"The myth of an original orthodoxy from which later challengers fall away as heretics, is almost always the retrospective assertion of a politically dominant group whose aim is to establish their supremacy by appeal to divine sanction."
Best and most pertinent component in the article.
I had no idea about any of this. That the historic origins point directly toward Israel are almost Biblically ominous. Information like this is so powerful that such an introspective turn as the article demands may instead induce implosion, the ultimate blowback. One might think that the mullahs would call the Jihad before their adherents learned the truth.
Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau... and here we are: a religion without a birthright, willfully headed toward what could well be a final battle.
Great post, thank you.