Perhaps so. Large numbers of effectively organized "losers" can do a lot of harm, however, and the self-labeled "winners" should not under-estimate them. I wonder if either classification is quite coherent, and if those who so facilely assign these labels to their neighbors might not be deluding themselves in a personally harmful way.
It does seem clear that inhabitants of the world of Islam are most miserable, unable to fully trust their "brothers" in that there is constant suspicion about who are the "sincere" and "orthodox" and who are the "hypocrites" and heretical, with severe consequences for those who are classified (mistakenly or not) into the latter group , though the incoherence of the definitions makes it problematic to recognize a "mistake" or a "correct decision" when you see one. One sees the predictable result of these incoherent classifications in the incessant in-fighting among the various claimants to Islamic authority, most recently on display in Iraq but also evident to anyone who follows the twisted pathways of current events in the Middle East and in the Asian territories of Islam (e.g., Indonesia, Pakistan, and Malaysia).
Christendom went through a time like this, leading to the current fragmentation of the sects, but has mostly recovered the ability to "disagree without being disagreeable" (though observers of contemporary church splits will laugh at this). Still, one does not see dozens of throats being slit and martyr bombers imolating themselves and neighbors when churches fuss at each other.
Take care in defining this "loser"/"winner" contrast, and avoid a similar fate.
Good points. Even small number of organized losers can do a lot of harm, as can large numbers of not-so-organized losers.
I don't think anyone is suggesting that we should underestimate the power of losers in large numbers. Quite the opposite. Especially when they think they have nothing much to lose in this world, but a whole lot to gain somewhere else.
I don't see any smugness or overconfidence about this writing. Just an explanation of one of the things that draws converts to a so called "religion" where the separation of church and state is nonexistent.