[Liberals are Evil Socialists!]

Tell me how Islam gets past our nukes?

[ouroboros]

bump

[G.Mason]

Pathetic waste of electronic ink!

[SGCOS]

...Taking a longer view, he saw Islam, though inferior in material power, as having a great advantage: its religious faith was still strong, while the West was losing its religion and consequently its morale.

He's right on target with this.

[headsonpikes]

Belloc's 'The Servile State' is still his best work. IMHO, it's 'girly' to trouble oneself over Muslim devotion.

Nuke 'em while they pray!

[pocat]

This is what bothers me about the Northern Alliance. Are they also not muslim? When we prevail, will they replace the taliban in Afghanistan? If they do, will they remain loyal to US interests? We thought the same thing when we supported the mujahadeen in their fight against the Soviets. Now, the Russians are our "allies."

I believe Aristotle said, "The enemy of your enemy is not necessarily your friend." We need to keep this in mind. Ironically, one of Aristotle's most noted pupils was Alexander the Great, who happened to "visit" Afghanistan before.

To sum it up, I just don't expect the Northern Alliance to become our "good muslim" ally for a long period of time. We have all seen what islam is capable of becoming, and they are no exception.

[Rightwing Canuck]

Never mind the terrorists; check the birthrates.

That's the kicker. Especially in Israel.

[AshleyMontagu]

Bump for you.

[Revolting cat!]

Very interesting. And then, there is this:

it often replaced burdensome old bureaucratic governments with relatively undemanding regimes — and low taxes. As long as its authority was respected, Islamic rule was comparatively libertarian.

Is everything we know wrong? Where do I sign up?

[Andrew Wiggin]

Idiotic piece. Sobran is normally much better than that.

"Taking a longer view, he saw Islam, though inferior in material power, as having a great advantage: its religious faith was still strong, while the West was losing its religion and consequently its morale. He thought it entirely possible that Islam would catch up technologically, while he doubted that the West would undergo a spiritual revival. "

It is precisely because they are trapped in their religious beliefs that they are technologically backwards. They were ahead of Europe for centuries, but turned their backs to science because of the questions it raised. Imagine if Gallileo & Co. had agreed with the church that the sun really did revolve around the Earth; this is much like what happened with Islam.

The Middle East will never advance (and will thus never really threaten the west) until it becomes more secular, not the other way around. In other words, the only way to 'beat' us is to become like us. But by the time that happens, there will no longer be a reason to attack.

His last point about the birth rate was laughable. Sub-Saharan Africa's birthrate is also far higher than the West's. Does this indicate that they are a threat to us as well?

[mafree]

Joe Sobran bump. I do think what he's saying about the West and its future is worthy of our attention.

[Publius6961]

Unlike the Christian West, the Muslim world has never had crises of faith like the Reformation and the Enlightenment.

Oh really?
And this goofball presents himself as a knowledgeable expert?
I can hardly wait to hear his explanation for the 3 main mutually-hostile flavors of Islam and the dozen or so minor offshoots.

Kinda clouds his credibility, ya think?

[Aurelius]

BUMP

[Askel5]

Wouldn't it be cool if Free Republic still were the sort of place one could discuss Belloc's essay without having it pulled by the Hall Monitors because the usual morons -- free to post with impunity and wreck threads time and time again -- show up and spew their usual hateful and utterly unsupportable nonsense.

Someone here's got the link. (Where did I hide it, Romulus?)

[dirtboy]

Never mind the terrorists; check the birthrates.

Yeah, Iraq, with it's high birthrate, really kicked our butts in the Gulf War. Sobran needs to venture out of the 19th Century when he performs military analysis...

[dirtboy]

To the pious Muslim this attitude seems crass and barbaric. He may conclude from it that the decadent West understands only one thing: force.

Oh, Sobran, give me a friggin' break. WHAT IS THE MEANS OF GOVERNMENT IN THE MUSLIM WORLD? FORCE! Dictatorship. Repression. Militarism. Totalitarianism. Constitutional Rights and elections, concepts so dear to Sobran, DON'T EXIST THERE. So spare me, Sobran, that Islam is anything but hypocritical here...

Sobran is losing it - he's entitled to his opinion, but when he sanitizes the Islamic side of the coin to make a point, he's crossing a line into being an apologist...

[a history buff]

Askel5 posted some of Belloc's other writings on Islam. Far less flattering. Coincidentally, I was looking for a book on European history at a college library the same week, and came across Belloc's "The Jews." I would never quote Belloc on racial characterists after reading the introduction to that book.

[RLK]

The West is still strong, but it is dying. Islam is still weak, but it is growing.

------------------------

I think this is true. America has lost its sense of pride and seems to be imploding into involuted depressed degeneracy disinterested in continuing or defending itself. Islam's psychosis gives it a determination to survive. Involution loses against determination.

[Aedammair]

Excellent post!

[M Kehoe]

When it (Islam) conquered, its subjugated people often felt more liberated than enslaved,...

True, because they were DEAD.

Yeah, the Moors had a real positive influence on Spain. < /sarcasim>

5.56mm