Paul Gottfried at Frontpagemag.com counters "Raymond Ibrahim's bizarre version of the blame game." Gottfried writes:

In one of the stranger manifestations of misguided Catholic piety or repugnance for the Protestant Reformation, being exhibited on the occasion of its 500^th anniversary, Raymond Ibrahim reveals a bizarre version of the blame game. In "The Pro-Islamic West: Born 500 Years Ago," he places the blame for Muslim Turkish expansion across Eastern and Central Europe in the sixteenth century at the doorstep of Martin Luther. If this wayward monk had not nailed his ninety-five theses to the door of the Wittenberg cathedral on October 31, 1517, and had not launched a rebellion against the Roman Church, the Muslim danger supposedly could have been contained. Not only did Luther and his followers weaken the unity of the Christian West, but also gave support to the Muslim penetration of Europe. While the Turkish army moved from Hungary westward toward Vienna, Luther was urging "passivity" before the hostile invaders and, according to Ibrahim, implicitly and explicitly aiding the Turks by weakening the resolve of Christian Europe. Indeed, had this Protestant pestilence not erupted, European Catholics could have mounted a new crusade and thrown back the Turks before they laid siege to Vienna in 1529.

"There are so many holes in this anti-Protestant brief that one hardly knows where to begin one's criticism," Gottfried states.

"Although Luther called for 'prayer and repentance' before the onslaught of the 'Devil’s army,' which is the way he referred to the Turkish forces advancing across Europe, he nonetheless urged Protestant princes to rush to the relief of Vienna, when it was under siege," Gottfried continues.

Luther "did not urge 'passivity' in the face of this civilizational crisis," Gottfried asserts, "Indeed, Luther was willing to join forces with Catholic princes, even though they were killing and expelling his followers, in order to combat the 'Devil’s army'."

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