The strength of Radical Islam

Submitted by Germain Lucas (Canada), Jan 28, 2005 at 13:39

Though I do not share Mr.Auster's view that the Islamic world is a "parasite civilization", I must say that I share his pessimism about the future of Moderate Islam. Why would the World Muslims follow the moderate way while the Radicals are actually WINNING?

They are winning because the demography advantages them. Whether it is in Orient or Occident, the conservative islamic families are the biggest, not the moderate ones. It gives them advantages in at least two ways:

First, having more sons, conservative islamic parents have less hesitation to send them to war...while Occidental parents having typicaly fewer children, they are less inclined to send them to the front. In addition, we all know how much Radical Islam advocates martyrdom...

Second, in Occident, but specialy in Europe, the islamic communities are growing in such importance that they will have the majority in many European countries at the end of this century. Once again, the demographic increase of islamic population in Europe is due to the conservatives ones not the "occidentalised" ones. Being conscious of their poilitical powers they will be more and more in a position to ask for special treatment (shariah becoming a parallel law).

Moreover, in some part of Europe, France in particular, some districts are so much controlled by islamic radicals that Christian priests or preachers (i.e. evangelists) receive death threats! And the poilice do not dare to do anything, having lost effective control over those districts.

With those facts in mind, I cannot share the optimist view that Europe will change Islam as much as Islam will change Europe!

Those are the demographic arguments. Additionally, there is a strategic one to argue that the future is bright for Islamists: they now have a country in which to take refuge: Pakistan. This islamic country has the Atomic bomb, so no nations would dare (not even the U.S.) to invade it. Osama Bin Laden is still hiding in this country by the way, and I am sure the Musharraf government is not willing to catch him soon!

Finally, I do not believe that Moderate Muslims would win because the prophet Mohammed himself has more in common with Genghis Khan than with Jesus, Buddha or even Moses (I have the massacre and enslavement of the population of Medina in mind).

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