"The principal leader…in the new academic field of Islam-bashing."
"Spencer's readers are carefully steered away from all contact with the Islamic interpretative tradition, which equals or exceeds that of any other religion, because any scholarly knowledge about Islam would expose all his extremist interpretations to ridicule."
- Robert Crane (Ex-Nixon Aide, author)
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"[Robert Spencer] has no academic training in Islamic studies whatsoever; his M.A. degree was in the field of early Christianity"
“The publications of Spencer belong to the class of Islamophobic extremism that is promoted and supported by right-wing organizations, who are perpetuating a type of bigotry similar to anti-Semitism and racial prejudice. They are to be viewed with great suspicion by anyone who wishes to find reliable and scholarly information on the subject of Islam.”
- Carl Ernst (Islamic Scholar UNC)
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“[Robert Spencer] uses the Internet to spread misinformation and hatred of Islam and presents a ‘skewed, one-sided, and inflammatory story that only helps to sow the seed of civilizational conflict’."
- Benazir Bhutto (Late Prime Minister of Pakistan)
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“When it comes to Robert Spencer scholars of Islamic studies outright dismiss him and his body of work. They call him an unreliable ideologue at best and a divisive bigot at worst.”
- Michael Kruse (Writer St. Petersburg Times)
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“After looking at your website, I was quite surprised to see how much hate, venom and misunderstanding you are fostering.”
- M. Cherif Bassiouni (Law Professor, Scholar, Humanitarian)
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“Robert Spencer is an extremist, right-wing anti-Muslim rabble rouser.”
- Robert Dreyfuss (Nation Magazine Editor, Contributor to Rolling Stone and Mother Jones)
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“Mr. Spencer espouses a view of Islam as a system of belief which is essentially violent, undemocratic, totalitarian, exclusive and at war with all non-Muslims. Mr. Spencer in fact goes as far as to equate Islam with fascism.”
- Group of ALA Librarians, scholars and academics
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“There is no doubt The Little King [Robert Spencer] ‘plagiarized,’ and therefore is a ‘plagiarist’.”
- Andrew Bostom (Close friend, ally and blog collaborator)
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“Robert Spencer is an anti-Muslim blogger…And yes, I do mean ‘anti-Muslim’ — Spencer long ago crossed the line from simply criticizing radical Islamists to relentlessly demonizing all Muslims. And the bigoted, hateful comments he allows at his website are beyond disgusting.”
- Charles Johnson (Former Ally, Friend and Blog Collaborator)
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“Spencer's historical argument is dubious. It emphasizes violent passages in the Koran, while downplaying the passages that urge peace and goodwill. It applies a moral standard to Islamic empires that certainly could not be met by the Roman empire or the empires established by the Portuguese, the Spanish, the French and the British. In the Spain of Ferdinand and Isabella, for example, Jews had three choices: convert to Christianity, leave the country, or be killed. No Muslim empire legislated or systematically enforced such a policy toward its religious minorities."
"Spencer glibly jumps over entire centuries in linking, say, the savagery of the Ottomans in Constantinople with the savagery of Hezbollah in Lebanon or the Taliban in Afghanistan."
- Dinesh D’Souza (Conservative scholar, pundit and author)
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“According to Mr. Spencer, Judeo-Christianity is fundamentally and qualitatively superior to Islam, so to suggest that there could be a degenerative least-common-denominator into which all three religions could converge under any conditions, reeks of cultural relativism, because it denies Judeo-Christianity’s irreducible superiority.”
“I find it curious that Robert Spencer closes both eyes to atrocities perpetrated by Serbs, because if it had only been Muslims on their receiving end, I would understand now (but of course not justify it) seeing where Spencer is coming from, but Serbs have also fought against Croats and Slovenes —their fellow Christians. Yet he takes the side of the most historically aggressive representatives of his own ‘Religion of Peace.’ Could it be that while ostensibly and quite irrationally denying any violence within Christianity, he in fact secretly and perhaps subconsciously admires violent Christianity?”
- Kejda Gjermani (Commentary Magazine author)
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“Robert Spencer, a prolific anti-Islam writer and a leading Islamophobe who is bent on distorting Islam and demonizing Muslims, has persistently argued that violence and terrorism employed by Muslim extremists is rooted in the Quran and its message. Spencer calls the Quran, a book sacred to Muslim, ‘the jihadists’ Mein Kampf,’ in reference to Hitler’s memoir.”
- Louay M. Safi (Islamic Scholar)
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“The widespread ignorance about Islam in the West makes many vulnerable to Spencer’s polemic; he is telling them what they are predisposed to hear. His book is a gift to extremists who can use it to ‘prove’ to those Muslims who have been alienated by events in Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq that the west is incurably hostile to their faith."
- Karen Armstrong (Author)
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“Spencer thinks, ‘Islamist fundamentalist drive European politics’.”
“Spencer and Bat Ye’or “lack academic seriousness.”
- Ivan Jablonka (Scholar)
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“Words like Islamophobia and phrases like anti-Muslim bigotry are bandied about too liberally…But the real thing does exist, and it frequently takes the cover of anti-jihadism. Jihad Watch...traffics fairly openly in such stuff.”
- Cathy Young (Writer with Reason Magazine)
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This guy was given speaking engagements to the FBI about Islam? Wow. That’s like giving Hitler speaking engagements to talk about Jews and Judaism, or Meir Kahane the same opportunity to talk about Arabs.
http://www.youtube.com/user/alivera3
disturbing imagery, but the truth is seldom nice and often hidden.
