Thank you Mark for this succinct and accurate analysis. Like a breath of fresh air after being rained on by the medias very confused and confusing comments. The West must learn to start thinking like muslims, and familiarise themselves with Islamic doctrine to understand their motivations. Western laws and codes I agree are mainly worthless in combatting jihad. Words like assimilation, democracy, freedom, charity, and others all seem to have a very different meaning.
How do you deal with someone who, rather than fearing death, actually wants to die as a martyr? The answer is simple - find something they really DO fear! Islamic jihadists are happy to die in jihad because they believe they will get a direct pass to heaven where 72 virgins await them. Whether they win the battle or die fighting they won't lose. However, they have an Achille's Heel - if they are killed by an 'inferior' woman, they lose the entry to heaven and all the virgins. That's one of the reasons the Kurdish forces do so well fighting against ISIS - they have female soldiers and their battle cry puts the fear of God into them because they'll never know if the bullet that could kill them was fired by a woman and in an instant, instead of heaven and all those virgins it's hell for all eternity. I wonder how more effective the bombing campaigns against the jihadists by Russia and the West would be f there were a number of female pilots flying the missions and that was widely publicized? We'd soon find out how brave the Jihadists really are! How much would they really be willing to risk in the name of jihad if there was the real possibility they might lose everything for all eternity. Would they be so quick to celebrate the martyrdom of their dead comrades and children if there was a real measure of doubt about what fate actually befell them?
Is there actually a basis of that in their texts? I've heard so far 2 versions, that this is just in the case of ISIS and generally. So I was wondering since you also mention it here, if it's just ISIS and why or all jihadist terrorist groups?
Excellently said. Rather than being incomprehensible, jihadist ideology is all too comprehensible. The problem is that the West is unable to accept it, given its intellectual descent into relativism.
Islam is an ideology of total theocratic domination. And it's in no hurry to finish its task. But to ascribe to militant Islam a random nihilism shows no appreciation of Islam's texts or history.
The huge problem for current Western thinking is to come to terms with the true spiritual/political content and purpose of Islam. For as long as we hear statements such as: there is no clash of worldviews or civilizations, the West underestimates its peril.
Islam was spread at the point of the sword. It has been present in power on the continent of Europe before, and it could be again. We have already welcomed in the potential source of our undoing, as a civilization, with our substantial Muslim populations, which must be continually told that we don't hold them responsible for the behavior of an aberrant minority.
If Islam is a religion of peace, and if jihad is anathema to all right thinking Muslims, why is the silence from our Muslim communities and from those in the Middle East and Africa so deafening?
Our politicians do us no favors by speaking in appeasing terms, as though Islam had learned coexistence.
Hello Mark I have read some different oplinions about the life of Jews in Islamic countries before 1900 that maintain it was better than in Christian countries. Did the jizzya tax always apply? I know that Christian persecution of Jews was a sad reality, but the truth seems a bit elusive due to possible moral equivalence arguments. Have you ever discussed these historical issues or could you suggest a book or article that might supply further information?
Jesus did not preach about persecuting anyone, but Christians somehow managed to declare Jews as heretics & therefore kill them horribly if they didn't convert. Have you heard of the "Spanish Inquistion"? If not look it up on Google etc. Then there were wars between Catholics & Protestants over the years. At least that stopped long ago.
Hi John - sorry I seem to have overlooked your question. My book The Third Choice discusses these issues. It might be helpful as a place to start. - Mark
Raising the question of 'Self Criticizing' is a start! It is better than just standing there with your mouth open, in utter disbelief about events like what took place in Paris!
More people need to blow that horn!
It will not change their foundational beliefs but it will prompt them to start thinking. As humans they are capable! It will at least make those who have never entertained the thought...to hesitate on the issue just long enough to halt at indiscriminate murder. It just may be enough time to save someone's life!
