If Muslims must adopt Christian standards, then perhaps it should also work the other way around.

Submitted by Michael S. (United States), Oct 31, 2014 at 07:13

Shalom Prashant.

You addressed Dr. Pipes with your question; but it does involve me, since I posted the item you are referring to.

Frankly, I'm not concerned with what Christians believe -- nor what Jews believe, for that matter; neither do I consider "modern" to somehow have something to do with "good".

I am concerned with what the Bible says, and yes, the Bible speaks not a few times but often about slavery, in a very positive tone. Non-Israelites, of course, could be enslaved for unlimited periods. Captives in war were generally not so fortunate: The Israelites were commanded to kill the men and take wives of the women. Among Israelites themselves, slavery was an exceedingly humane way of dealing with indebtedness -- in which the debtor was to be treated like a member of the lender's family, a far cry from the loan shark mentality of banks today.

Yes, it is hypocritical to try to hold Muslims to standards that Christians didn't even practice until fewer than 200 years ago, especially since those standards are not even in the Bible. If you think otherwise, then you must also believe that it's proper for the Muslims to expect us to adopt THEIR standards -- something I doubt that you espouse.

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