Posted on 05/16/2011 4:19:28 PM PDT by robowombat
Bttt.
All of its flavors? Really? Please find us some evidence that any of the apostles engaged in slaughtering those that didn't believe that Jesus was the Messiah. They never did, and rather things went the other way, with all of them slaughtered save John. Maybe you're thinking of when stuff like Sunday worship (from other religions in the region) started being snuck in, as early as the first century? You know, the stuff that Paul called "another gospel" in Galatians 1:6-9? that would be preached and practiced by "grievous wolves" mentioned in Acts 20:29-30?
Up until the time Christianity (in all of its flavors) stopped slaughtering non-believers
“Only after about a millennium, when a certain church had enjoyed a state-endorsed monopoly for centuries...”
Your being disingenuous here and distorting the truth. The Catholic Church didn’t have a monopoly that was state endorsed. The other Christian religions were offshoots from the Catholic faith.
The more I learn about islam as a political-religious system, the more it reminds me of the Borg from Star Trek. People, nations, and entire cultures are “assimilated,” and then begin to act on behalf of the system that has assimilated them. Remember that most of what is now called the islamic world was at one time Christian.
i agree. look at places like Lebanon, that within our lifetime, was majority Christian.
...this article is a brilliant analysis of the psychology. ...if you deliberately designed a cult/relgion, you probably couldn’t do better. and because of #22, taquiyya, they go one better on the Borg. at least the Borg were honest about their intentions.
Most liberals don’t believe any of this... they actually accuse me of making stuff up. But I know who is really lying, because I learned the truth from an Imam, who was on the state board of directors of CAIR. ...once they thought i was one of them, they confirmed things most liberals refuse to believe. He even admitted that Aisha was age 6 when married, and age 9 when the “Prophet” first had sex with her...
First of all, if Islam so effective at spreading itself, then why did Islam wind up dormant for so many centuries? Why did it grow in spurts and then stop for most of its history? Why, until relatively recently, was Christianity better at spreading over time? My take: a totalist system, one of whose planks is "you're either for us or against us," makes a lot of let-and-let-live types conclude that the system is against them. Totalist systems are good at making enemies, and they make a lot of new enemies when they're growing rapidly.
Secondly - to his credit, the author is aware of this point: if a totalist system forbids reformation, it tends to grow more maladaptive over time as the world progresses. This isn't always the case, because history doesn't move in a straight line; there are bends and sometimes loops. It's quite possible for a totalist doctrine to be profoundly out of joint with the real world (as Islam was in the 19th century) and then become more aligned with the real world as conditions change to make the doctrine more relevant again. Joseph Schumpeter said that imperialism was essentially atavism, part of a counter-Enlightement. And yet, the world changed to make that atavism more applicable to the real world in the 19th and 20th centuries. As an imperial system, Communism was more adaptive to modern times than was the old aristocratic/jingoistic imperialism; that's why it survived the older imperialism by decades. How adaptive radical Islam is to the post-modern word reamins to be seen.
That said, I believe that world conditions are becoming more favourable to Islam's growth - that's why we're seeing it spread.
Unfortunately, if the West v. Islam is going to be the new cold war, then the West will end up resembling the Islamic world more and more. Ever notice that domestic socialism spread under the cover of anti-Communism? From a blood-and-guts perspective, that mutation was the free world's governments' attempt to emulate the strengths of the Communist system. You don't have to be a pro-Communist to see the spread of Commumism as evincing strength; you merely need to be pragmatic if cynical.
If radical Islam shows that kind of growth-strength, and it's beginning to, then there'll be a similar attempt by pragmatists to reshape the West. It could take the form of partial Islamization, or it could take the form of "faithization." Like all human beings, Muslims respect opponents that are similar to them and despise opponents that aren't. In the West's case, becoming more like them would mean becoming a more faith-based society.
Sadly, I think that stronger government in the West is going to be with us for a long time. Islam-influenced terrorists, like all predators, attack what they think is weakness. A pragmatic person would conclude that 9/11 took place because America was, in some crucical respect, weak. Sad to say, but the TSA security theatre could be a show for the Muslim world - whose rationale is to show that the American government is not "weak" anymore.
I regret this conclusion, but freedom is going to have a harder time as a result of this new Cold War. It's times like that when "the little people don't know what's good for them" creeps into national-security bigwigs' heads. They'll become the new striped-pants elitists.
Later, when the English kings got control of the church, it was also corrupt. I have always been impressed by the fact that appointment to a parish in the Anglican church was called a "living." The English clergy was full of people who had little motivation as Christians.
Once Catholicism was faced with a serious challenge and had to sell itself, it cleaned up its act.
Please visit the website of Voice of the Martyrs and read some accounts there, and be moved to contribute to the relief of our Christian brethren.
http://www.persecution.com/
“why did Islam wind up dormant for so many centuries?”
i think you are correct, that a major factor is Islam is Totalitarian. moreso, it is inherently anti-science.
That is one reason the Western world left them behind.
...now, we stupidly invite them in. In England, there are already operating legal sharia courts.
Charles Martel defeated a Muslim invading army of 50,000. Now, France supports millions of them, in “no go” zones, that are virtually Muslim colonies in France.
...and worse, instead of uniting against a religion that will kill or subjugate ALL Christians, we have even here at FR, people that prefer to snipe at other branches of Christianity. Historically, that was another reasons for many “spurts” of growth by Islam. When Christians, whether Orthodox, Catholic, or Protestant, put their differences higher than protecting the ONE church of all Christians, the Bible speaks of. ...such stupidity deserves to lose... Jesus himself scolding his disciples, telling them, those preaching in his name are with him.
i certainly disagree strongly with Mormon teachings, but better even that, then my daughter grows up a Muslim property...
The most demonic, evil, destructive religion/deception Satan has ever foisted on man....
First rule of defeating your enemy is to know him (Sun Tzu).
Our nation in general is blind......
Islam is a war plan.
More subtle? To compare the two is an insult to clear thinking. Islam declares itself mandatory as religious and civil law - Christianity does not. Islam declares women property - Christianity does not. Islam declares a woman's life forfeit if she is raped, or offends her husband or any other man - Christianity does not.
Your equating of a hideously murderous cult with mere cultural restrictions is, in itself, obscene. You have no argument, only the appearance of one. Which means you're probably a liberal, because even a RINO doesn't try to pass such tripe off as an argument.
You don't like Christianity? Don't join it. And guess what - you don't have to, and no Christian is going to kill you if you don't, unlike Muslims for Islam.
What stupid, stupid people liberals are.
Well said. To compare Christianity to Islam in its treatment of women is asinine and shallow.
“hey have been marrying their first cousins for over a thousand years. That’s the same genetically as marrying your half sister. The whole lot of them are genetically defective. Simply put, their crazy.”
You just don’t understand their culture.
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