Then maybe later... there would be second thoughts and second thoughts may lead to a reevaluation of the system of thought that they subscribe to, at least for them to doubt themselves and inadvertently blurt out ... 'is this right? Then maybe a conversion in their minds as to why the carnage at all... It is a start!
We cannot just hold to the thought that says..."why sit we here until we die..." attitude which makes for generating fear that the terrorist hope for!
In previous centuries, and most of the 20th, it was understood that islam is incompatible with western/Christian values, and muslims were kept out of the west. It was inconvievable that a muslim population should be imported to the west. With the death of Christianity, the rise of left think and multiculturalism, the rational thought derived from reality and empirical evidence has been denied. That is why the foolish Europeans have imported millions of muslims, and why America is stupidly considering the same. Evern if there atre "good" (behaviorally,) muslims, the underlying philosophy of conquest, murder, rape and genocide exists in the "holy" book Koran. It is because of this that no muslim can ever be truly trusted, since their underlying ideology calls for the destruction of anything alien to it.
The major problem in my opinion is that islam and muslims are only viewed from the perspective of terror and terrorist. This is not the case why is christianity not judged on the activities of the crusades, its unfair to judge a religion on the opinion and parralel beliefs of a certain sect. Terror groups in the world do not constitute the whole of the muslim population but rather a microscopic section that thinks and views islam in a different way that has to do with terror and killing of mushriks. To say that islam promotes the killing of all non muslims while also stating that the quran also stated that there is no compulsion in religion is a bit confussing and means that islam contradicts itself. The verses you are qouting to explain isis ideology of killing are not always reffering to muslims and non muslims of the modern era but are speaking about the conflict that insued between the prophet and the the arabian pagans in makkah who opposed him and even threatened the early muslims and even there it was stated that you are not to kill them unless and until they kill you. So i believe that its not a mattter of self criticism or consolidated military effort or bombing by females that will solve isis crisis but rather better understanding of wether islam and understanding wether those fighting in the name of islam are actually fighting for its cause, the rationale here is of isis bomb half of europe and kill the majority or all of the non muslim civilians then who is left to be converted i believe the isis crisis is more of a political crisis from an oppresed people than a religious one and the solvijg of the political crisis in these areas is what would make the war go away. Note: jihad literrally means striving in the cause of god not killing u can perform jihad by preaching or giving social services to those in need it does not neccesarily mean fighting but rather striving in the cause of religion, also the jihadis resolve that when they die they go to heaven is not reduced because they are killed by women from the context in which they collect their belief it doesnot matter wether you are killed by a child or a woman if you die while striving for the relgion you go to heaven. Thanks
The crusaders were not Christians. they were catholics. Alsothe teachings of The Lord Jesus Christ contradicts with crusaders's actions. However what ISIS is doing is exactly what their "holy book" commands them to do. Also The crusades were done hundreds of years ago and yet isis still does that...Goodnight
unfortunately i find that hard to comprehend how can you say catholics are not christians, if that is the case then terror groups should not be associated with islam too
Christianity existed long before it was adopted and corrupted by the Romans into the the official state religion (you will note the 'Roman' in Roman Catholic Church), it was known as 'The Way'. The Crusades were a direct response to 400 years of Musul expansionism and belligerence on its frontiers.
A.T. appears to know nothing of the "principle of abrogation" and that the verses of the Koran are not laid out in chronological order. The early verses of Mecca are believed to have been cancelled by later belligerent verses, thus the apparent contradictions are resolved by this principle in the mind of the jihadist.
The root of the problem is not with Muslims or with Christians, not with Arabs or Europeans, not with privilege or oppression. The root of the problem is religion. Not a particular religion, not a distortion of a religion, but religion per se. Belief cannot overcome evil, because belief itself is evil.
Eliminating all religions and all gods is the only way forward.
The way to begin is to listen seriously to religious doctrine, to really pay attention for the first time to what is being said, and to allow your natural reaction to emerge - laughter. Religion is ridiculous, and it is slowly killing us all.
