to his points?
"Aren't you late for a Leftist-fascist rally... don't forget your brick of self-control."
Hey, look, some crazy people who identify with a certain group did something terrible! All members of that group must behave the same way!
Well, I don't know about you, but I have to dash off to my Communist Party meeting, but I need to pick up my "I Hate America" shirt from the cleaners first. On my way, I expect to donate money to terrorists, whine a lot, read an ivory tower journal of pseudoscience and indoctrination, and cower in fear.
Horowitz clearly has profound insight into Islam and its many political currents. The stuff about the Saints is hilarious. But the meaning of fascism is a tired non-debate, which will never be resolved, because there is no single correct schematic definition. The term refers to a specific political tradition, not some a-historical structure, and it therefore works as much as Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy are good analogues for the political phenomena you are describing. But its tired already. Horowitz and his ilk are using the term for its political effect, and in particular to hearken back to the second world war, that's all. By the way I'm glad I didn't go to Columbia, what a bunch of pompous blowhards, jeez
Horowitz may be a racist imperialist cheerleader, but at least he's quite intelligent. However, I was just thinking to myself last night, and was just reminded again, how, every time I hear or read Ann Coulter, I am again amazed that anyone finds it worthwhile to listen to or read her again (other than for the sake of morbid curiosity, of course).
Seriously:
"College liberals are in a fit of pique because various speakers are coming to their campuses this week as part of David Horowitz's Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week -- not to be confused with Islamo-Fascism Appreciation Week, which I believe is in April.
Apparently liberals support Islamo-fascism.
Flawless logic! Another:
College campuses across the nation are installing foot baths to accommodate Muslims' daily bathing ritual [which is apparently appalling to Ann], while surgically removing the Ten Commandments from every public space in America [perhaps removing all that Muslim scripture in public places would be a better comparison - oh right, there isn't any]. Maybe the Ten Commandments could be printed on towels and kept next to the foot baths.
Those actually just happened to be the two parts I happened to glance at. Why bother assuming any of her other points maintain a minimum of logic? Really, I can't believe that she has anyone other than a lamp post to yell to left.
Communism is when government owns and or controls (business, the military, and individuals) and outside a narrow privileged class of leaders (the party heads) people have little personal freedom. In such a system wars are often waged to promote the communist ideology. Real world communism (as opposed to the fantasies of textbook communism) leads to vastly unequal distribution of wealth and power.
Fascism is when business (the ultra rich that is) owns and or controls (government, the military, and individuals) and outside a narrow privileged class of leader (Bankers, CEOs, etc) people have little personal freedom. In such a system wars are waged to in pursuit of capital gain. Real world Fascism (AKA, capitalism unbound by the rule of law) leads to vastly unequal distribution of wealth and power.
Democracy is when a broad cross section of society owns and controls business, government, and the military and while the "freedom" of both business to raise unlimited capital and of the military to wage unlimited war is restricted the bulk of society enjoys generous personal freedom. Democracy leads to a fair and reasonably equitable distribution of wealth and power among the general population.
Stalin taught us that real world communism is a bad idea. Hitler taught us that real world fascism (that capitalism set free from the rule of law) is a bad idea too.
Over 230 years of success has taught (most of us) that the third idea (democracy) is a pretty good one but unfortunately the Bush regime does not agree so they are determined to go back and try the second one out all over again.
Useful idiot @ 5:28pm drooled: "Real world Fascism (AKA, capitalism unbound by the rule of law) leads to vastly unequal distribution of wealth and power."
You've clearly been indoctrinated by Leftist ideologues.
Hitler was a Leftist
"We are socialists, we are enemies of today's capitalistic economic system for the exploitation of the economically weak, with its unfair salaries, with its unseemly evaluation of a human being according to wealth and property instead of responsibility and performance, and we are all determined to destroy this system under all conditions." --Adolf Hitler
(Speech of May 1, 1927. Quoted by Toland, 1976, p. 306)
For those who wish to explore the subject in greater depth, a useful recent resource would be a book by an expert on Italian Fascism: "The Faces of Janus: Marxism and Fascism in the Twentieth Century", by A. James Gregor.
