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Surely some of this revisionism is motivated by a laudable desire to counter deeply rooted stereotypes that denigrate Islam in general and Arabs in particular. (Although today a majority of the world's Muslims are not Arabs, in the minds of many Americans the two are synonymous.) In the aftermath of September 11, that effort has taken on considerable urgency.

But the way to counter untruths and half-truths is not to substitute for them a new set of distortions. Just as certain apologists for Christianity bring discredit to the faith by refusing to acknowledge the stains in Christian history, so many would-be apologists for Islam undermine their own cause. We have to do better than that, even when the truth hurts.

John Wilson is editor of Books & Culture and editor-at-large for Christianity Today.

Copyright © 2001 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Visit Books & Culture online at BooksandCulture.com or subscribe here.

Books & Culture Corner appears Mondays at ChristianityToday.com. Earlier Books & Culture Corners include:

Christian Scholarship … For What? | Academic speakers affirm the value of beholding God's creation. (Oct. 1, 2001)

Myths of the Taliban | Misinformation and disinformation abounds. What do we know? (Sept. 24, 2001)

The Imagination of Disaster | "We thought we were invulnerable." Really? (Sept. 17, 2001)

More Sex, Fewer Children | Mixed messages on condoms, contraception, and fertility. (Sept. 10, 2001)

The Strange Case of Napoleon Beazley | The latest poster boy for death row chic. (Aug. 27, 2001)

Apocalyptic City | The dream and the nightmare of megalopolis (Aug. 20, 2001)

Megalopolis Forty Years On | The ambiguous face of the city. (Aug. 13, 2001)

The Future Is Now | You want the news? Read science fiction. (Aug. 6, 2001)

Memorable Memoirs | Whether telling us about the Spirit in the South or the crumbling atheism of a Chinese immigrant, these books provide windos into others' lives. (July 30, 2001)

The Distorted Story of Memoir Inc. | There are many good autobiographies out there, but do those who write about them have to pretend they're the only books worth reading? (July 23, 2001)

Looking for the Soul of CBA | Nearly anything that can be said about Christian publishing is true to some extent, thanks to the industry's ever-enlarging territory. (July 16, 2001)

Give Me Your Muslims, Your Hindus, Your Eastern Orthodox, Yearning to Breathe Free | Immigration's long-ignored effect on American religion is garnering much attention from scholars (July 9, 2001)

Shrekked | Why are readers responding passionately about a simple film review? (July 2, 2001)

Debutante Fiction | The New Yorker should have paid less attention to the novelty of its writers and more attention to their writing. (June 18, 2001)

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October (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45