Diagnosis Correct, Treatment Plan Questionable

Submitted by Yonason (United States), Jul 28, 2004 at 00:08

B"H


And just how, pray tell, will we get Muslims to realize they are either, at best misinterpreting their own scriptures, or at worst being utterly misguided by a false ideology? If dumping or seriously modifying their religion is what would get them to enter the 21st century, I just don't see it happening.

The West was able to emerge from the dark ages, led by men of common sense unfettered by what little fundamental "dogma" of practical significance was absolutely required of them. As the potential returns of intellectual, social and economic progress became apparent, progress became indispensable and inevitable.

Islam, by contrast, is so encumbered by essential practical restrictions, that intellectual, social and economic progress are constrained almost out of existence. Every innovation is an existential threat to be feared, shunned and suppressed. This is one of the very reasons for their irrational hatred of us.

Although the changes recommended in the article, and the methods of encouraging them may seem plausible enough to us in the West, they are sure to be viewed as an escalation in religious interference by Muslims. What is beneficial to the West and acceptable alongside Western moral values, is undesirable to Muslims because it undermines the stringency that's integral to their very identity. Our good is their evil. What we see as a prescription for their improvement, will go down like poison to them.

If we try to implement the prescription outlined above, don't be surprised of the paranoid delusional patient goes from occasional outbursts of violence to becoming a full blown unremitting homicidal maniac.

Still, I think we have come a long way, just to be able to say what the problem is, even if we don't have a realistic plan to deal with it yet.

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