Serwer, again:
Rauf's statement about Iraq sanctions is not a religious statement. It is a political statement. Rauf could have said this while being an extremist, he could have said it while scarfing down a half smoke covered in chili and cheese and washing it down with a Red Stripe. If Douthat wants to read Rauf's books and have a theological argument about Islam, or argue with Rauf about his views of American foreign policy, that's fine. But what conservatives are doing at this point is not looking for evidence of religious extremism but policing Rauf's political views for things they find objectionable and then presenting them as evidence of religious extremism. .. These are two completely different things, but conservatives need to conflate them because "man with lefty views on American foreign policy tries to build community center in Lower Manhattan" isn't as objectionable as "Islamic extremist builds mosque at Ground Zero." Agreeing with the Republican platform shouldn't be a prerequisite for building an Islamic community center without the threat of widespread, organized political opposition. We don't hold any other kind of religious leaders to those kinds of standards.