Religion does not deserve to be taken seriously. Religious beliefs do not deserve respect. Please do your part to laugh at all religion and to stop giving it respect, both privately and in public. Your laughter and ridicule may help to save the world.
I beg to differ. All human thought is belief, as all thinking is based on individual interpretation and reaction to incomplete and/or flawed sensory data. All belief cannot be stated as being evil, as this is the judgment of one against the thoughts of all including oneself. It is impossible to "eliminate all religions and all gods" and still exist. You are thus making yourself into a "god". Religion is not killing us all. It is a symptom of a much deeper illness. An illness that every finite being suffers from, including you, and me. The real problem is each individual's insane belief that life is possible apart from the source of life. Jihadism is another warped form of this illness. It believes that one can ultimately promote life (righteously) by seeking the death of others. As no one can ultimately know the heart of another, such action is ultimately murder. Some "religions" have called this human nature problem sin. I prescribe that it is a sickness that only a perfect God can fix. Not a god of war, but a god of love, for a warring heart is a symptom of the illness, not the cure.
Why is it impossible to eliminate all religions? Communism and other dorms of government did a pretty food job albeit ruthlessly. China now moves forard as a county and doesn't celebrate the cultural revolution that for them to their current point. All religions are backwards in that they look backwards for inspiration to live into the future. How dumb is that! We should be looking to the future for inspiration and longevity of our species and that's how we need to start thinking to survive....as a species.
Comments are moderated. Avoid profanities or foul language. Stay on topic. Avoid ad hominem attacks. Posts which violate these principles or are deemed offensive in any way will be deleted.
Thank you Mark for this succinct and accurate analysis. Like a breath of fresh air after being rained on by the medias very confused and confusing comments. The West must learn to start thinking like muslims, and familiarise themselves with Islamic doctrine to understand their motivations. Western laws and codes I agree are mainly worthless in combatting jihad. Words like assimilation, democracy, freedom, charity, and others all seem to have a very different meaning.
ReplyDelete>religious illiteracy
ReplyDeleteExactly
How do you deal with someone who, rather than fearing death, actually wants to die as a martyr? The answer is simple - find something they really DO fear! Islamic jihadists are happy to die in jihad because they believe they will get a direct pass to heaven where 72 virgins await them. Whether they win the battle or die fighting they won't lose.
ReplyDeleteHowever, they have an Achille's Heel - if they are killed by an 'inferior' woman, they lose the entry to heaven and all the virgins.
That's one of the reasons the Kurdish forces do so well fighting against ISIS - they have female soldiers and their battle cry puts the fear of God into them because they'll never know if the bullet that could kill them was fired by a woman and in an instant, instead of heaven and all those virgins it's hell for all eternity. I wonder how more effective the bombing campaigns against the jihadists by Russia and the West would be f there were a number of female pilots flying the missions and that was widely publicized? We'd soon find out how brave the Jihadists really are! How much would they really be willing to risk in the name of jihad if there was the real possibility they might lose everything for all eternity. Would they be so quick to celebrate the martyrdom of their dead comrades and children if there was a real measure of doubt about what fate actually befell them?
Is there actually a basis of that in their texts? I've heard so far 2 versions, that this is just in the case of ISIS and generally. So I was wondering since you also mention it here, if it's just ISIS and why or all jihadist terrorist groups?
DeleteI've never come across a basis for such an idea.
DeleteDon't bitch too hard about the European media, One of our 'leading' Australian TV stations reported on the matter live with a Dutch Flag superimposed.
ReplyDelete"You may not be interested in religious war, but religious war is interested in you." - @walterkirn
ReplyDeleteExcellently said. Rather than being incomprehensible, jihadist ideology is all too comprehensible. The problem is that the West is unable to accept it, given its intellectual descent into relativism.
ReplyDeleteIslam is an ideology of total theocratic domination. And it's in no hurry to finish its task. But to ascribe to militant Islam a random nihilism shows no appreciation of Islam's texts or history.
