When Islam Breaks Down

City Journal ^ | Spring 2004 | Theodore Dalrymple

[KDD]

And the problem is that so many Muslims want both stagnation and power: they want a return to the perfection of the seventh century and to dominate the twenty-first, as they believe is the birthright of their doctrine, the last testament of God to man. If they were content to exist in a seventh-century backwater, secure in a quietist philosophy, there would be no problem for them or us; their problem, and ours, is that they want the power that free inquiry confers, without either the free inquiry or the philosophy and institutions that guarantee that free inquiry. They are faced with a dilemma: either they abandon their cherished religion, or they remain forever in the rear of human technical advance. Neither alternative is very appealing; and the tension between their desire for power and success in the modern world on the one hand, and their desire not to abandon their religion on the other, is resolvable for some only by exploding themselves as bombs.

[the Real fifi]

He is such a remarkable thinker and writer. I can never pass by anything he writes without stopping to read it.

[rellimpank]

-- If they were content to exist in a seventh-century backwater, secure in a quietist philosophy, there would be no problem for them or us;--

--that apparently describes pre-Russian invasion Afganistan--I know an individual whose wife spent her high school years there (her parents were teachers in an Embassy school) thoroughly enjoying the experience--

[the anti-liberal]

Bookmarked for later reading, when I have time.

[King Prout]

bump for later

[Billthedrill]

This article was reprinted in Dalrymple's Our Culture - What's Left Of It, a book chock-full of such observations. Highly recommended.

[Choose Ye This Day]

Does anyone have a Dalrymple PING list?

[VOA]

bump

[tkathy]

Their death rattle is mighty loud.

[eazdzit]

A very Good read. BTTT

[Clintonfatigued]

This is a facinating outlook on a phenomenon. Very worth reading.

[FBD]

another good read:
"The Islamist Challenge to the U.S. Constitution"
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1607608/posts

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on or off this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.
Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking the keyword or topic Israel.

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[kalee]

ditto

[KDD]

There is the suggestion that in time Islam might find its own way to a major reformation as Christianity and other major religions have done. I agree. Islam is, after all, a much younger religion then Christianity or most other major religions. The flaw in this optimism is time, which is not to Western Civilizations advantage. The fruits of our technical prowess are available on the open market to any entity that has the means to afford them...Just ask Bernie Schwartz at Loral Corp. So given A. the money. and B. the means, one can't help but wonder...when?

It is time to amplify the speech coming from the Mosques and expose and CONFRONT the religious political Mullahs and Inmans hate speech against the West. The political religious authority of Islam which encompasses most of the ME refer to America as the "The Great Satan" while the secular government of the United States of America calls Islam "A religion of peace"

An obvious disconnect on our leaders part.
Possibly a fatal one for us.

[BunnySlippers]

Good Article Bump

[KDD]

"Where two pieties—feminism and multiculturalism—come into conflict, the only way of preserving both is an indecent silence."

Such a simple truth.

[longtermmemmory]

The problem is Christian reformation is to lead the faith to remove corruption to get back to the true form. Islam IS true to its original form with the hommicide bombings and killing and lying.

In order to have Islam "reform" it must fist stop being islam.

[firewatch]

It is articles and commentary like this one of Theodore Dalrymple's that make "Free Republic" so valuable for me.
It also makes it easier for me to pry loose a donation.

[T.L.Sink]

I first mentioned Dr.Dalrymple's essay "When Islam Breaks Down" in a post of 3/5 and wish to again thank neverdem for posting the full essay. Long before that (during the massive Islamic riots in France) I cited another of Dalrymple's essays - "Barbarians at the Gates of Paris" - to demonstrate how prophetic and insightful he was. That,too, was posted. Both these essays and many others are in his book "Our Culture, What's Left of It." By the way, David Brooks of the N.Y.Times named "When Islam Breaks Down" as the best journal article of 2004. Another fascinating collection of his essays is found in "Life at the Bottom." Although Dalrymple, like all psychiatrists, is an M.D. he actually practices medicine! He's widely traveled and all his essays reflect not just his clinical experience but his intimate first-hand knowledge of other peoples and cultures. If anyone wants to become acutely aware of the very dangerous social situation in Britain, read the essays in "Life at the Bottom." Again, my plaudits and thanks to neverdem.