Islamic Radicals or Radical Islam?
A lot has happened in the last few months, and even now I don’t find myself particularly motivated to write on most of the events. Instead, I like to see patterns and comment on those large, inescapable patterns politicians and the public would rather ignore.
Islamic radicals have been a “pattern” since the start of the religion. I don’t mean that every Islamic individual or even Islamic nation has been a problem, but I do mean that Islam seems to have a fair number of radical believers unwilling to enter the modern world.
I’m tired of the excuse that Christianity was “just as bad” in some way. I’m not a Christian, and I’m not about to defend any religion or Colonialism, but I also don’t think we should be comparing a current problem to the sins of humanity over the last six thousand or more years. Yes, the Crusades were terrible — but the Muslim nations won! Yes, the Ottoman Empire fell and European powers sliced up the Middle East, but Arab leaders sided with Hitler; not exactly a winning position morally or historically.
When is the last time the majority of Europeans went to church? Clearly, modernity has trumped religious superstition in Europe. Maybe the only good thing to come out of WWII was a loss of faith. Enough people died because of religion that most Europeans have no stomach for such nonsense.
It is time for Muslims to stop caring what the Pope says. Who listens to the Pope? I can't even name a Catholic I know who listens to the Pope on major issues, ranging from birth control to gay marriage. The Pope matters more to Islamic Radicals than Western Catholics.
Cartoons? Operas? Stupid skits on Comedy Central? Deal with it. Christians, Jews, and Hindus don’t go about the world blowing things up over films or books. Well, some probably wish they could, but most are happy enough to just change the channel, not see a film, or ignore a book. It’s not like people read that much, anyway.
Islamic radicals have been a “pattern” since the start of the religion. I don’t mean that every Islamic individual or even Islamic nation has been a problem, but I do mean that Islam seems to have a fair number of radical believers unwilling to enter the modern world.
I’m tired of the excuse that Christianity was “just as bad” in some way. I’m not a Christian, and I’m not about to defend any religion or Colonialism, but I also don’t think we should be comparing a current problem to the sins of humanity over the last six thousand or more years. Yes, the Crusades were terrible — but the Muslim nations won! Yes, the Ottoman Empire fell and European powers sliced up the Middle East, but Arab leaders sided with Hitler; not exactly a winning position morally or historically.
When is the last time the majority of Europeans went to church? Clearly, modernity has trumped religious superstition in Europe. Maybe the only good thing to come out of WWII was a loss of faith. Enough people died because of religion that most Europeans have no stomach for such nonsense.
It is time for Muslims to stop caring what the Pope says. Who listens to the Pope? I can't even name a Catholic I know who listens to the Pope on major issues, ranging from birth control to gay marriage. The Pope matters more to Islamic Radicals than Western Catholics.
Cartoons? Operas? Stupid skits on Comedy Central? Deal with it. Christians, Jews, and Hindus don’t go about the world blowing things up over films or books. Well, some probably wish they could, but most are happy enough to just change the channel, not see a film, or ignore a book. It’s not like people read that much, anyway.
Comments
Post a Comment