Posted on 10/21/2006 8:07:20 AM PDT by tcostell
You would think that a belief system where the most lauded members are those who blow themselves up would have some serious marketing problems. I mean how exactly do you get rational post-secular westerners to buy into an idea like that? But Islam is the world’s fastest growing religion none the less. And much of it's growth is owed to its rapid conversion of certain segments of western society.
At a glance it defies all logic, but it's true. It's a commonly held view that when a person stops believing in organized religion they don't then believe in nothing, but begin to believe in anything. This describes the state of many in the post-secular west. And for people in that mental and emotional state, divorced from their society without any common emotional ground to bind them to their family and community, Islam apparently has some intrinsic appeal. But this then begs the question "Who are these people?” Who would be willing to give up so much of the promise of the 21st century west for the cold restricted structure of 15th century Islam? Who would be prepared to trade the "We hope you believe but it's really up to you" optimism of western theology for the choice between unyielding submission to the political hierarchy of the faith, or the business end of the faithful's sword?
Well in a word... its losers. Islam is growing in the western world by picking the low hanging fruit of society. Those most lacking in the skills it takes to succeed in the west, are irresistibly drawn to Islam. In a single stroke, Islam provides not only the craved for structure of a rigid life and a ready political apparatus which blames others for their hardships, but provides the promise of eternal reward in heaven for the very characteristics which have brought them only failure in the west. In short, it's a religion which rewards the loser for the very things which make them a loser, and encourages them to use violence to bring the rest of society down to their level. This is why it's becomes such a popular faith in the US prison systems, and why it's growing so rapidly among the discontented portions of western society. Whatever your personal failure, Islam has an explanation that makes it clear that someone else is responsible.
In the history of man, no society has so successfully provided each individual with opportunity like the United States. In the US, the circumstances of your birth don't matter, nor does your race, nor your gender, or anything else other than your own personal initiative. In America, both men and women from every religious, racial, ethnic, and economic subgroup have continually reached the pinnacle of success in their chosen fields. And the world over it's widely regarded as fact that if you are truly extraordinary at something, then America is where you will receive the greatest reward for it. America loves a winner, and our society rewards them well. We recruit them in every slice of life, from athletes, to engineers, to writers to educators, and everything else. If there is a greatest ditch digger on the planet, then the odds would be that he's digging a ditch somewhere in the US. And it's the very idea “that success can come to anyone" which makes the US what it is.
But that isn't to say that it’s a perfect meritocracy where only those who deserve it are rewarded. It's still a society of men, and many of those men, for whatever reason, will do what they must to stand in the way of others as well. So while the opportunity is clearly there, that alone is not a guarantee of success. Some people, for whatever reason, lack the initiative, or the determination, or sometimes even the intelligence to achieve the same level of success as others in their chosen field. But the question of success is not what you start out with in life, but what you do with it. The people who achieve success are usually those who when faced with an obstacle will work harder, jump higher, run faster, and do whatever is necessary to get around it. Success isn't defined by talent as much as it is by determination. But some people don't react that way. Some people, when faced with an obstacle, will be quick to abandon their effort, and begin blaming others for their troubles. They fail to take responsibility, and instead look to find a scapegoat. And along comes Islam.
The very core concept of Islam is the unconditional surrender to the will of Allah. At its very heart, Islam encourages its faithful to not take responsibility for the circumstances of their life. And from that basis all other Islamic law follows. Have you had trouble with women? No problem... under Islam a woman is more a piece of property than a person, so you will be able to command, and they must obey, if not... it's the sword or stoning. Have you had trouble in business? No problem... under Islam, most worldly matters of commerce are left to the Dhimmi, those members of the unfaithful tolerated under Islam like slaves thanks to the high taxes paid by them for the right to survive. But if the taxes should stop flowing, or the Dhimmi become defiant, then Islam provides a solution that even a loser can understand, again, it's the sword. On and on, Islamic law makes it clear that if you are among the faithful, then anytime the world fails to meet your expectations, the perfectly acceptable and moral solution is violence.
