Blackspeare - "A Force"

Submitted by Pat (United States), Mar 25, 2006 at 09:40

"they're a force to be reckoned with."

Since when have people had to "reckon" with a religion?

"Islam is only 1400 years old so it may take another few hundred years before their "reformation."

I thought Islam was superior to all other religions and it was the true one. Why should perfection need a reformation?

The question is how will the world react until that time? Will there be a hot clash of ideologies or will a garrison mentality take effect in various regions of the world.

You have it backwards. The question is how will Islam behave until that time? Will it live peacefully with others until they have seen the light or will it seek to destroy all other societies as its adherents are taught to do?
Christianity took a long time to mature, but it was primarily done in Europe. Around 1000 a.d. there was a split in Christianity and Eastern Catholics formed their own orthodox churches. What we know as Catholicism remained in Rome. Europe had religious wars, but they were conducted by secular governments. Priests didn't call for violence, unlike many Imams. Jesus certainly never called for his followers to kill anyone who strayed from the path. Before you and others point to the Crusades, please remember that they took place only after more than three hundred years of MUSLIM aggression. There's the religion of "peace" for you. Arabs had been destroying thousand-year old Christian settlements and even older Jewish communities throughout the Middle East. After three hundred years of killing, Christians finally took up arms. The Crusades were not to destroy Islam, but to defend its victims.
Why does Islam see self-defense by others as aggression, but unprovoked Islamic attacks as self-defense? You've got it backwards.

Christianity's growing pains came at a time when most of the world was inaccessible and people were illiterate. What excuse does Islam have, in this modern age? Its people travel the world and those who don't still have the internet and other modern telecommunications to spread their message around the globe.

You can't point to colonialism as an excuse because that ended decades ago. Just how long does it take Muslims to embrace freedom? Besides, not even the colonial powers sought to suppress Islam or bar it from being practiced. Islam, by comparison, bans the practice of all other religion in Saudi Arabia. Islam has been around for 1400 years. Are you still so insecure that you have to ban all other religions in order to prevent people from making their own choice? Is it really necessary to kill any Muslim who leaves the faith? Why don't you let Allah judge him and just live your own life and let the rest of us live ours? Islam is more a declaration of war, than a religion. Religions do not seek conquest. They seek to propagate themselves, but only Islam does so at the point of a sword.

---

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".