The huge problem for current Western thinking is to come to terms with the true spiritual/political content and purpose of Islam. For as long as we hear statements such as: there is no clash of worldviews or civilizations, the West underestimates its peril.
Islam was spread at the point of the sword. It has been present in power on the continent of Europe before, and it could be again. We have already welcomed in the potential source of our undoing, as a civilization, with our substantial Muslim populations, which must be continually told that we don't hold them responsible for the behavior of an aberrant minority.
If Islam is a religion of peace, and if jihad is anathema to all right thinking Muslims, why is the silence from our Muslim communities and from those in the Middle East and Africa so deafening?
Our politicians do us no favors by speaking in appeasing terms, as though Islam had learned coexistence.
Well said. Islam should be banned
DeleteGetting Muslims to self-critcize their own beliefs is a non-starter. That will take an act of God. Good luck with that.
ReplyDeleteHello Mark
ReplyDeleteI have read some different oplinions about the life of Jews in Islamic countries before 1900 that maintain it was better than in Christian countries. Did the jizzya tax always apply? I know that Christian persecution of Jews was a sad reality, but the truth seems a bit elusive due to possible moral equivalence arguments. Have you ever discussed these historical issues or could you suggest a book or article that might supply further information?
What Christian persecution of the Jews. Jesus Christ NEVER preached that.
DeleteJesus did not preach about persecuting anyone, but Christians somehow managed to declare Jews as heretics & therefore kill them horribly if they didn't convert. Have you heard of the "Spanish Inquistion"? If not look it up on Google etc.
DeleteThen there were wars between Catholics & Protestants over the years. At least that stopped long ago.
Hi John - sorry I seem to have overlooked your question. My book The Third Choice discusses these issues. It might be helpful as a place to start. - Mark
DeleteRaising the question of 'Self Criticizing' is a start! It is better than just standing there with your mouth open, in utter disbelief about events like what took place in Paris!
ReplyDeleteMore people need to blow that horn!
It will not change their foundational beliefs but it will prompt them to start thinking. As humans they are capable! It will at least make those who have never entertained the thought...to hesitate on the issue just long enough to halt at indiscriminate murder. It just may be enough time to save someone's life!
Then maybe later... there would be second thoughts and second thoughts may lead to a reevaluation of the system of thought that they subscribe to, at least for them to doubt themselves and inadvertently blurt out ... 'is this right? Then maybe a conversion in their minds as to why the carnage at all... It is a start!
We cannot just hold to the thought that says..."why sit we here until we die..." attitude which makes for generating fear that the terrorist hope for!
In previous centuries, and most of the 20th, it was understood that islam is incompatible with western/Christian values, and muslims were kept out of the west. It was inconvievable that a muslim population should be imported to the west. With the death of Christianity, the rise of left think and multiculturalism, the rational thought derived from reality and empirical evidence has been denied. That is why the foolish Europeans have imported millions of muslims, and why America is stupidly considering the same. Evern if there atre "good" (behaviorally,) muslims, the underlying philosophy of conquest, murder, rape and genocide exists in the "holy" book Koran. It is because of this that no muslim can ever be truly trusted, since their underlying ideology calls for the destruction of anything alien to it.
