three comments

Submitted by ron thompson (United States), Mar 15, 2006 at 10:20

First, to have someone characterized as "totally a loner, an introvert, and into himself",
and then as "amiable" and "normal" does not quite track.

Second, and a much different point, in considering Communism and Islam as all-consuming
belief systems, it is very important that Communism was a Totalitarianism 'from above',
whereas Islam is a Totalitarianism from below.

It needs a lot of thought and study, and political and psychological analysis, as to why these two totalitarian belief systems evolved to become infectious mass ideologies by these two different routes.

But the outcome has been that while one depended on centralized states and vast military power to be a danger to world peace and freedom, the other has become, albeit somewhat less of a danger, still a menace to world peace and freedom from lesser but far more widespread centers of danger.

Thus, I think your strong piece is also a powerful counterargument to one of your perennial arguments - that "moderate" Islam is the solution. The very thoughts that are right about this piece seem to me powerful arguments for considering that there are ideas and beliefs at the core of Islam, which are not "distortions" thereof, nor "deviations" therefrom, but are in fact the direct and logical cause of such phenomena as Sudden Jihad Syndrome.

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