Islam as our Ally

Stephen Prothero makes a good point in his article "The Islam You Don't Hear About" (Khaleej Times Online).

But jihadists are one thing, and ordinary Muslims are quite another. Americans of good will know this. What we also need to know is that in the fight against Islamic radicalism, one of our key allies could be Islam itself.

In fighting the battle against fundamentalists of all faiths, we would probably benefit from the help of the more progressive moderates of those faiths. They may be more more likely to be able to influence a change than atheists can.