Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Islam's Problem

Islamic nations in the Middle East find themselves in continual conflict with their non-Muslim neighbors: Jewish Israel, Hindu India, and Christian Europe. These other countries do not find themselves involved with the same level of conflict with each other, but they are constantly at odds with Muslims - even to the point of military actions. Is this simply a coincidence?



No, it is not. Muslims today in the Middle East suffer from history - or more accurately, the memories of their own history. At one time, Muslim nations were the place to find some of the most advanced cultural and scientific developments in the entire world. Modern mathematics, geometry and engineering owes much to the Muslim culture of the 7th through the 10th Centuries, AD.  At one time, Muslim nations were also the place to find some of the most extensive religious tolerance which existed.



Today, however, matters stand quite differently. Muslim nations produce little, if any, scientific advances. They do not export cultural products like literature and music which appeal to the rest of the world in the same way that other nations do. They are also not a place to find a great deal of religious tolerance.



Understanding what changed, what went wrong, and why are keys to understanding why the current problems exist. Muslims in the Middle East experience their history as a current reality - the fact that something happened hundreds of years ago does not lessen its immediate impact and relevancy to them. Their religion teaches them that they are recipients of the final and most perfect revelation of God. Their history teaches them that they were once able to out-fight and out-produce everyone they encountered.



The fact that they are not now "on top" causes no end of discord and anger. The practical result in the modern era is jihad. This jihad is partially aimed inward, as people seek to "purify" their fellow believers' religious doctrines in the expectation that their problems are partially a result of having strayed from the "True Path" set down by God. This jihad is also aimed outward, a violent reaction against the perceived enemies of Islam who were responsible for colonialism and who are currently responsible for the cultural and political "attacks" on the Islamic way of life.



In short, while Islamic peoples were culturally and economically equal or superior to much of the rest of the world, they perceived things as being "in order".  They could be patient and wait for the rest of the world to convert to Islam, which they believe is an inevitability.  But now that Islam is perceived as a "backwards" religion, and Muslim nations are some of the poorest and culturally repressed nations in the world, leaders of the religion must, they believe, resort to whatever means necessary to put Islam back on top.  Usually "whatever means necessary" means violence.

The idea perpetuated by the liberal MainStreamMedia, and by even many conservatives in power, is that Islam is inherently a religion of peace.  It is not.  Islam is a religion that sees itself eventually wiping out all other religions, philosophies and belief systems.  Some adherents within the religion believe that can be done by peaceful conversions.  Other, many others, either do not agree, or are simply not patient enough to allow that to happen.

For more information, I highly recommend visiting the website TheRelgionofPeace.com.  (There is a link just to the right on my blog).  

It is incumbent upon all of us to learn as much as we can about the people that threaten our way of life.  As much as our leaders would like to deny it, the Islamic terrorists have succeeded in destroying the world's economy over the past 8 years, with the help of the liberals in Congress and around the world, and even with the help of George W Bush at times.  (I have a great deal of respect for our current president, but I do think he made some mistakes which has cost us economically.) 

Radical Islam is not going to be defeated.  They can only be contained.  You can't permanently defeat an enemy that thinks he will be rewarded for dying for his cause, and who believes that God is on his side.  The war on terror is a war we'll be fighting for a very, very long time.

1 comments:

Anonymous,  January 6, 2009 at 12:44 PM  

Sad but oh so true.

About This Blog

This blog is about my opinions and world view.  I am a conservative, evangelical Christian.  Generally speaking, if you post a comment, I'll allow you to express your view.  However, if you say something hateful, untruthful, or just generally something I don't like, I may remove it.

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