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Islam in America or Islam versus America?

Islam in America or Islam versus America?

Last updated on: September 17, 2026 at 3:19 pm by Dan Peterson

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Islam in America or Islam versus America? 2026-09-17T15:19:16-06:00 Dan Peterson

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A Gutenberg Bible (Photo by Raul654, Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

From the barely-still-breathing Interpreter Foundation: “Reprint: the Bible Before and After: Interpretation and Translation in Antiquity and the Book of Moses,” written by Avram R. Shannon

Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article originally appeared in Tracing Ancient Threads in the Book of Moses — Inspired Origins, Temple Contexts, and Literary Qualities Volumes I and II, edited by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, David R. Seely, John W. Welch, and Scott Gordon. For more information, go to https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/ancient-threads-in-the-book-of-moses/.

“The Bible is not a monolithic book. This is not an especially profound or new observation, but it points to the fact that Bible readers have noted for generations the composite nature of the biblical text, both between and within books. Scholars have adduced sources and redactional layers in many of the biblical books, suggesting a large diversity in the production of the various books of the Bible. In the case of the first five books of Moses, often called the Pentateuch, biblical scholars have proposed what is commonly called the Documentary Hypothesis, which postulates four main sources for these books. Although this scholarship is no more monolithic than the Bible itself, the idea that the Pentateuch can be divided into roughly four sources is a general scholarly consensus.”

Also, have you watched “Feed Them, Don’t Fight Them? — Becoming Brigham, Episode 34″ yet? As you probably expect, it’s fueled by my typical uncontrollable rage and filled with my usual vitriol, hate, and lies. And a 24-second teaser has gone up online for next week’s installment of the Becoming Brigham series: TRAILER for Ep. 35—Why Not Sidney Rigdon? Mwahahahaha!

The spires of the Las Vegas Nevada Temple at nightfall (LDS.org). This was the first temple built in the state of Nevada. Two others have since been built, and a fourth is well underway in the Las Vegas metropolitan area.

I’m pleased at the news that recent legal challenges to the Church’s construction of its Lone Mountain Nevada Temple, the second temple for the Las Vegas area, have been tossed out by the state’s highest court: “Lone Mountain Nevada Temple: Nevada Supreme Court Dismisses Appeals”

The temple was made controversial by a fair amount of angry opposition and flat-out distortion. For an example: Very nearly two years ago, here in this space, I applied my calculator to “Flawed Reporting About The New Temple Proposed For Las Vegas” and discovered some quite remarkably misleading, irresponsible, and even inflammatory journalism.

In the background are, on the left, the fourteenth-century Madrasa and Mosque of Sultan Hasan and, on the right, the Mosque of al-Rifa‘i, which was completed in the early twentieth century. They are two of my favorite buildings in Cairo. The woman in blue is standing on Cairo’s Citadel, looking roughly westward toward the Nile, which is invisible in the haze and the distance.(Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph)

Certain critics of this blog and of my other writing occasionally advise me to abandon attempts to commend and defend “Mormonism” and to stick, instead, to writing about Islam and the Middle East, subjects on which I can at least pretend to some degree of credibility. Other critics sometimes counsel me to stop writing about Islam and the Middle East because, apparently, all that I accomplish when I discuss those subjects is to alienate and irritate people.

Based upon such counsel, a normal person would likely conclude that he should back away, at least a little bit, from publicly commenting upon controversial Islamic and Latter-day Saint subjects. The shady internet character whom, with clinical accuracy, I’ve dubbed my “Malevolent Stalker” has even generously offered, on at least two occasions of which I’m aware, to suspend his continual anonymous attacks on my character, personality, and intellectual integrity — attacks that he has maintained week in and week out, indeed pretty much daily, for very nearly a quarter of a century now — if only I would go publicly silent and invisible. It’s a magnanimous offer, but I think I’ll pass Regrettably, I’m plainly not a normal person.

A couple of weeks ago, one reader kindly suggested that, if I would just turn my time, abilities, and energy away from always trying to defend Islam and Muslims to, instead, advocating the claims of the Church and the Restoration, maybe I might be able to do some actual good. I thanked him for the suggestion, acknowledging that it had some genuine merit but pointing out that it’s awfully late in the game for someone of my advanced age to reorient myself, retool, and become . . . well, a Latter-day Saint apologist.

I’ve pretty well decided, at this point, that I’m going to continue to write about Islam and the Muslim world when and where I feel moved upon to do so.

Why? Because I have some training and background in the study of Islam. I’ve read and written and published and taught and lectured about Islam and the Muslim world for decades now. I’ve lived in the Middle East, in Israel and Egypt, for approximately five years, traveled extensively in Islamic countries, and interacted with Muslims on every inhabited continent. I think that I might have something worthwhile to say.

Moreover, when people assert grossly inaccurate and even harmful things about Muslims and Islam — as, in our current political climate, they often and, it seems, increasingly do — I feel a moral obligation to speak out.

The Islamic Center of Virginia (1241 Buford Road, Richmond VA) I’ve driven by this mosque numerous times while visiting family in the area.. (Image from the Islamic Center website)

So, having said that, please permit me to deal with just a couple of oft-repeated objections to what I’ve had to say — recently and over the years — about Islamic issues:

You claim that Muslims are all peace-loving and nonviolent, and that there is no threat from Islam!

I’ve never said anything remotely of the kind. There is no question that there are substantial elements within the contemporary Islamic world that commit violent acts and that threaten the people (including fellow Muslims) around them. They should be opposed, resisted, and fought.

You seem to be okay with the Muslim-Marxist alliance that seeks to overthrow our Constitution and our freedoms.

I don’t believe that any such alliance or conspiracy exists. Not, at least, on any significant scale. But I do oppose Marxism. I regret the recent electoral successes of the Democratic Socialists of America. If I lived in New York City, I would have voted against the mayoral candidacy of Zohran Mamdani. If I were a resident of Michigan, I would vote against Abdul El-Sayed for the Senate of the United States. If I were registered to vote in Minnesota’s fifth congressional district, I would definitely vote against Representative Ilhan Omar. Not because Mamdani and El-Sayed and Omar are Muslims, but because I’m a conservative. If I lived in Arizona’s fourth congressional district, I would be supporting the Republican nominee there — Dr. Zuhdi Jasser — whom I know.

And it seems that I would be voting alongside many American Muslims. 31% of Muslim voters supported Donald Trump in the ISPU American Muslim Poll 2025. Cooperative Election Study data estimated a 33% vote share for Trump (rising to 42% among weekly mosque attendees). According to Pew Research Center Data, 42% of Muslim adults identify with or lean toward the Republican Party. I would think that this can be explained, to a considerable degree, by social/cultural views such as a preference for stay-at-home mothering and a distinct lack of enthusiasm for publicly-expressed homosexuality. (By way of comparison, Pew Research Center surveys indicate that Jews are among the most consistently liberal and Democratic groups in the electorate of the United States. Seven out of ten Jewish adults identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party.)

I well remember being asked by a Pakistani imam who had come to UCLA for graduate study about who I would be voting for the following day. I steeled myself for his disapproval and then confessed that I would be casting my ballot for Ronald Reagan. He was delighted. “He is a strong man,” he told me. And I recall, and have told here, about my experience at the headquarters of the Islamic Society of North America back in 2012, just days before that year’s general election. Following the Friday noon prayer service, the imam who had led the prayer and delivered the khutba sermon confided in me that he intended to vote for Mitt Romney.

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