That’s a great video! Thanks for the share.
One thing I am not certain about Robert Spencer. Is he really a right wing hypocrite fascist Nazi or is he really just a clever con man who found a market after 9/11 that wanted to blame anyone other than their own country, that wanted a bad guy to point their fingers at, but wanted it to justified and rationalized so then comes Robert who twists a and cons them, rights books and finally achieves financial, social, and esteem success. I mean come-on he claimed he studied about Islam in the mid 80s and if he found it to be what he says it is then would he not of said anything before, considering the USA backed the Islamic Mujahideen against the Soviets, considering they backed the ”Wahabi” Saudis against nationalist Saddam, considering 1994 world trade bombing, and 1998 US colt attack, would he not of said something back then if he really believed the bile he now spews?
But during his early years, whilst studying Islam Spencer was a Communist, read loonwatch they have the full details there.
I truly believe that Spencer and Geller are plants, designed to create social problems within the USA. “Divided we fall”, one of the goals of Communism. Geller and Spencer are not working for the betterment of the USA and could well be paid agents working for a foreign country such as Israel or an international secret organization.
He’s also a Melkite Catholic as well, which may also explain his further dislike of Muslims and Islam.
I think Spencer just found a market; it’s all about the benjamins. Or he is just a sociopath (also likely).
I suspect that both are true.
Sad that Spencer is taken seriously by some.
Those people who take him seriously are as demented as he are, they were probably already closet-Islamophobes before Spencer even burst into the scene.
You guys are all quick to scream religions intolerance when just one mosque is refused permission to be built but where is the tolerance from Muslims. There are already 200 mosques in New York and you scream religion intolerance when ONE is disputed. Do you think Saudi Arabia or Iran will allow 200 Catholic churches to be built in their cities?
Let’s see. First you missed the fact that community centers are not mosques. After that you wrongly believe that said not-mosque has been refused permission. Then you conveniently overlook the oppositions to mosques in Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Staten Island. Finally you made the obligatory irrelevant argument of declared-Muslim-countries-Saudi-Arabia-and-Iran-won’t-allow-churches-so-why-should-declared-free-country-America-allow-mosques, completely ignoring the fact that there are plenty of churches in Iran while you did. Oh, and you also missed the entire point of this article.
You fail.
Marty, you ever hear about the 1st Amendment? Freedom of Religion.
As for the fact that no churches are built in Saudi Arabia, you want to follow their example and not allow mosques in the USA?
What kind of an argument is that?
2 wrongs do not make a right.
This is America, the land of freedom, remember that please.
Why should Saudi Arabia allow churches when there are no native Christians in the country? And why should New York stop the construction of Park51, a community centre (not a “mosque”) for Muslims, when there are literally thousands of Muslims in the city?
Salam,
Why must we constantly make David Duke out to be some kind of sinister character when he has never said word one against Islam? As a matter of fact he’s done just the opposite and tried to make White Americans see that Islam is not the real enemy of Jesus. Spencer and Geller are nothing but stooges of a certain little political entity in the Middle East that lies between Egypt and Jordan. That much is clear.
you forgot to end your rant with 88, or 18 or 14, better yet, why not just end your rant with Seig Heil or White power…..
I can’t, I’m black
“Christianist bigot”
I don’t think he’s even that.
I seem to recall reading in his (now edited) Wiki entry how he had a degree on Catholic studies or something like that, right? Not sure how lucrative is that field, but I doubt he would make hundreds of thousands of dollars working in it. But Islam-bashing? Oh, let the greens roll! And since Islam-bashing is not, you know, an academic discipline, he can instantly be recognized as an “authority” by those who think like him.
I don’t think he’s crazy (like Geller) or bitter and evil (like Schlussel) he just likes the money.
@Marty..For this reason we dont call Iran or saudi a proper islamic state..during the times of prophet muhammed and the caliphs there was religious freedom …in fact there is an instance where even prophet muhammed paid for a church restoration ..if you read Prophet’s muhammed’s letter to the Monks of St. Catherine Monastery and to The Assyrian Christians ,you will know how tolerant the prophet was with christians …And by the way isn’t it unamerican to defy the american constitution which grants religious freedom to all ??The saudi and iran government who claim their constitution is based on quran have missed a very important point when they don’t allow churches to be build there…BTW why do you want america to copy saudi and iran?
Thank you, well said.
The FBI is not taking too long to “realize” Spencer’s a racist. The FBI has its own long history of racism. J. Edgar Hoover was a foaming bigot, and he shaped that institution through and through.
Hoover looked good in a dress though.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4638275/
The aticle above is from Politico, here is the link
Latest mosque issue: The money trail
By: Kenneth P. Vogel and Giovanni Russonello
http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=D979BED4-18FE-70B2-A8314DD53412ADF8
The Park51 money trail – Laura Rozen: The Park51 money trailSeptember 04, 2010
http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=D979BED4-18FE-70B2-A8314DD53412ADF8
Laura Rozen also at Politico, has this dynamite material with links to follow, seems like Spencer’s sugar daddy has been exposed, its a guy called Chernick,
http://www.politico.com/blogs/laurarozen/0910/The_Park51_money_trail.html?showall
and Richard Silversteins excellent follow up,
Chernick Funds Horowitz-Spencer Attacks on Park51 Mosque
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2010/09/06/chernick-funds-horowitz-spencer-attacks-on-park51-mosque/