Free Republic

A recent Pew survey shows many Muslim people in Islamic nations see Westerners as selfish and immoral. And many Westerners view Muslims as violent and intolerant. Both cultures might be tempted to use these findings to reinforce their views of others. Instead, they should consider how others see them. Stereotyping - of races, religions, nationalities, and so on - is dangerous. It sparks and perpetuates prejudice and violence, from the school yard to the war zone. But generalizations about cultures often contain kernels of truth. In the effort to bridge "The Great Divide" (as the Pew Research Center survey is...

Several new videos proclaim that Islam will rule the world and thatWestern nations will be conquered by terrorists, according to a reportby the Palestinian Media Watch. Terror organization Hamasreleased one new video in the wake of the death last week of one of itsleaders, Yasser Ghalban, during an internal battle between warringfactions in Gaza. The clip is a collection of Ghalban’s statements and proclamations ofHamas dogma, as well as the broader Islamic philosophy promoted by thePalestinian Authority. To view the Hamas video, click here. “We will rule the nations, by Allah’s will, the USA will be conquered,Israel will be conquered,...

EDITORIAL: US should take note of global survey findings The latest survey by the Pew Global Attitudes Project covering 13 Western and Muslim countries has some interesting findings for Pakistan, the most significant being that support for Osama Bin Laden in this country has significantly declined from 51 percent in May 2005 to 38 percent this year. While at 38 percent it still remains high, the decrease of 13 percentage points within a year is worth noting. This may be interpreted along the concern expressed over the spread of Islamic militancy and suicide bombings by the majority in a sample...

Wafa Sultan:The clash we are witnessing around the world is not a clash of religions, or a clash of civilizations.... It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that belongs to the 21st century. It is a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality. It is a clash between freedom and oppression, between democracy and dictatorship. It is a clash between human rights, on the one hand, and the violation of these rights, on other hand. It is a clash between those who treat...

Ali Sina is the Iranian ex-Muslim behind the website www.faithfreedom.org. Along with other former Muslims such as Ibn Warraq, Sina is spearheading what may be the first organized movement of ex-Muslims in Islamic history, made possible during the past ten to fifteen years by Muslim immigration to the West and the growth of the Internet. Publishing rational criticism of Islam, reaching hundreds of thousands of people and potentially hundreds of millions of people across the world, has never been done before until a few years ago. This is also part of the inspiration for my own suggestion of creating an...

THE CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS AND THE GREAT CALIPHATE By Larry Abraham I urge all of my readers to make copies of this report and send them to your friends and relatives. The information is too critical to be overlooked in the madness of this election year. Part I of this essay was written in January before the Democrat Party primaries settled anything and before the occupation of Iraq took a turn for the worse. However, it is now more obvious that what I wrote about the nature of the Third Great Jihad is all too true. The political picture has...

In an earlier essay titled “Migration to the West and Radicalization of the Muslims”, I have delved into how Muslims suddenly become more radicalized or Islamized when they arrive in the West and how that helps in transforming the next generation Muslims into tools of violence and terrorism. I have also explained that the Western cultures are hateful and unacceptable to Muslims. - Islamic religious book, nor can there exist any Church, temple or synagogue. In so-called modern democratic Muslim states, such as Bangladesh and Pakistan, non-Muslims are routinely being harassed, their young girls are being abducted and forcefully married...

Note: This commentary was delivered by Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley. The clash of civilizations is a term most of us are familiar with. But it’s more than just a catchphrase or a book title. It’s a grim reality that we live with every day, as we deal with acts of religiously inspired terrorism. In such a difficult and often frightening situation, how should we live? How do we relate to the people of different backgrounds and beliefs that we see every day? And going beyond that, how do we talk to them to about Christ? In these tense times,...

In The Force of Reason, the controversial Italian journalist and novelist Oriana Fallaci illuminates one of the central enigmas of our time. How did Europe become home to an estimated 20 million Muslims in a mere three decades? How did Islam go from being a virtual non-factor to a religion that threatens the preeminence of Christianity on the Continent? How could the most popular name for a baby boy in Brussels possibly be Mohammed? Can it really be true that Muslims plan to build a mosque in London that will hold 40,000 people? That Dutch cities like Amsterdam and Rotterdam...

Tolerant indifference won’t tame militant IslamAs published in The Johnstown Tribune-DemocratBy PEDRO O. VEGA We ignore the challenge of militant Islam at our peril. The Muslim reaction in Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere to the publication of editorial cartoons in Danish and French newspapers that satirized Islam and its founder, Muhammad, illustrates a fact that our policymakers and cultural elites cannot stomach: That a Clash of Civilizations – as Samuel P. Huntington described it in his book of the same name – is ongoing between Islam and the post-Christian West. I understand the anger and hurt believers feel when...

