I’ve written much on Islam over the past years, and thought to summarize it.
The Real History of the Crusades
For starters, the Crusades to the East were in every way defensive wars. They were a direct response to Muslim aggression – an attempt to turn back or defend against Muslim conquests of Christian lands.
With enormous energy, the warriors of Islam struck out against the Christians shortly after Mohammed’s death.
Can Islam Live in Peace With Other Religions?
It’s history and current events flatly say “no.”
Islam’s religious intolerance starts from it’s inception, and continues to this day, not because of fanatics who pervert its teachings, but because its foundational teachings are violent, racist, and produce a culture of oppression and control through fear, not of God, but of mortal violence from other “believers.”
Why there may never be a vibrant moderate Islam
And every time there is a debate between a real jihadi and, say, what we have decided to call moderate Muslims, the jihadis win. Because they come with the Koran and quotes from the Koran. The come with quotes from the Hadith and the Sunnah, and the traditions of the prophet. And every assertion they make, whether it is that women should be veiled, or Jews should be killed, or Americans are our enemies, or any of that, they win. Because what they have to say is so consistent with what is written in the Koran and the Hadith.
As I have written, it certainly can’t return to first principles (restoration), because it is in those that we find the blatant racism and violence. Their only moderating approach will be one of liberalism, which has a better descriptor than “moderate,’ which is nominal. Similar to “nominal Christians,” they don’t follow the teachings very closely, and merely look for a positive moral structure and humanistic ethic dressed in faith.
As I mentioned previously, Salman Rushdie has called for a reformation of Islam. But which of the three types is he calling for? It appears that he is calling for modernization and liberalization. He can not really call for restoration, because if one returns to the foundational teachings of the Koran, one gets jihad and murder in the name of God.
Rushdie Calls for Islamic ‘Reformation’
Rushdie calls for Islam to stop viewing the Koran as the infallible word of God, while the Christian reformation was a call BACK to authority of the scriptures. Why this difference?
Because the Xian scriptures, when taken literally, are a call to righteousness by faith, love, peace, and forgiveness. The Koran, when taken literally, is a call to Jihad, violence, righteousness by servile obedience to law, and justice with little mercy.
If Islam is evil, why are there nice Muslims?
So most Muslims are nice, not because Islam lacks violent and hateful tenets, but because their humanity causes them to want to avoid and ignore these things.