I want to thank Tariq Mohideen, with his Oct. 16 column "Mad as hell," for having the incredible courage to share an absolutely essential message with the Duke community: a plea for greater public tolerance and moderation in Islam.
When I wrote a Chronicle column, "Where are the moderate Muslims?" expressing a nearly identical viewpoint on Aug. 30, 2006, I was denounced, though not in so many words, as a racist. The Chronicle's editorial page editor, claiming that world politics was out of scope as a Duke columnist, nearly refused to print my column. This person yelled at me over the phone, sent me hostile e-mails and tagged my article with a semi-jingoistic "United We Stand" label I did not approve of.
Prof. Bruce Lawrence, director of the Islamic Studies Center, attempted to dismiss my position as a "simplistic, binary worldview." Prof. Omid Safi, an associate professor of Islamic studies at UNC-Chapel Hill, accused me of recycling "clichés and myths about the Muslim responses to the atrocities of 9/11."
To this day, it appears that certain former Duke professors of mine refuse to speak to me or help me professionally because of my political beliefs. The fallout has been deeply hurtful and personally painful to me.
Those who believe that academic freedom is nothing more than a David Horowitz sideshow must realize that this is false. At Duke and elsewhere, it is a daily struggle for people with unfashionable political viewpoints to express them.
Regardless of one's view on Mohideen's argument-though I cannot see how anyone could disagree with him-I hope that all in the Duke community will recognize his courage in publishing his views in print.
Andrew Gerst
Trinity '06
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