Replies

goes against the major precepts of other world religions. It's definitely contrary to any belief that there is a just and caring God who wants peace for all of humanity.

But not all religions believe in a just and caring God. It is a really an American belief that all "religions" are "good" and want to do good things, are all just different paths to God. The trouble is, it isn't true. A "religion" is what you think about the fundamental nature of the universe: is it controlled by a "God" or a force, is that "God" or force good or bad, is it a person, etc etc etc. Human sacrifice has a very long history, so do death cults, but the US (hopefully!) isn't going to allow Aztec worship of Kali death cults to openly practice (but with the ACLU, who knows?) Not all religions think there is a personal God, many religions don't think God is good, many other religions don't believe in being good to those outside their own religion, etc etc etc.

Because of the way Islam defines God and because of what they believe is owed God, you cannot seperate out government from religion, if it isn't Sharia law it isn't legitimate in their eyes. Even in what is considered Islam's "golden age", it was golden precicesly in that Islam was not taken seriously, and even then Christians and Jews were considered "dhimmi", an underclass that had to pay special taxes and had less access to courts and justice than Muslims. American culture is particularly poorly equipped to deal with a religion that does not seperate things into a "secular - spiritual" mindset.

A great website that talks about Islam's real history is Bat Ye'or's site, there are links to her lectures and articles going into detail on all this.

You're right that there are religions that have horrific practices by our standards, demiurges or a god that is bad, death cults, etc. Even Christianity had a warring God of wrath, who played favorites, wiped out whole tribes and demanded blood sacrifices. But we don't emphasis these questionable "godlike" aspects in our daily practice of Christianity. I think it is up to the people to emphasis what they want in a holy text. If Mohammad was a rapist, thief, murdered, etc. then he was perhaps not that far away from the character of God in the old testament.

The question of church and state is tricky subject and so far there haven't been any religious wars in N. America as there had been throughout European's endless bloody history. I think that religion in the US had been sufficiently watered down here by a republican form of government that doesn't need a religious leader or Pope to legitimize it. Mind you, some political philosophers of the right (Leo Strauss and his disciples) have made the argument that we need a state sponsored religion in order to keep European nihilism ("if God doesn't exist, all is permitted") at bay. They believe that a healthy society has to pull together through a firm belief in the highest common values (state religion) and through foreign wars which also unify people at home. They also believe that the moral relativity of democracy will eventually lead to tyranny, as was seen in the Wiemar Republic before Hitler. These neocon philosophers are largely influenced by Plato who also had a dim view of democracy. That is why the Christian vote is important to them in unifying America and, perhaps, why foreign wars with the Islamic fundamentalists are needed. Paul Wolfewitiz (sp?) studied under Allan Bloom and/or Strauss and many liberals where questioning his other Straussians who received plumb governmental positions to influence policy. So maybe we aren't as secular as we think... but, you are right, about the Islamic mindset, even though Saddam was a secularist, he had problems too.