Wafa Sultan: The clash we are witnessing around the world is not a clash of religions, or a clash of civilizations. It is a clash between two opposites, between two eras. It is a clash between a mentality that belongs to the Middle Ages and another mentality that belongs to the 21st century. It is a clash between civilization and backwardness, between the civilized and the primitive, between barbarity and rationality. It is a clash between freedom and oppression, between democracy and dictatorship. It is a clash between human rights, on the one hand, and the violation of these rights,...

Islam's March Against the West By Brigitte Gabriel Excerpted from Brigitte Gabriel's speech delivered at the Intelligence Summit in Washington DC, Saturday February 18, 2006. We gather here today to share information and knowledge. Intelligence is not merely cold hard data about numerical strength or armament or disposition of military forces. The most important element of intelligence has to be understanding the mind set and intention of the enemy. The west has been wallowing in a state of ignorance and denial for thirty years as Muslim extremist perpetrated evil against innocent victims in the name of Allah. I was ten...

Although the steady immigration of Muslims to Athens continues - mostly economic migrants from the Middle East and Asia - the city remains the only capital in western Europe without an Islamic place of worship IN a small, cold and decrepit apartment in central Athens, scores of Muslims trip over each other to find a space to pray as rain drips onto their heads from the leaky roof. The stairwell is in darkness and there is grime in every corner. But for these faithful, there is no other choice. About 130 makeshift mosques like this - windowless, airless basements or...

Respect religions, says Saudi king RIYADH: King Abdullah on Saturday called for mutual respect among all religions and beliefs and condemned what he called “the clash of civilisations.” Speaking during a cultural festival in Riyadh, he said, “I call for the next stage in relations between countries to be a stage of real dialogue where each side respects the other side,” he was quoted as saying. ap

Who would've though that a group of Danish cartoonists would strike the most crippling blow to the Islamist political jihad in Europe to date? Even more crippling than the murder of Theo van Gogh, the implications of which, for the most part, did not expand past Holland's borders, the explosion of Islamic rage surrounding these cartoons has forced the Islamists' hand far earlier than would've been prudent and many - not all - Europeans are starting to wonder whether Islam has any place in Western civilization. In Van Gogh's case, the murder of this one man turned a nation of...

The great wealth and leisure created by modern technology have confused some in the modern age into thinking that history is linear. We expect that each generation will inevitably improve upon the last, as if we, the blessed of the 21st century, would never chase out Anaxagoras or execute Socrates — or allow others to do so — in our modern polis. Often such material and moral advancement proves true — look at the status of brain surgery now and 100 years ago, or the notion of equality under the law in 1860 and in 2006. But just as often...

...it is hard not to see that insidious forces have brought these drawings to the attention of the Muslim masses... this calculated offense (calculated, mind you, by the organizers of the distribution of the cartoons), it is hard not to link this blasphemy to a new planetary configuration, itself determined by three recent and major events. The diversionary tactic of a Syria which we never saw so concerned over religious matters... 'snip' The hardening of Iran's Islamic Republic, ready to make all kinds of theological concessions (including a grand historic alliance of Shiites and Sunnis, which experts have been telling...

The riots and demonstrations across the Middle East and Western Europe (though not yet playing here) over some cartoons of the Muslim prophet Muhammad have set off a parallel intellectual riot in the West over the nature of free speech and free expression. Many pundits and editorialists have worked feverishly to keep this a debate about the propriety of running cartoons. Some news outlets are updating their procedures so as not to offend "religious" sensibilities in the future.

There’s No Clash Here Only one civilization cares to put up a fight. By Lee Harris Does the so-called "cartoon war" represent the clash of civilizations? I wish I could answer "yes," but I can't. In order for there to be a clash of civilizations, it is necessary for there to be two civilizations, both of which are prepared to defend their deepest cultural values. Those in the Islamic world who are violently protesting the Danish cartoons clearly represent a civilization that is keen on maintaining its own deeply held traditions and convictions, as the Muslim rioters are prepared to...

Muslims who want to live under the Islamic Sharia law were told Wednesday to get out of Australia as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks. A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to Australia at a special meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, he and his ministers made it clear that extremists would face a crackdown. Treasurer Peter Costello, seen as heir apparent to Howard, hinted that some radical clerics could be asked to leave the country if they did not accept that Australia was a secular state and...