Religious adaptation does not always occur

Submitted by Wayne Van Norman (United States), Aug 14, 2002 at 16:30

History is littered with failed religions. Your contention that Islam must adapt implicitly assumes the choice between adaptation and death will be the former.

There is no reason to believe that the completely encompassing theology of Islam can be ammended without destroying its essence. This religion admits no exception to its jurisdiction. All facets of life are regulated by its dictates by virtue of its intrinsic holistic view. There can be no division between "Caesar and God" within Islam because all is subject to the will of Allah.

The rare existance of democratic governments in Islamic cultures merely shows how pragmatic people can ignore feudal theology embedded within their religion. The scarcity of these governmental experiments underlines the emotional cost of reconciling submission to god with self determination. Where do they draw the line?

A more probable result will be the abandonment of Islam. Why try to reinvent Islam when there are several ready alternatives that don't suffer from its totalitarianism?

Prior greatness doesn't exempt religions from extinction. The Maya and Egyptians both built great pyramids but no one worships either's gods today.

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