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What They Say About Robert Spencer:
"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)
______________________ "[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)
______________________ “[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)
______________________ “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)
______________________ “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)
______________________ “Robert Spencer is an extremist, right-wing anti-Muslim rabble rouser.”
- Robert Dreyfuss (Nation Magazine Editor, Contributor to Rolling Stone and Mother Jones)
______________________ “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
______________________ “There is no doubt The Little King [Robert Spencer] ‘plagiarized,’ and therefore is a ‘plagiarist’.”
- Andrew Bostom (Close friend, ally and blog collaborator)
______________________ “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)
______________________ “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)
______________________ “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)
______________________ “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)
______________________ “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)
______________________ “Spencer thinks, ‘Islamist fundamentalist drive European politics’.”
“Spencer and Bat Ye’or “lack academic seriousness.”
- Ivan Jablonka (Scholar)
______________________ “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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Tag Archives: Bible
Allah as the Best of Deceivers?
I recently published a two-part article (see here and here) comparing the God of the Bible with the God of the Quran, showing that Yahweh of the Bible seems more violent and warlike than Allah of the Quran. Continue reading
The Bible’s Yahweh, a War-God?: Called “Lord of Armies” Over 280 Times in the Bible and “Lord of Peace” Just Once (II)
Please read The Bible’s Yahweh, a War-God?: Called “Lord of Armies” Over 280 Times in the Bible and “Lord of Peace” Just Once (I) first. Continue reading
The Bible’s Yahweh, a War-God?: Called “Lord of Armies” Over 280 Times in the Bible and “Lord of Peace” Just Once (I)
This article is the conclusion to part 9 of LoonWatch’s Understanding Jihad Series. Please read my “disclaimer”, which explains my intentions behind writing this article: The Understanding Jihad Series: Is Islam More Likely Than Other Religions to Encourage Violence? Continue reading
My God is Better Than Yours (I): Christians Calling Muslims “Mohammedans” a Case of Pot Calling Kettle Black
Further, they argue that the holy book of Islam is uniquely warlike as compared to scriptures of other faiths, especially the Bible; Spencer argues this in chapter two of his book. Continue reading
The “But That’s Just the Old Testament!” Cop-Out (II): How the Christian Right Interprets the Bible
The “But That’s Just the Old Testament!” Cop-Out (II): How the Christian Right Interprets the Bible Refer to page I of this article. Any and all violence in the Quran “counts”. Nothing violent in the Bible ever “counts”. This is the … finish reading The “But That’s Just the Old Testament!” Cop-Out (II): How the Christian Right Interprets the Bible
The “But That’s Just the Old Testament!” Cop-Out
This article is part 8 of LoonWatch’s Understanding Jihad Series. Please read my “disclaimer”, which explains my intentions behind writing this article: The Understanding Jihad Series: Is Islam More Likely Than Other Religions to Encourage Violence? We showcased violence in the Hebrew Bible … finish reading The “But That’s Just the Old Testament!” Cop-Out
Majority of Americans Believe the Bible is Literally True and the Word of God
This article is part 7 of LoonWatch’s Understanding Jihad Series. Please read my “disclaimer”, which explains my intentions behind writing this article: The Understanding Jihad Series: Is Islam More Likely Than Other Religions to Encourage Violence? Robert Spencer and other anti-Muslim bigots fear-monger … finish reading Majority of Americans Believe the Bible is Literally True and the Word of God
