word or sword or what

Submitted by myth (Germany), Nov 28, 2009 at 03:58

I am afraid that the intimidation the sword creates with subsequent effect on the word no longer spoken will prove an effective means. On the other hand I agree that looking at militant islam in particular the word appears to be very strong almost by itself. Given a 1400 year old book can move millions of people. Even more surprising when one considers that the majority of the muslims are not arabs and probably do not understand what is written in that very book. So what is the 3rd strong force here ? My feeling is that the mere existence of the book creates a sense of unity among millions of people and provides a solid foundation, attractive by being undisputable. Call it the strength of desire.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".