|
Deep Thoughts on the Trouble with Radical Islam
No link here. Just something that I just realized. It seems obvious to me really, but I didn't put two and two together until earlier today.There seems to be one concept entirely mangled when I see radical Islam at work: Redemption/forgiveness. What I have decided so far that passes for "redemption" in radical islamic societies is what you might call an initial warning to convert to Islam or die, or maybe even a warning to infidels that a certain behavior is unislamic. Until then you can get away with things that are unislamic. After that, you're toast. For example: Western society has been warned by Bin Laden to convert or face their wrath. There have been huge discussions on this in islamic circles validating the use of nuclear weapons because of this. Radicals will kill each other at random if they even hear a rumor of another Mohamhead cartoon. If you are a muslim growing up in an radical islamic society you better walk the narrow line or risk all kinds of hardship. If you are a woman and flash a bit of ankle by accident you get caned if the wrong guy sees you, and I'll bet nobody steps in to stop it. A bunch of neanderthal Kurds stoned a 17 year old female relative to death recently in Iraq because they suspected she had done the deed with someone from the wrong sect. I know that Judeo-Christian societies have their morons too, but they seem to be left pretty much to themselves as long as they don't cross the line of harming someone. After that, everyone steps in to smack them down to remind them where the line is. In the islamic cultures, radical behavior seems to be more tolerated if it can be argued that it is more "islamic". Perhaps also because of long memories and tribalism. I don't know what the end result of a tribal Judeo-Christian society would be, but I'd bet the outcome would be better than this tribal islamic crap I'm seeing. The Torah doesn't seem to devote a lot to the concept of forgiveness, but it does seem to deal a lot with people being inherintly nice to each other, and Jewish society in general doesn't tolerate terrorists in any form. I would say that Jews have even walked away from the death penalty for what the Torah says deserves the death penalty, and they have also walked away from the advice to wipe out every arab they see because they they would "forever be a thorn in their side" or something like that. Of course the New Testament has plenty of material related to forgiveness and redemption, so I won't even go there. Does anyone know if the Quran addresses forgiveness and redemption? Or did that chapter never get written, as I suspect. I am pretty sure it talks a lot about how muslims should be nice to other muslims and travelers, but that is not forgiveness. What kinds of transgressions are deemed forgivable without some kind of harsh punishment in an islamic society? I know this is a target for snarking, but does anyone out there actually know the answer to this? Posted by: gorb 2007-05-06 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=187681 |