A good column by Harry Glazer asks the question that even the mainstream media can no longer avoid: Is Islam really nonviolent?

News reports have indicated that Wahhabi adherents have assumed control of significant mosques in Chicago (Chicago Tribune, Feb. 8), Boston (Boston Herald, March 7), and Morgantown, West Virginia (New York Times, op-ed essay, May 6). In each instance, the mosque became a center to preach hatred against the enemies of Islam, to forcefully advocate for strict observance of Islamic statues regarding dress and relationships between men and women, and to raise money for individuals accused of supporting or engaging in terrorism in Israel or America.

Evidence of such a perspective was in plain view at the graduation ceremony of the University of California in Irvine in June, when a group of Muslim student graduates wore green sashes imprinted with the word “Shahada.” Shahada is an Arabic word used in the Muslim world to identify martyrs who die in suicide attacks. (WorldNetDaily, June 17).

I am confident that there is substantial room, texturally, philosophically, and historically, for Islamic believers to authentically represent their faith as one that espouses peace and utterly rejects terrorism. But if many more Muslim-Americans do not speak up publicly and claim such an identity forcefully and without qualification, then I’d say that it’s doubtful at best for any newspaper or politician to make a serious claim about what Islam does or does not truly represent.