Daniel J. Pipes

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Islamic Culture

Reader comment on item: What Security Measures vis-à-vis Western Muslims?
in response to reader comment: Really?

Submitted by R V (United States), Aug 14, 2006 at 19:39

More dangerous than a man who knows nothing is a man who knows very little. Those usually think they know enough to make an educated statement. That, dear Uni Student, is directed at you. I am going to take your comment appart piece by piece. If you have the guts follow along; alternatively you can bury your head in the sand with the rest of France:

1. "Need I remind people that Islam comes from the same stem as Judaism"
Islam is about 2000 years younger than Judaism. Whatever form of Judaism was practiced in the fortress-cities in the Arabian Peninsula when Muhammad arrived was not mainstream Judaism by any stretch of imagination.

2. "...and at its root is a peaceful religion." Several points here. For the root of Islam read the Koran. Yusuf Ali is as good a translation as any. Then go ahead and tell me how peaceful their "root" is. Additionally, religion is defined by the men who practice it and therefore, "its root" has no bearing on the current conflict whatsoever, except for the fact that by reading about "the root" you may understand what in it drives these new Nazis.

3. "...but antagonising the faction who are that radical is only going to prolong the struggle."
Israel tried appeasing them by giving half the country away "unilaterally" and leaving Lebanon "unilaterally" as well. Worked out really well didn't it? Stopped many homicide bombings, right?

4. "Arabic countries were once among the most advanced civilisations in the world, making Islamic beliefs blend with modern thought."
Very true, but you seem to have missed an important keyword in your own sentence - "ONCE". That culture is no more. The scholars were all persecuted away by fanatics. Islam now covers a whole new breed of people.

5. "Maybe all they need is a little understanding and patience to get back to that point."
Patience? In this particular situation patience entails letting our children be killed by Muslim Fascist. Do you have children? Please, don't stigmatize all of us who do. Do you think Hitler also needed a little patience and understanding? Should we have let him kill more until he had enough and realized his mistake? I am sorry, I am not willing to sacrifice my family for the noble goal of maybe getting the Arabic culture to its former height. The price is to high and there is no reason for it. Nobody is preventing them from being law abiding productive members of society. This is a choice they made themselves.

6. "Stigmatising the whole community could only be detrimental to any long term peaceful solution."
Obviously, avoiding stigmas clearly has assured long peaceful years, right?

Regards.

R. V.


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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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