69 million page views

First salvo in the intellectual offensive against Islam should be separation of church and state.

Reader comment on item: Israeli Arabs: An Existential Danger to Israel

Submitted by Prashant (India), Dec 5, 2021 at 21:38

Dear Dr Pipes: I have long believed that the war against Islam must be intellectual and not physical. I also believe that Islam is standing on such a thin ice and its principles are so indefensible that it cannot resist a principled offensive against it for too long. I have used the word 'offensive' because I also believe that the non-Islamic world must not just defend itself against the Islamic lies, misrepresentations, and propaganda, it should attack Islam as a flawed philosophy at every point where, in our judgement, Islam is flawed.

Our first intellectual salvo against Islam should be easy to explain to everybody, it should be easy to understand for all (including the leftists). It should be easy to define. And it should be effective and widely applicable. What should be the first battle front opened against Islam? We cannot criticize Islam using democracy as the rallying cry because Muslim countries can falsely claim that they are democratic. Attacking Islamic spiritual and social doctrines as flawed is difficult because other religious doctrines are also not entirely flawless. Attacking Islam as a part of a general atheistic/secular attack on all religions (as done by Russel in 'Why I am not a Christian') is like throwing the babies away with the bath water. The sustained attack on Islam must be truthful, meritorious, and uniquely applicable to Islam.

I think the first major offensive against Islam should be against Islam's amalgamation of church and state. Non-separation of church and state is fundamental to Islam. Empirically, most Islamic societies in today's world do not hide their deep and intentional association with Islam. Historically, it is well known that countless numbers of Islamic marauders actively worked to spread Islam. Doctrinally, Quran routinely assumes that it is OK for Muslims to rule non-Muslims. Politically, Muslim politicians in non-Islamic societies never get tired of blowing the trumpet of Islam. Thus, when it comes to separation of church and state, Islam is on a very thin ice as it is practiced today and throughout the history of Islam.

Most non-Muslim nations of the world have distanced themselves from actively propagating any religion. People thrive and prosper in the USA and most of the European democracies irrespective of their religions. The recent waves of nationalism that we have seen in many countries of the world either have an economic component to them or are in reaction to Islamic immigration or result from petulant and aggressive demands by Muslim minorities.

Islamic political bodies, on the other hand, protect Islam vehemently when they control a landmass politically. And they work resolutely to create Islamic enclaves within the nations that they do not exclusively control. In our modern world there is no moral justification for laws against apostacy and/or blasphemy in the Islamic majority nation. If a naturally born citizen of these nations wants to reject Islam, they must have every right to continue to live in their land of birth as first-class citizens and not be murdered by the state or by Muslim people. By the same token, there is no room to create more nations on the planet that want to call themselves Islamic. Your wars for independence are illegitimate if you cannot create freedom for all.

The determination of what is wrong and must be opposed is easy. Islam is a religion. If you refer to Islam in your constitution repeatedly, you must edit. If your have the word 'Islamic' in your name, you are an inferior member of the community of nations. If your goal is to create a nation of this kind, you are stepping on other's toes and your effort is illegitimate.

The principle(s) outlined above are simple. Even the people with leftist leaning among us can understand that Islamic nations are in contradiction with what the left stands for. The left can be convinced not to partner with Islam. The academics and intellectuals among us need to be reminded that they should be the ones demanding the principles outlined here in the first place and if they oppose these principles, they will be on thinnest ground themselves. They should be told not to accept grants from Islamic interests to build their ornate buildings. No person in their right mind can simultaneously support freedom and be in bed with the Islamic nations. You will need to choose one or the other.

A lot about how Muslims' interact with non-Muslims and with each other is objectionable. A lot of what is objectionable is sustained because Muslims are allowed to create Islamic nations. The world can either take Islamic impudence lying down or oppose it intellectually. Here is my call and method to do the latter. Islam should not be granted additional time to change. Time to change for Islam is now.

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Submit a comment on this item

Reader comments (20) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Armageddon is near [198 words]SlayhyDec 15, 2022 22:57289757
1Politically, Jews are Masters at Shooting Themselves in the Foot - Except in Israel [641 words]RobertOct 14, 2022 12:02287446
Looking at Judaism from a Decidedly Differing Perspective - Issues Do Appear Self- Inflicted - But Ignoring the Law Always the Culprit [248 words]M ToveyOct 15, 2022 22:43287446
4Islam is a clear and present danger to every other thought [327 words]PrashantOct 10, 2022 17:10287305
1Religious Existential Danger to Israel Generally - Islamically Driven Invectives Specifically [256 words]M ToveyOct 10, 2022 18:49287305
3Hindu Civilization vs. Islam(ism) [162 words]RobertOct 13, 2022 11:45287305
Israeli Security-Victory-Peace Always Under Threat if Islamic/Mulsim Theosophical/Ideological Aspirations are Not Self Mitigated [164 words]M ToveyOct 10, 2022 10:43287292
1Expel disloyal Jews too, and enact an Israeli RICO [152 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
DaveOct 9, 2022 16:31287269
If Secular Government Does Not Recognize Religious Rights - Then What Does Defense Lose When Not Defending All [132 words]M ToveyOct 10, 2022 13:51287269
What makes the Druze and Bedouins exceptions [67 words]RaoOct 13, 2022 04:13287269
Arabian Identity Crises - Who are the True Sons of Ishmael that Share Abraham's Legacy [118 words]M ToveyOct 13, 2022 13:36287269
1A country is not a roach motel [198 words]DaveOct 13, 2022 13:46287269
Loyalty to American Constitutional Values Not the Reason for the Immigration Invasion - Immigrants Seeking Freedom Seeded with Enemies Foreign [290 words]M ToveyOct 14, 2022 12:44287269
3First salvo in the intellectual offensive against Islam should be separation of church and state. [796 words]PrashantDec 5, 2021 21:38277095
Separation of Church and State is American; Is Foreign to and Not Islamic [372 words]M ToveyDec 7, 2021 14:56277095
2Can we generalize your statement? [76 words]PrashantDec 5, 2021 11:41277089
Why Appropriations of Israeli Culture Are Unrelenting [152 words]M ToveyDec 6, 2021 00:28277089
3The price to pay for Judenrien [105 words]David W. LincolnJun 1, 2007 10:1395640
The future vision of Palestinians in Israel [24 words]steven LJun 1, 2007 10:1295639
1Contraindications That Israel Will (Never) Ever Be Left Alone - Arab Population Infusions Notwithstanding [285 words]M ToveyOct 27, 2021 11:0295639

Follow Daniel Pipes

Facebook   Twitter   RSS   Join Mailing List

All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2024 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes

Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum.Daniel J. Pipes

(The MEF is a publicly supported, nonprofit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Tax-ID 23-774-9796, approved Apr. 27, 1998.

For more information, view our IRS letter of determination.)