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In order to be "Morally supeior," you fist have to have morals!Reader comment on item: Do Radical Islamists Run the Middle East? Submitted by Dr RJP (United States), Sep 17, 2006 at 11:28 Muslims constantly point at the fringe problems within Western democracy such as drug use, pornography, etc. and argue that Islam is " morally superior" because followers do not exhibit any of that bad behavior -- unless, of course, that bad behavior is claimed to serve Islam in some way. The 9/11 hijackers engaged in a lot of bad behavior before murdering 3,000 Americans (like visiting strip clubs and getting drunk) , but they did so only to "blend in" with their enemy. There, my friends, is the Catch-22 of Islam: anything done to advance the "cause" of Islam cannot be considered "bad." My counterargument to this morally-superior, mumbo-jumbo is that one cannot demonstrate that he knows the difference between Good and Evil if he is not given any choice in the matter. Sha'ria law forces its believers (and non-believers) to submit to its will -- right or wrong -- and does not tolerate any questioning or criticism of it under penalty of death. It is morality at the point of a sword. Living in constant fear for one's life is a perversion of the word, "freedom," and the reason why radical Islamists will never understand what "freedom" in the Western sense is supposed to mean. Nobody is permitted to think for themselves, or to choose for themselves, and if ever one wanted to illustrate a fundamental difference between the God of the Jews and Christians and the god of Islam, it is this very point. Under Sha'ria law, "free will" is an oxymoron. The people who go marching into the street to call for the deaths of those who "insult Islam" are basically automatons, and any resemblance to those made in the image of God are purely circumstantial. To put it another way, when one reads in the Torah, "You shall love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy might," you will not see an "Or else!" following it. A major theme running throughout the Jewish and Christian scriptures is moral evolution. The Book of Genesis is a story of how Mankind came to recognize, control, and overcome its "evil intentions." Being able to do so would have been impossible without giving individuals not only the capability to distinguish between one's good side and one's evil side, but also opportunities in which to demonstrate these capabilites. There's very litle opportunity to learn from one's mistakes when even seemingly minor ones have fatal consequences. In order for one religion to demonstrate "moral superiority" over another, it first has to have a real set of morals of its own. 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". << Previous Comment Next Comment >> Reader comments (43) on this item
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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.) |