Gregor demonstrates conclusively that Fascism and Nazism modelled their methods on Lenin and Stalin and that the Fascist idea of adding nationalism to socialism was later taken up by Stalin and Mao-- so that (in the end) Fascism and Communism were two very similar Leftist sects. So during the era of their big confrontation, Soviet Russia and Maoist China were therefore perfectly correct in accusing one-another of being Fascists.
Thus, the idea that Nazism and Fascism were Rightist is an old Soviet lie that Left-leaning intellectuals in the West have perpetuated in flagrant denial of historical reality.
Democracy is when a broad cross section of society owns and controls business, government, and the military and ... ...the bulk of society enjoys generous personal freedom. Democracy leads to a fair and reasonably equitable distribution of wealth and power among the general population.
No, "democracy" (as practiced in the US today,) is nothing more than majority rule; in essence: mob rule in a nice coat and tie.
This so-called democracy is a system whereby a majority may tyrannize a minority, by way of the ballot-box, as seen in the "Growth Management Act" (aka: theft of property rights,) here in Washington state. The wealthy land-owners, on the one hand, are today paid in cash, to *voluntarily* give up their development rights, (thanks to a taxpayer-funded program begun at the time of the original thefts,) while poor families, such as mine, had identical development rights taken from us, at the time of the enactment. (A wealthy developer, literally across the street from us, today sells 2.5 acre lots, while our property is "locked" by the new laws. Both properties were zoned the same prior to the GMA.)
This is the exact sort of "democracy" that the warmongering wealthy of this country, seek to 'bestow' upon Iraq and other nations.
Fortunately, the rest of the world's people are not nearly so gullible as is the average "american", and fierce resistance to the "democratic" warmongers, is growing rapidly, all over the world.
So you don't like the "Growth Management Act" just wait 'till they pass "The Greenhouse Gas Management Act" to prevent Global warming. You might live down the road from a power plant spewing gasses up the smoke stack (legally due to "offsets" ) but you won't be able to light your wood stove to heat you home. Wake up America!
"Get over the "Islamofascist" idea it is just that, a made-up word that doesn't do anything to improve our understanding of the situation."
Made up, yes... by Muslims who were being slaughtered by radical 'Muslims'.
And no, the word doesn't do much to improve our understanding of the situation. The word is not supposed to - it's not "Conceptual Analysis of the Term 'Islamo-fascism' Week!".
What does improve our understanding of the situation is when we actually talk about Islamo-fascists. The term, though apt, isn't the focus. All of you who are trying to make the term the pertinent issue are the ones who are preventing us from better understanding the actual real-world situation.
Really, it is pathetic that people actually think Islam is some sort of violent doctrine that is shared by Muslims around the world. The same thing could be said about the Bible look at all the killing that is justified in this book. It's like confusing Christianity with the centralized Roman Church that murdered Jews, Pagans, Muslims, and "unorthodox Christians" in the name of God. Sure many brainwashed people murder in the name of God, but they don't represent Christianity. Like Bush and Co. they might believe we are a Christian nation, but our murderous activities in the Middle East aren't a representation of Christianity just because we are a nation dominated by wannabe-Christians that adhere more to political beliefs than any religious doctrine. Get over the "Islamofascist" idea it is just that, a made-up word that doesn't do anything to improve our understanding of the situation.
JD, How about Islamo-Terrorist? Fanatic-Muslims?
Please do the nation a favor and don't re-produce!
Nothing says, "I bought my Che shirt with Mom's American Express card" more that calling people "frenzied reactionaries".
fas·cism (făsh'ĭz'əm) pronunciation
n.
1. Fascism
1. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.
