Decline of Christianity = Rise of Islam?

Submitted by David Fee (United States), Jun 10, 2005 at 05:11

I believe that your numbers are skewed as Ortiz as rightly pointed out, but it is clear that Christianity and the belief in secularism and religious tolerance may eventually make Europe fertile ground for Islam (radical or benign). Obviously, some European nations have cathedrals which are virtually museums (France, Germany, UK) but a few others (Italy, Spain?, Poland) still practice Christianity in my opinion.

It's no accident that terrorists from Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan came from lands where not a single Christian church stands today. Religious tolerance should be a two way street but it clearly is not the case.

Certain western intellectuals scorned Christianity (Marx et al) but something always manages to fill the void. Communism is discredited but a lot of people say "a pox on all religions". That's not going to happen judging by the dozen or so wars Muslim radicals are waging right now.

In the future, why wouldn't Europe use better technology to increase productivity to reduce the need for Muslim immigrants? Hopefully, there will modernization and reforms in the Islamic world but there is little evidence of economic growth outside of oil, no domestic push for democracy, and no historical parallel of a Reformation in the Muslim world detaching religion from the state. The best hope is that the Muslims themselves keep the best parts of Islam and speak out against the radicals in their religion. They need a Gandhi or Martin Luther King instead of Bin Laden as a hero.

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