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Pipes is a moderate and I prove it

Reader comment on item: Answering Khaled Abou El Fadl

Submitted by kevin bjornson (United States), Dec 27, 2010 at 05:39

Pipes opposes Islamism, but thinks non-political Islam can be benign.
That implies that Islamic holy texts can be interpreted poetically,
as in, "when it says to kill, that means to argue". I suppose any phrase
can be interpreted in any way according to subjective feeling, if we disregard dictionaries, grammar books, and logic.

I go even further: all faith is by definition harmful, because it violates human nature in a profound way--bending the human brain in a wrong direction. Faith is a harmful factor that sets up an imbalance in the human psyche, tending to result in violent aggression.

As Nathaniel Branden pointed out, Attilla and the Witch Doctor are archetypes of the man of force and the man of faith. (Actually, so-called "witch doctors" were really forerunners of naturopathic healers, much as astrologers were forerunners of astronomers).

Ayn Rand's historic article in Foreign Affairs, "Faith and Force: destroyers of the modern world" explicates this theme well enough.

Christianity has undergone centuries of assimilation to western civilization, so is less harmful than Islam. Judaism is more humanistic than either, therefore the lesser of three evils.

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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Reader comments (20) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
An Interesting Injustice... [58 words]Amin RiazFeb 1, 2011 22:29182195
2Sharia [204 words]S.K.ShahDec 30, 2010 06:18181352
1Present day Hindu intellectuals and neo-historians, Bollywood, Congress government and media are working hard to destroy Hinduism and hand over India to Muslims once again!!! [178 words]JaladhiDec 31, 2010 17:33181352
1Hindu's [58 words]Sarah TaitJul 8, 2011 14:50181352
3More civil voices [101 words]Rebecca MouldsDec 27, 2010 13:43181297
2Owned [15 words]Will ScottDec 27, 2010 12:29181292
Pipes is a moderate and I prove it [185 words]kevin bjornsonDec 27, 2010 05:39181280
Not all faith is bad [206 words]Frank LukeDec 29, 2010 11:10181280
Future [145 words]Amin RiazFeb 2, 2011 21:08181280
Democracy and Christianity [467 words]Frank LukeFeb 3, 2011 20:29181280
2Answering Khaled Abou El Fadl [18 words]Steven LDec 26, 2010 17:34181269
2we do make a difference - reserved and more civil - anti-islamism-2.0 [132 words]mythDec 26, 2010 15:02181263
4Abu el-Fadl is really a professor at UCLA? This is really bizarre part deux [507 words]dhimmi no moreDec 26, 2010 10:34181259
2Abu el-Fadl is really a professor at UCLA? This is really bizarre [398 words]dhimmi no moreDec 26, 2010 08:08181258
Could be? [99 words]YnnatchkahDec 29, 2010 01:13181258
1Abu el-Fadl and the doctrine of al-Jihad [297 words]dhimmi no moreDec 29, 2010 13:54181258
1The future and the cost of education in the US [204 words]dhimmi no moreDec 30, 2010 07:16181258
Education in USA costs verses costs in Australia [516 words]Bishop Gabrielle CroftsJan 2, 2011 04:45181258
6The distortion of reality by Islamist pseudo Professor [752 words]Bishop Gabrielle Crofts (American Old Catholic Church faith movement, Australia)Dec 25, 2010 07:15181241
4Abiy El Fadl Representative of U of CA "scientific rigour"!!! [57 words]MollDec 24, 2010 15:50181229

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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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