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interesting approach but...

Reader comment on item: [The RAND Corporation and] Fixing Islam

Submitted by the criterion (United States), Apr 12, 2004 at 19:07

you mention turkey as a muslim success story? how is that? turkey has been trying to gain respect and recognition from the EU for years now and what have they got? rejection every time. the point is that turkey has not achieved anything. true they are westernized and modern, but compared to europe they are still backward as heck and much poorer on a per capita basis.

there is an interesting thing to note however. when the turks truly practiced the tenets of islam they were a powerful force to reckon with. they gained respect as the islamic ottoman empire, not the secular ottoman empire. christian europe was no match for the ottomans. a few centuries later, after the renaissance, europe became secular and this is when they gained global dominance. the west had to get rid of christianity to advance, whereas the islamic world lost dominance as they became lax in their faith. muslim states must revert back to their relgious creed in order to get out of the rut in which they currently wallow. westernization is not a necessary prerequisite to modernity or advancement. it may work for the western christians and jews, but there is no evidence that it will work for others. whatever floats your boat. secularism is good for the west only and it is sought after in the east only to make the east dependent on the pimp-like west.
Submitting....

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Reader comments (52) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
5Islam is a socio/economic/political system [277 words]engrJan 25, 2011 03:14182028
5The Devilish Plans [240 words]Shahid Saeed KhanJul 16, 2007 03:53103774
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2To Radin [153 words]Shahid Saeed KhanAug 25, 2008 01:03103774
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Keeping Turkey out of the EU [85 words]JojoNov 28, 2006 08:5315861
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How to fix Islam [51 words]Ricky D. CalhounApr 14, 2004 16:1214702
Islam punishes Western stupidity for 14 centuries. Now is USA. [185 words]Stan SzczepkowskiApr 13, 2004 15:0814647
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Errors in Dan Pipe's article [532 words]silasApr 10, 2004 07:2214601
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Whose Islam? [209 words]Vijay DandapaniApr 6, 2004 11:4614498
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Religion building or demolition? [143 words]Rick FlandersApr 6, 2004 10:5814496
1What about Arab Nationalism? [160 words]Jonathan PfefferApr 6, 2004 10:0314495

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