“My comrade-in-arms, my pal, my buddy.”
—
Oriana Fallaci
“Robert Spencer incarnates intellectual courage when, all over the world, governments, intellectuals, churches, universities and media crawl under a hegemonic Universal Caliphate’s New Order. His achievement in the battle for the survival of free speech and dignity of man will remain as a fundamental monument to the love of, and the self-sacrifice for, liberty.”
—
Bat Ye’or
“Robert Spencer is indefatigable. He is keeping up the good fight long after many have already given up. I do not know what we would do without him. I appreciate all the intelligence and courage it takes to keep going despite the appeasement of the West.”
—
Ibn Warraq
“America's most informed, fearless, and compelling voice on modern jihadism.”
—
Andrew C. McCarthy, Senior Fellow at National Review Institute
“Robert Spencer is the leading voice of scholarship and reason in a world gone mad. If the West is to be saved, we will owe Robert Spencer an incalculable debt.”
—
Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs
"The consummate Islam critic and expert." —
Bruce Bawer
“Over the years, we have become friends, and I have received his assistance on several pieces of legislation I proposed.”
—
Former Congressman Tom Tancredo
“Few people are capable of applying scholarship, analytical reasoning, and objectivity to their topic -- while simultaneously being readable and witty -- as can Robert Spencer.”
—
Raymond Ibrahim
“A national treasure...The acclaimed scholar of Islam.”
—
Frank Gaffney, Center for Security Policy
“I am indeed honored to call him my friend.”
—
Brad Thor, novelist
“A top American analyst of Islam....A serious scholar...I learn from him.”
—
Daniel Pipes
“A brilliant scholar and writer.”
—
Douglas Murray
"One of my best teachers."
—
Ashraf Ramelah, Voice of the Copts
“Thank God there’s at least one man with balls left in the West.”
—
Kathy Shaidle, Five Feet of Fury
“I read people like [Mark Steyn] and Bob Spencer and the rest of them, and I say, ‘Boortz, you’re pretending you’re an author. These people really are. They really write some entertaining, some standup stuff.’”
—
Neal Boortz
“Robert Spencer is the Stephen King of Jihad.”
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Chris Gaubatz, Muslim Mafia
“Armed with facts and fearlessness, Spencer stands up for Western civilization.”
—
Michelle Malkin
“Widely read in conservative foreign policy circles.”
—
New York Times
“Widely read in many quarters in Washington.”
—
Washington Post
“A canny operative who likely has the inside track on the State Department’s Middle East affairs desk should the tea party win the White House.”
—
New York Magazine
“A hero of the American right.”
—
Karen Armstrong
"The leading anti-Islamic intellectual in the United States....The go-to Islam expert for the right wing."
—
Salon Magazine
“Robert Spencer is an Edward Said turned upside down.”
—
Stephen Suleyman Schwartz
“One of the nation's most notorious Islamophobes.”
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Hamas-linked CAIR
"Geller and Spencer are probably the most important propagandizing Islamophobes in the world. These people's voices speak very loudly — not just here in the United States but overseas."
—
Heidi Beirach, Southern Poverty Law Center
“Satanic ignoramus.”
—
Khaleel Mohammed
“The Likud anti-Christ.”
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Dar al-Hayat newspaper (Saudi Arabia)
“Zionist Crusader, missionary of hate, counter-Islam consultant.”
—
Al-Qaeda’s Adam Gadahn, “Azzam the American”
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Robert notes: "In the course of our exchange Hooper kindly forwarded me CAIR's statement on apostasy, which appears to affirm the freedom of conscience."
Here is a recent posting of CAIR's public statement on apostasy, which looks to me the same as the one they were circulating a few years ago:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=118038079441
They provide partial quotes to some religiously tolerant-looking verses, including part of the famous 2:256. They do not acknowledge the various warnings, threats, and fire-and-brimstone punishments found in the textual context from which these partial quotes have been clipped. They make no attempt to explain, much less present, other verses which present a much harsher view of apostasy, including earthly punishments.
They use the classic apologetic line of conflating apostasy with treason, and fail to define treason or apostasy. They also fail to distinguish between public apostasy and private apostasy.
While elsewhere they claim that "freedom of expression" is one of their core principles, they do not provide any description of what they believe are appropriate criticisms of Islam. Given that in practice they consider Islam critics to be "Islamophobes" etc., and have never reported a single example of a non-Muslim's appropriate criticism of Islam, one has to wonder about their real views of public apostates. Public apostates of Islam are, at minimum, in effect claiming to the public that Islam is false. This proposition that Islam is false is, in CAIR's practice, treated as "hate" and "Islamophobia."
They do not specify how they would treat publicly-expressed criticisms and concerns about Islam if they had more power. They supported the suppression of the publication of the Muhammad cartoons. The Canadian branch of CAIR (and other mainstream Islamic organizations) supported the various Canadian Human Rights Tribunals' quasi-judicial prosecutions of Mark Steyn and Maclean's magazine over Steyn's speculations about Muslim demographics in Europe. CAIR's Canadian branch supported the attempt to introduce sharia into family law into Ontario and Quebec. In contrast, an organization known as the Muslim Canadian Congress (MCC) has publicly stated opposition to sharia, blasphemy laws, penalties for apostasy, and jihad. Why does CAIR seem to have such great difficulty making clear condemnations of these same items? These facts give us some idea of CAIR's real position on publicly-expressed apostasy.
CAIR publishes Guides for Journalists. I've read one of these pamphlets in a library, and in it they claim that "Islam means peace" (which is false) and they advise the media to only consult with Muslim, not non-Muslim, experts on Islam.