Posted on 07/25/2005 10:24:47 AM PDT by hripka
Summary: Their attempt to practice religion consistently explains the terrorists' actions.
Body: The continued attacks by Islamic terrorists against the West--most recently, the horrific suicide bombings in London--have led many to ask, what is the motivation of the terrorists? Commentators are eager to offer a bevy of pseudo-explanations--poverty, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, etc.--while ignoring the motivation the terrorists themselves openly proclaim: Islam.
The near silence about the true role of Islam in motivating Islamic terrorists has two main causes: multiculturalism and religion. Multiculturalism asserts that all cultures are equal and therefore none may criticize another; intellectuals and politicians are therefore reluctant to declare the obvious superiority of Western culture to Islamic culture. And the strong commitment to religion of many Americans, especially conservatives, makes them reluctant to indict a religion as the cause of a massive evil. But if we are to identify the fundamental cause of the terrorists' actions, we must understand at least two fundamental premises of the religion they kill for.
First, Islam, like all religions, rejects reason as a means of gaining knowledge and guiding action; it holds that all important truths are grasped by faith in supernatural beings and sacred texts. The Koran explicitly states that knowledge comes from revelation, not thinking. (Christianity in pure form entails a similar rejection of reason, but it has been heavily diluted and secularized since the Renaissance.) Islam advocates the subordination of every sphere of life to religious dogma, including the legal system, politics, economics, and family life; the word "Islam" means literally: submission. The individual is not supposed to think independently but to selflessly subordinate himself to the dictates of his religion and its theocratic representatives. We have seen this before in the West--it was called the Dark Ages.
(Excerpt) Read more at capmag.com ...
Just FYI, this is absolute B.S.
Islam is not a religion, it's a CULT.
mark for later read/analysis.
Yeah, C.S. Lewis, Solzenitsyn and all those other irrational, wild-eyed fanatics... The guy starts with a slam at moral equivalence, then jumps into it with both feet.
Islam is not a religion, it's a CULT.
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Yes, a DEATH CULT. The sooner these perverts are out of our country, the sooner the deaths will stop.
Tell that to Aquinas. Seriously, take a good look at the left wing across the world, then tell me who is rejecting Reason.
The author is delusional. The only people who are free from the multiculti trap of admiration for Islam are conservatives. His assumptions not only depart from common sense, they diverge from the facts.
Not true. The terrorists are the traditionalists of Islam. The peaceful Muslims are the radicals of Islam who seek change and understanding with western values.
The goal is the creation of a totalitarian Islamist state stretching from Indonesia in the east to London in the west. Thus, this movement is not about "religion" in the usual sense of the word, though Islamic teachings are one of the pillars of its ideology, along with fascism (Baathism), socialism and plain old tyranny.
Probably the best thing to happen in Iraq so far is the terrorists' admission that their goal is to preclude democracy from coming to the region. In other words, it isn't about a jihad against Christians, the USA or whatever -- it is about power.
I don't care what their motivation is. I just want us to take off the gloves and fight.
When is enough, enough?
When goddamnit do we take care of these barbarians?
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Good morning! (PDT here) Might I be admitted to this ping list as well? My first impulse on seeing this article was to inform you.
Locke will neever work on the MSM...for shame!
Just as with the Crusades and most inter-sect warfare for Christianity, Islam is the excuse and the motivator for the ignorant masses, not the cause. We would not be seeing Muslim terrorism if we could make all the power-hungry fundamentalist leaders disappear and replace them with more modern, peaceful types.
Religion is a tool for the powerful, and it can be used for good and bad purposes.
None the less, I think there's merit to it: attacking the West is not an end unto itself, it is a means to an end. The fundie Moslems nutcases are vying for support, and to the extent they blow up things in London and New York, etc. they demonstrate their power, relevance, dedication, and efficacy to the rank and file Muslims. There near term goal is to overthrow all the secular governments in the Middle East and replace them with Taliban/Iranian style Islamic theocracies with Sharia-based legal systems.
The other points are well taken, but there's more to the story than their envy for the success of the Secular West over their system, which has been mired in stasis for a thousand years.
Alas, it's a one-time-onely ping list. No way to get on or off.
No it's not. Even Christianity cherishes "revealed" knowledge.
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