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| Olde Tyme Religion |
| Child moderate to teen age Islamist to adult Reformer |
| 2008-01-21 |
| From the JeruPost _(Tawfik Hamid) long article How did I - once an innocent child who grew up in a liberal, moderate and educated household - find myself a member of a radical Islamic group? These questions go to the root of Islamic violence and must be addressed if free societies are to combat radical Islam.... [he has firsthand experience which he relates]... [he concludes that]... Salafi doctrine, which is at the root of the West's confrontation with Islamism, poses an existential threat to us all - including Muslims. |
| Posted by:mhw |
| #3 moose you note that they are already hypocrites, e.g. 'we reject capitalism but we invented it' then you say they need much more hypocrisy (if its the right type of hypocrisy) You might be right but it is amusing Rx. |
| Posted by: mhw 2008-01-21 14:28 |
| #2 It's important to understand that Salafism is not only one of the major problems of Islam, but one of the obstacles it faces on a path to reformation as a non-violent religion. However, it is a very brittle concept, representing barbarism's struggle against civilization as much as a religious one. Salafis reject not only Western ideologies such as Socialism and Capitalism, but also common Western concepts like economics, constitutions, political parties, revolution and social justice. But at the *same* time, Salafi writers claim that any meritorious or worthwhile modern institutions were first invented and realized by Muslims. That is, they are in the bizarre situation of rejecting modernism, while at the same time claiming that Islam is the most modern system that exists. Islam evolved way back when as a "modernist" alternative to primitivism, and it is full of itself as a better way of doing things, compared to how they were done at the time. And at the time, they *were*. This is why they are so uncomfortable, now that the shoe is on the other foot, and they are the ones defending primitivism. The only way Islam can reform is if it becomes very hypocritical, pretending away all the violence, death and destruction of their religion. But this is not impossible. The Christians did it a long time ago. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-01-21 12:49 |
| #1 My uncharitable thought: I could care less what this evil ideology does to muslims. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2008-01-21 11:01 |