Islamists do not understand this simple argument

Submitted by Prashant (United States), Sep 28, 2011 at 21:19

Dear Dr Pipes:

Debanjan Banerjee cited some alleged lies that United States of America was involved in and tried to equate those lies with those of Islamic nation's. This is not anything new. Islamists take the past violent and tyrannical actions of other nations and equate them to similar actions done by people in the name of Islam. It has been mentioned many times before but Islamists just do not get it. Yes, there is a lot of bad in the world. Rapes happen, murders are done, banks are robbed, buildings are burned and, yes, lies are spoken. All these things are bad but they become ugly when they are done in the name of a religion. Any religion. An American war is not as despicable as an Islamic war. An American lie is not as abhorrent as an Islamic lie. And that is why the violence, deception, lies, and murders that are happening around the world under the umbrella of Islam are utterly despicable and are not comparable to anything else.

If Islam establishes itself as an economic or political or social or military theory, half the problems will be solved. Because, then, Islamic methods will be as open to intellectual questioning as anything other doctrine. Banerjee should realize that religions are accorded a special status in civilized societies. They are not questioned and discussed as other socio-political systems are. The problem comes when a political philosohy hides under the umbrella of a religion as is happening in the case of modern day Islam.

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