In short, Islam is a belief system which codifies a theological structure where those people least capable of achieving success on their own gain the political means of either taking or restricting the success of others by force. It’s a triumph of violence as the means to realize the will of god, over the "reason" of the western world. And in the west, people who choose violence over reason are losers. And so it grows in the prisons of the US, and the suburban slums of Paris. It gathers strength from the bottom, speaking a language that the losers of the west can understand. "Obey" they say, "Obey, and we will give the means to take your revenge on a society that has left you behind. Obey, and we will make you mighty, obey and your violence will be the last expression of the will of god."
What those losers who convert fail to realize however, is that the price for their vengeance, and the cost of their scapegoat, is that they too become a slave. If they aren’t responsible for the bad things that happen to them, then they aren't responsible for the good that comes to them either. There may be no failure for them under Islam, but then there will be no triumph for them as well. And should they achieve some moment of greatness, then they will quickly find that they too may be guilty of some obscure violation of sharia, and that the sword of Islam cuts both ways.
For myself, I may not be the most successful man I know, or for that matter the most faithful, but my success and my failures all belong to me. And for that alone, I'll stick to the reason of the west over the violence of Islam, anyday.
BTTT
Interesting piece and how true!!!
In reading this one can't help compare this to the liberal way of thinking....
Good job. I hope this gets wide circulation.
BTW, a buddy of mine is the Greatest Ditch Digger in the World. He's a genius with a backhoe, and is compensated well for his skill.
Islam is not the fastest growing religion. Christianity is. The rate of growth in the West may be high, but in absolute numbers, it is meaningless. Tens of millions are being converted to Christianity in China and millions in Africa. Dozens to Islam in Europe. And don't forget Muslims are converting Christianity all over the world. No comparison.
Well said....and it figures to me that islam converts numbers are rapidly growing. There are so, so many loosers all around, everywhere.
Don't agree? Go sit in on any court session on no particular day. Watch how many screw ups go before the judge for felony offenses...fraud, drugs, assault, multiple DUI, theft, stolen property, and on and on.
What kills me is that the Judge so often hands down a court hearing date and out the door they go, back on the street. You think they'll make thier court date? Pffft.
Perhaps so. Large numbers of effectively organized "losers" can do a lot of harm, however, and the self-labeled "winners" should not under-estimate them. I wonder if either classification is quite coherent, and if those who so facilely assign these labels to their neighbors might not be deluding themselves in a personally harmful way.
It does seem clear that inhabitants of the world of Islam are most miserable, unable to fully trust their "brothers" in that there is constant suspicion about who are the "sincere" and "orthodox" and who are the "hypocrites" and heretical, with severe consequences for those who are classified (mistakenly or not) into the latter group , though the incoherence of the definitions makes it problematic to recognize a "mistake" or a "correct decision" when you see one. One sees the predictable result of these incoherent classifications in the incessant in-fighting among the various claimants to Islamic authority, most recently on display in Iraq but also evident to anyone who follows the twisted pathways of current events in the Middle East and in the Asian territories of Islam (e.g., Indonesia, Pakistan, and Malaysia).
Christendom went through a time like this, leading to the current fragmentation of the sects, but has mostly recovered the ability to "disagree without being disagreeable" (though observers of contemporary church splits will laugh at this). Still, one does not see dozens of throats being slit and martyr bombers imolating themselves and neighbors when churches fuss at each other.
Take care in defining this "loser"/"winner" contrast, and avoid a similar fate.
The truth will set you free, free to achieve all that you can.
Islam,
1% religion
99% social control
a lot like communism
But it's a good point all the same... I agree ... very similar.
This is a key concept in any area of life, and one that the victimologists conveniently forget. Once people realize this, they can escape the poverty trap.
Once again, it's all about personal reponsibility.
islam (I refuse to capitalize the word) means literally I submit.
Thanks for a great post!
bttt
The man who stands for nothing,
will fall for anything.
To further support the points made in the article, over forty percent of the Muslim world is illiterate. Muhammad was also illiterate and I have always thought that this was at least partially responsible for his irrational hatred of the Jews.
Many or most religions have to do with getting help from a "higher power," and some people find all religions suspect for that very reason.
Since so many religions do promise comfort or aid to those who can't cope, it's hard to see that such an accusation disproves or discredits a particular religion.
Please feel free to hand it off to any liberals or Muslims.
It was really written for them anyway.
And for centuries these losers have been breeding with any other losers they could enslave.
Evolution thrown into reverse.
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