It is a mixture of Islam, which in its purist form should be a government (and, yes, so should Catholicism), and fascism.
I don't find this a racist or bigoted term in the least. It clearly identifies a specific ideological group within Islam. I can happily say I am against Islamo-Fascists with out alienating all Muslims. I am against the Muslims who feel they need to control others using the pretense of religious beliefs, especially those using lethal tactics.
Also, terrorism was used in all of the "fascist" regimes before they gained complete power (such as the Nazi "Night of the Long Knives").
I am still undecided on who is worse for America: liberals or conservatives. We would be better off with neither.
Thank you for your description of fascism. However, this description does little to distinguish between fascism and authoritarianism per se. It would be instrumental to know the difference.
I agree wholeheartedly, especially with the last sentence. Heck, George Washington warned us against political parties, but nooo........ I started off being one of the parties, switching to the other, then getting ticked off by both. We would be far better off if both parties just died. Miserably. Furthermore, the existence of parties means that to even attempt to run for any sort of political office, you have to curry favor with one or the other party. How many independents do we have in the Senate? The House? Governors? I'm pretty sure I count count them on my hands.
Mr. Porter... you give me hope that our colleges are turning out some people that can think and put together and argument! We'd actually be way ahead if we had government leaders that could think beyond cliches. Keep it up!
"The conundrum doesn’t stop there, however, since Islamo-fascism seems to be neither fascist nor characteristically Islamic."
great article... its nice that nearly every response has been able to maintain that same 'im an ignorant douchebag' appeal the horowitz crowd seems to need.
HAVE YOU HUGGED AN ISLAMO-FASCIST TODAY?
by Ann Coulter
College liberals are in a fit of pique because various speakers are coming to their campuses this week as part of David Horowitz's Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week -- not to be confused with Islamo-Fascism Appreciation Week, which I believe is in April.
Apparently liberals support Islamo-fascism.
The Democratic leadership might want to have a powwow with their base because I believe their public position is to pretend to oppose Islamic fascism.
Elected Democrats at least make empty rhetorical gestures about opposing Islamic fascism. Of course, amidst their nonspecific condemnations of Islamic terrorism, they make very specific demands that we genuflect before Islam and perform exotic fetishes on the fascists.
Liberals believe in burning the American flag, urinating on crucifixes, and passing out birth control pills to 11-year-olds without telling their parents -- but God forbid an infidel touch a Quran at Guantanamo.
College campuses across the nation are installing foot baths to accommodate Muslims' daily bathing ritual, while surgically removing the Ten Commandments from every public space in America. Maybe the Ten Commandments could be printed on towels and kept next to the foot baths.
The National Council for Social Studies recommended a lesson plan after 9/11 that included a story titled "My Name Is Osama" about a nasty little white boy, "Todd," who taunts a fine upstanding Iraqi immigrant named "Osama." Go ahead, laugh it up -- we'll see who's laughing when "My Name Is Osama" ends up on ABC's prime-time lineup next year.
This story was proposed in response to an event in which Muslims with names like "Osama" committed the most massive hate crime in U.S. history against 3,000 innocent civilians with names like "Todd."
Still and all, Democrats who seek the votes of their fellow Americans continue to claim in a vague, meaningless way to oppose Islamo-fascism.
And then when speakers like Cyrus Nowrasteh, the writer and producer of the ABC miniseries "The Path to 9/11," and Nonie Darwish, whose father founded the Fedayeen, show up on college campuses to criticize Islamic terrorism, the Democratic base threatens to riot. The only thing that makes the cut-and-run crowd mad enough to fight is the idea that someone, somewhere might be criticizing radical Islam.
Consequently, the speakers for Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week require the sort of security phalanx one would expect for someone more like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Oh wait -- no. Ahmadinejad was cheered by college students a few weeks ago -- at least until he expressed reservations about sodomy. (On the basis of Ahmadinejad's claims, instead of looking for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, how about we start looking for gays in Iran?)
