Thanks for the map

Submitted by Prashant (United States), Jun 19, 2021 at 01:27

Dear Dr Pipes, Thanks for showing the map of Israel with your above article. The map is not new. I have seen similar maps tens of times or more but it was enlightenng to see it again. Meditarrian climate, pristine beaches, thousands of years old cultures; there is so much to see. But it is also interesting to see that just a few tens of miles separate Israel from its destructive neighbors.

There is Israel: so many start ups, so much democracy, technology, progress, spirituality, many Nobel prizes. And, that too in spite of so much worldwide opposition and condemnation.

And, just a few tens of miles to the north or the south or the east, there are Islamic majority Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan. These countries are epitomes of mayhem, murders, violence and destruction. No one wants to immigrate to these countries. Not even Muslims.

What a disaster. Muslims need to be woken up. What has Islam given to them? I know their grandmothers told them repeatedly that Islam was the best religion. But the data proves otherwise. Conversion is a fair game in the modern world. I invite Muslim to consider other options. For pure monotheism, they can consider Judaims. For a lot of monotheism with a healthy dose of idolatory/polytheism and a lot of love and forgiveness, they can consider Christianity. If they like some monotheism and a lot of polytheism mingled with a lot of thoughtful philosophy, they ought to give Hinduism a spin. And, if they would mess with none of the above, Buddism is a darn good option. For crying out loud, even communism is not too bad.
And, none of these options will force them onto a one way endless street. They ought to try any one of them. Or ideally, they should try some of each.

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