ReplyDeleteThe major problem in my opinion is that islam and muslims are only viewed from the perspective of terror and terrorist. This is not the case why is christianity not judged on the activities of the crusades, its unfair to judge a religion on the opinion and parralel beliefs of a certain sect. Terror groups in the world do not constitute the whole of the muslim population but rather a microscopic section that thinks and views islam in a different way that has to do with terror and killing of mushriks. To say that islam promotes the killing of all non muslims while also stating that the quran also stated that there is no compulsion in religion is a bit confussing and means that islam contradicts itself. The verses you are qouting to explain isis ideology of killing are not always reffering to muslims and non muslims of the modern era but are speaking about the conflict that insued between the prophet and the the arabian pagans in makkah who opposed him and even threatened the early muslims and even there it was stated that you are not to kill them unless and until they kill you. So i believe that its not a mattter of self criticism or consolidated military effort or bombing by females that will solve isis crisis but rather better understanding of wether islam and understanding wether those fighting in the name of islam are actually fighting for its cause, the rationale here is of isis bomb half of europe and kill the majority or all of the non muslim civilians then who is left to be converted i believe the isis crisis is more of a political crisis from an oppresed people than a religious one and the solvijg of the political crisis in these areas is what would make the war go away. Note: jihad literrally means striving in the cause of god not killing u can perform jihad by preaching or giving social services to those in need it does not neccesarily mean fighting but rather striving in the cause of religion, also the jihadis resolve that when they die they go to heaven is not reduced because they are killed by women from the context in which they collect their belief it doesnot matter wether you are killed by a child or a woman if you die while striving for the relgion you go to heaven. Thanks
ReplyDeleteThe crusaders were not Christians. they were catholics. Alsothe teachings of The Lord Jesus Christ contradicts with crusaders's actions. However what ISIS is doing is exactly what their "holy book" commands them to do. Also The crusades were done hundreds of years ago and yet isis still does that...Goodnight
Deleteunfortunately i find that hard to comprehend how can you say catholics are not christians, if that is the case then terror groups should not be associated with islam too
DeleteChristianity existed long before it was adopted and corrupted by the Romans into the the official state religion (you will note the 'Roman' in Roman Catholic Church), it was known as 'The Way'. The Crusades were a direct response to 400 years of Musul expansionism and belligerence on its frontiers.
DeleteA.T. appears to know nothing of the "principle of abrogation" and that the verses of the Koran are not laid out in chronological order. The early verses of Mecca are believed to have been cancelled by later belligerent verses, thus the apparent contradictions are resolved by this principle in the mind of the jihadist.
DeleteThe root of the problem is not with Muslims or with Christians, not with Arabs or Europeans, not with privilege or oppression. The root of the problem is religion. Not a particular religion, not a distortion of a religion, but religion per se. Belief cannot overcome evil, because belief itself is evil.
ReplyDeleteEliminating all religions and all gods is the only way forward.
The way to begin is to listen seriously to religious doctrine, to really pay attention for the first time to what is being said, and to allow your natural reaction to emerge - laughter. Religion is ridiculous, and it is slowly killing us all.
Religion does not deserve to be taken seriously. Religious beliefs do not deserve respect. Please do your part to laugh at all religion and to stop giving it respect, both privately and in public. Your laughter and ridicule may help to save the world.
I beg to differ. All human thought is belief, as all thinking is based on individual interpretation and reaction to incomplete and/or flawed sensory data. All belief cannot be stated as being evil, as this is the judgment of one against the thoughts of all including oneself. It is impossible to "eliminate all religions and all gods" and still exist. You are thus making yourself into a "god". Religion is not killing us all. It is a symptom of a much deeper illness. An illness that every finite being suffers from, including you, and me. The real problem is each individual's insane belief that life is possible apart from the source of life. Jihadism is another warped form of this illness. It believes that one can ultimately promote life (righteously) by seeking the death of others. As no one can ultimately know the heart of another, such action is ultimately murder. Some "religions" have called this human nature problem sin. I prescribe that it is a sickness that only a perfect God can fix. Not a god of war, but a god of love, for a warring heart is a symptom of the illness, not the cure.
DeleteWhy is it impossible to eliminate all religions? Communism and other dorms of government did a pretty food job albeit ruthlessly. China now moves forard as a county and doesn't celebrate the cultural revolution that for them to their current point. All religions are backwards in that they look backwards for inspiration to live into the future. How dumb is that! We should be looking to the future for inspiration and longevity of our species and that's how we need to start thinking to survive....as a species.
Delete