Window on Islam. Renowned scholar weighs in on religion, politics, extremism and war

Dallas News via Islam Daily.net ^ | 7/11/06 | Dr. Bernard Lewis

[Valin]

Bernard Lewis is arguably the most important living scholar of Islam in the West. Author of more than two dozen books, the retired Princeton professor, who turned 90 earlier this year, has long been an adviser to governments and policymakers seeking to understand the intricacies of Islam and its relationship to the Western world.

[Valin]

Shameless Ping

[MiHeat]

Shameless Ping? What is meant by that???

[johnny7]

“We seem to be in the mode of Chamberlain and Munich rather than of Churchill.”

I'm no esteemed scholar... but johnny7's been thinkin' that since we cut-and-run in Vietnam.

[agere_contra]

The war is against Wahhabists as Professor Lewis says: - but the trouble is that it's hard to be a Koranic literalist and be anything other than a fanatic.

Islam gravitates towards its Wahhabist-in-all-but-name nutjobs, whereas Christianity specifically curtails the actions of any crazed killers in its midst.

[Valin]

Islam gravitates towards its Wahhabist-in-all-but-name nutjobs

Really? Then why don't we see more examples of terrorism?

[river rat]

I'm convinced the militant Islamists are waiting for another spineless Democrat President and Democrat majority in Congress...

With the former Democrat President Clinton -- they conducted several operations and murdered scores of Americans --- hundreds if you don't believe that 747 went down because of a spark in an empty fuel tank.
Clinton was impotent - did nothing of significance.

Clinton experimented with Mission Creep in Somalia, mismanaged in a criminal manner touched off a conflict and then retreated in shame. This emboldened the bastards to plan 9/11.

Then they snookered the stupid bastard Clinton to fight the Serbs for the Muslim "ethnic Albanians" who attempted a land grab in Kosovo...and succeeded.

Clinton drew nary a drop of Islamist blood...
The Rangers got their share - in spite of Clinton's attempt to get them killed.

Well - they pulled the same crap with President Bush..
They came over and knocked down two buildings and damaged a third..
In reply, President Bush ordered the take down of Two Islamist harboring countries (Afghanistan & Iraq) and scared the third (Lybia) into compliance and convinced the forth (Pakistan) to pretend they're our ally.

I'm convinced the Islamist lunatics are smart enough to know to keep their distance from America - until another spineless Democrat is in power again...

Semper Fi

[Lewite]

A good article on Islam-Mecca-The Whore of Babylon can be found at yourarmstoisrael.org , select "sermon notes" and pull up "The Final End Time Beast". Print it and save for future reference.

[ml/nj]

Previously discussed here

ML/NJ

[Dark Skies]

Then why don't we see more examples of terrorism?

Here's a link to a list of terrorist incidents from the State Department...there have been quite a few.

Significant Terrorist Incidents, 1961-2003: A Brief Chronology

[Dark Skies]

BTW...there are incidents on that list that are unrelated to islam. I refer you to the islamic-related ones only.

[CaptObe]

Shameless and predictable. Same ol, same ol!

[GarySpFc]

Ping

[Maceman]

I beg your pardon?

[thoughtomator]

What, there's not enough examples of Islamic terrorism for you? It's only a constant drumbeat going on for 1400 years now...

[Tolik]

Bernard Lewis: Window on Islam

Renowned scholar weighs in on religion, politics, extremism and war

• On misunderstanding the concept of Islam
• On Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
• On the prospects for democracy in the Islamic world
• On fighting the war on terror
• On Wahhabism
• On the importance of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
• On the resolve of the West  (!!!)

Read the Dallas News article (summary/excerpts) here or the original (much longer) transcript of Bernard Lewis speech at The Pew Forum on April 27, 2006: Islam and the West: A Conversation with Bernard Lewis

VERY Interesting!

This ping list is not author-specific for articles I'd like to share. Some for the perfect moral clarity, some for provocative thoughts; or simply interesting articles I'd hate to miss myself. (I don't have to agree with the author all 100% to feel the need to share an article.) I will try not to abuse the ping list and not to annoy you too much, but on some days there is more of the good stuff that is worthy of attention. You can see the list of articles I pinged to lately  on  my page.
You are welcome in or out, just freepmail me (and note which PING list you are talking about). Besides this one, I keep 2 separate PING lists for my favorite authors Victor Davis Hanson and Orson Scott Card.  

[Tolik]

see post # 16

[FreedomPoster]

"In [the Islamic] world, religion embraces far more than it does in the Christian or post-Christian world. We are accustomed to talking of church and state and a whole series of pairs of words that go with them – lay and ecclesiastical, secular and religious, spiritual and temporal and so on. These pairs of words simply do not exist in classical Islamic terminology because the dichotomy that these words express is unknown."

This is a fundamental problem in trying to assimilate Islamics into becoming acceptable to the West.

[GOPJ]

On fighting the war on terror

I am familiar with this slogan. I feel that while we are indeed engaged in a war against terror, it is inadequate and even misleading. If Churchill had informed the country in 1940, "We are engaged in a war against bomber aircraft and submarines," that would have been an accurate statement but not a very helpful one. To say we are engaged in a war against terror is of the same order.

Terror is a tactic. It's a method of waging war. It is not a cause, it is not an adversary, it is not anything that one can identify as an opponent, and I think we need to be more specific in fighting a war. It's useful to know who the enemy is.

On Wahhabism

Ping.

[shield]

bttt