Even American intellectuals like Dennis Prager and Michael Medved who are speaking during Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week are denounced by liberals as if they were David Duke. One pro-Islamo-fascism Web site indicts Medved on the grounds that he "has claimed that Islam has a 'special violence problem.'" It doesn't get much more diplomatic than that.
Conservative speakers are constantly being physically attacked on college campuses -- including Bill Kristol, Pat Buchanan, David Horowitz and me, among others. Fortunately the attackers are Democrats, so they throw like girls and generally end up with their noses bloodied by pretty college coeds. But that doesn't make it right.
Michael Moore can waddle anywhere he wants in America without fear of violence from Republicans. But we still have to hear about every testy e-mail Paul Krugman ever receives as if liberals are living in the black night of fascism. Any time Krugman wants to get into a "Most Vicious Hate Mail" contest, just say the word. You don't hear me sniffling.
Congressional Democrats are constantly calling for conservative private citizens to be silenced. Even Democratic candidates for president and their wives are getting in on the act.
A few weeks ago, in the midst of Senate Democrats' demand that Rush Limbaugh's microphone be silenced, Lizzie Edwards distracted herself from the latest National Enquirer by announcing on Air America that Limbaugh's draft deferment was phony.
I was pretty shocked. Who knew Air America was still on the air?
I know every time Democrats call for me to be silenced, I feel a delicious surge of martyrdom. For a brief moment, I understand the thrill the left gets by going around claiming to be victimized all the time.
I could almost imagine a poem:
First they came for Rush Limbaugh, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't Rush Limbaugh;
And then they came for Ann Coulter, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't Ann Coulter;
And then they came for David Horowitz, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't David Horowitz;
And then ... they came for me ... And by that time there was no one left to speak up.
Liberals claim to be terrified that the Religious Right is going to take over the culture in a country where more than a million babies are exterminated every year, kindergarteners can be expelled from school for mentioning God, and Islamic fascists are welcomed on college campuses while speakers opposed to Islamic fascism are met with angry protests.
If liberals want to face real fascism, try showing up on a college campus and denouncing fascism.
This post amuses me. Really. Someone is far too desperate, and has waaay too much time on their hands. May I recommend a life? It really is quite something. You definitely should try it.
oh ann... i love you... i really do.
sometimes i get worried that you stress yourself out over alienating and losing your base. just know that if things don't work out for you here in the states, you can always convert to islam and go to work for irinn in iran...
they need people like you with your special kind of creativity, you could potentially even branch out... they have a political animation department that would be right up your alley!
This was fucking beautiful, JD. Bravo!
There is no such person as an Islamo-fasicst. If you read the Koran, and want to be a true muslim, then as directed by the Koran you will seek to convert all non muslims to islam by the sword, and murder those who don't. This is not Islamo-facism, it is simply evangalising the unbeleivers, islamic style. Mohommad murdered about 700 captives by his own hand. Don't get angry with the messenger, just read the Koran.
Well, I don't know. FDR did a fair job of identifying his Shinto-fascist enemies. And Shinto-fascists were at least as theologically motivated as Islamo-fascists to beheadings, sneak attacks, mysogyny, civilian mass murders, non-Shinto enslavement, suicide bombings, etc., ad nauseum.
Can someone explain today's Democrat antipathy toward Truman's succesful Hiroshima solution to the problem of religio-fascism? When's the last time you saw the Shinto picking fights?
As a matter of fact, and in utter contrast to the above comment, Islam is pretty clear about forced conversion; that is, it doesn't exist. You CANNOT be a Muslim unless you intrinsically believe in the faith. The interpretation just mentioned is simplistic and indicates a shallow reading of the Qur'an. Talk to any Muslim, and they'll explain the reality of Islam, not the simplistic, inflammatory rhetoric just mentioned.
And J.D. wonders why people don't take him seriously.
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