[tcostell]

Sure. Please have a look at post #24.

My essay isn't about whether you like Christianity or not. And I think it can be demonstrated using objective terms that anyone would agree to regardless of faith, that the Christian world is VASTLY more successful by virtually any measure than the Islamic world. A man on the moon and a bone in the nose are not the same thing.

So a better question I think, is why would one assume that simply being meek makes one a loser?

In the western (read Christian) world, faith and success are not mutually exclusive by any means.

[HitmanLV]

My comment had nothing to do with liking Christianity or not. I am a Christian and I think it's clear that Christianity is a great religion.

To answer your question, this line suggests that those who don;t persue earthly success will be rewarded with heavenly, spiritual success.

The people who chide as losers in Islam have rejected (unwisely) earthly success. In that respect, they are the meek ones Jesus is talking about, but in a host of other respects they fall short of the Christian ideal.

While I agree with you that being successful and a Christian are not mutually exclusive, I have to point out that Jesus explicitly thinks that the losers in earthly, material sphere will find great reward in the afterlife.

The Islamists think that also, for different reasons, and approach it in different ways.

I don't see any evidence here that Jesus was talking about materially successful people when he said the 'meek' shall inherit the earth.

[HitmanLV]

And by the way, post #24 has nothing to do with this, no matter how much you might like to believe it does.

[HitmanLV]

"It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Matthew 19:24)

Now that's a ringing endorsement for material overachieving if I ever read one! ;-)