Sunni vs. Shi'a: It's Not All Islam

realclearpolitics.com ^ | February 14, 2007 | Ralph Peters

[neverdem]

Among the worst members of the it's-all-a-conspiracy pack are those who insist that every Muslim is in on a vast Jihadi conspiracy to make Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks wear a chador (not a bad idea, aesthetically speaking). But those most anxious to condemn Islam in its entirety skip over annoying facts: Overwhelmingly, the victims of Islamist terror have been other Muslims; even the Taliban or the Khomeinist regime never rivaled the Inquistion's ferocity; and Europeans, not Muslims, long have been the heavyweight champions of genocide (with the Turks a distant runner-up).

All monotheist religions have been really good haters. We just take turns.

But the biggest obstacle to establishing the Caliphate in California is that Shi'a "Islam" never bought into the Caliphate at all. At bottom, it's a different religion from Sunni Islam. They're not just different branches of a faith, as with Protestantism and Catholicism, but separate faiths whose core differences are more-pronounced than those between Christians and Jews.

Technically, Sunni militants are correct when they label the Shi'a "heretics." Persians and their closest neighbors, with long memories of great civilizations, were never comfortable with the crudeness of Arabian Islam--which the anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss aptly called "a barracks religion."

The struggle has never ended between the ascetic, intolerant Bedouin faith of Arabia, with its fascist obsession on behavior, and the profound theologies of Persian civilization that absorbed and transformed Islam. While Shi'ism only prevailed in Persia within the last millennium (nudging out Sunni Islam at last), "Aryan" Islam had long been shaped by Zoroastrianism and other ineradicable pre-Islamic legacies.

Persians made the new faith their own, incorporating cherished traditions--just as northern Europeans made Christianity their own through Protestantism. It's illuminating to hear Iran's president rumor the return of the Twelfth Imam, since the coming of that messiah...

[AZLiberty]

We have a problem with the junta currently ruling Iran, but not with Persian civilization.

"Civilization" is the right word. Despite some abuses of the Shah, Iran was a first-class, progressive culture -- until the Ayatollah took over.

[Carry_Okie]

A classic example of a little bit of knowledge being a dangerous thing.

[Sam Hill]

"A classic example of a little bit of knowledge being a dangerous thing."

Boy, I'll say.

"But the biggest obstacle to establishing the Caliphate in California is that Shi'a "Islam" never bought into the Caliphate at all."

Sheesh.

Shiites believe in the Caliphate. But just a different one.

They just want their guys in charge.

The Madhi will establish a caliphate.

Mr. Peters needs to read a book or two.

[Carry_Okie]

It's not unusual for a secular "intellectual" to lump religions together, if only to expound one's supposed inherently superior objectivity. Still, given Mr. Peters' well known reputation as an (standing and saluting) "expert in Middle Eastern affairs" (seig howl), I was stunned at such a shallow articulation of Shia Islam.

I guess it's the inherent Western distaste for the need to take on 1.2 billion people, but that's the gory deal. It may be unpleasant, but it is quite likely a matter of survival.

See tag line.

[Sam Hill]

"Still, given Mr. Peters' well known reputation as an (standing and saluting) "expert in Middle Eastern affairs" (seig howl), I was stunned at such a shallow articulation of Shia Islam."

I never understood where he got that reputation. He's been wrong regularly and often:

ISLAM-HATERS: AN ENEMY WITHIN By RALPH PETERS - Oped Columnists - New York Post Online Edition
http://www.nypost.com/seven/09072006/postopinion/opedcolumnists/islam_haters__an_enemy_within_opedcolumnists_ralph_peters.htm

And his on again off again support for the war suggests an unbalanced mind -- or a Democrat.

But I repeat myself.

[Eclectica]

"...even the Taliban or the Khomeinist regime never rivaled the Inquistion's ferocity; and Europeans, not Muslims, long have been the heavyweight champions of genocide (with the Turks a distant runner-up)."

Yup. We should convert to Islam to keep the peace.

All monotheist religions have been really good haters. We just take turns.

He's confusing religions with ideas.

Nominal Christians fought Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany with abundant justification for "hate". We currently fight hateful Terror brought to our shores—with our own religions being a much lesser consideration. Communism has taken many more lives (100M), and most of those were Asian—not European.

[Jabba the Nutt]

"Among the worst members of the it's-all-a-conspiracy pack are those who insist that every Muslim is in on a vast Jihadi conspiracy..."

I'm sorry, Ralph Peters has a habit of making these unsubstantiated charges. I'd like him to name just one member of the "it's-all-a-conspiracy pack". Name one. What did they say? His wild attacks just discredit what else he may say, which may actually make some sense. But I can't get past this junk.

[tkathy]

So the fact that a lot of muslims are butchered as well as Christians and jews and buddhists makes it alright???

[BlackVeil]

In my years as an intelligence analyst, I consistently made my best calls when I trusted my instincts, and I was less likely to get it right when I heeded the arguments around me. ... My instincts tell me our long-term problem is with Arab Sunnis, whose global aspirations have veered into madness. We have a problem with the junta currently ruling Iran, but not with Persian civilization. Meanwhile, the Bedouin fanaticism gripping so much of the Middle East has no civilization.

I do think he is onto something, people should consider this argument.