Wolfe came out swinging. But instead of questioning my thesis—which he left intact—Wolfe proceeded to repeat the bizarre allegations of his original review, and to add new ones. He accused me of seeking to form alliances with Muslims who deny the holocaust. He said I supported introducing sharia law into the United States, in which people would be flogged for premarital sex and adultery. He made other allegations.
So in my rebuttal I listed Wolfe’s accusations (I support Bin Laden, I want to make pacts with holocaust deniers, I favor penal laws against adultery) and I challenged Wolfe to substantiate them. He couldn’t give a single citation to back up any of his charges. He didn’t even attempt to provide textual evidence or support them, relying entirely on the claim that if what he said wasn’t true, the New York Times would not have printed it!
During my cross-examination I decided to test Wolfe’s knowledge of Islam. I asked him what percentage of Muslims in the world live in a democracy. Long silence. He said he couldn’t give a precise number. I asked him to give an approximate number. He just stood there. Finally I said, “You have no idea, have you?” He didn’t. Then I asked him which is the most populous Muslim country. He was blank on this too. Finally he guessed, “India?” I informed him that India is not a Muslim country, it is a predominantly Hindu country, but in any case, it does not have the largest Muslim population. The correct answer is Indonesia, which also happens to be a democracy. Among democracies, I asked, which is the second largest Muslim country. Once again Wolfe guessed, “India?” The correct answer is Bangladesh.
So here is a guy who heads a center on religion at Boston College, and it turns out he doesn’t know the first thing about Islam. Yet incredibly the New York Times invited Wolfe to review my book. The Enemy at Home is based on a study of how America and the West are viewed through the prism of Islamic history and by the leading thinkers of contemporary Islam. Criticism is welcome, but a minimal familiarity with Islam might be helpful here.
I wish that the editors of the New York Times Book Review were present at the debate because they would have been thoroughly embarrassed. Looking into the audience I could see the faces of the students, including some of Wolfe’s own students. Some had their mouths open. Others looked like they had been slapped. Still others—especially the conservatives—were grinning and chuckling. Rarely do professors who tyrannize over their students in class get exposed in front of their students as buffoons.
Boston College taped the event, and they are going to post it online. This way viewers across the country will have a chance to see for themselves how I de-fanged Alan Wolfe. I’ll be linking to the event on my daily blog which you can access through my website. Get popcorn.