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Turkish Cultural Center: Houston March 2, 2007.

Article Excerpt
Where are the moderate Muslims?

The short answer to that frequently asked question is, "Look around you." Of the many Muslims with whom I've become friends over the years, some are pious and scrupulously observant. Some are secular, having come to this country to find freedom from religious oppression. Some, no doubt, oppose U.S. policy regarding their various homelands. But none have shown the slightest sign of hostility to me, to America as a people, or to "freedom."

I recently attended the Friday prayer service, Islam's most important weekly ritual, with several of these friends at a two-story office building that houses Houston's Turkish Cultural Center and two Turkish American organizations, the Raindrop Foundation and the Institute of Interfaith Dialog (IID). Both organizations have been inspired and heavily influenced by Fethullah Gulen, a moderate social thinker and prolific writer who regards religion as primarily a private matter, rejects the idea that Islamic law (sharia) should be the basis for a modern state, and contends that believers in other religions--or in none--should not face discrimination in Muslim-dominated societies. Perhaps most notably, his followers have established hundreds of modern, science-oriented schools...

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