Pope Francis’s Policy toward Islam Makes Sense

The question of whether or not Islam is a religion of peace has been the subject of numerous articles and discussions in recent years. One of the more interesting debates on the subject was one hosted by the Open to Debate formerly known as Intelligence Squared U.S. organization. The statement being debated in fact was “Islam is a Religion of Peace.” Prior to the debate 41% of the audience supported the statement, while 34% were undecided and only 25% disagreed. Following the debate 55% said Islam was not a religion of peace, only 9% were undecided and those supporting the statement had dropped to 36%. Clearly the ‘Islam is not a religion of peace’ side won the debate.

But one of the more interesting points made during the debate was that “the leaders of Islam, the heads of religion in Saudi Arabia and Iran, are the ones speaking for the religion, not Islam’s moderates.” This statement is worthy of some discussion all by itself.

The leaders of Islam may be the ones doing all the talking, but just how likely is it that “Islam’s moderates” are listening, let alone agreeing? And how likely is it that the Muslim moderates would be willing to wage global jihad against non-believers?