Comments on: England’s Cognitive Dissonance

By: Henry Frisch

Henry Frisch — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 09:35:54 +0000

Mycroft-

I have trouble following your pronoun “they”– what are you saying?

By: mycroft

mycroft — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 00:26:50 +0000

Christianity has basically changed and Islam needs to follow suit

Probably Christianity has changed due to external factors-the Enlightenment and Secular power in countries where Christians tend to predominate. If they had the power would they be so tolerant?

By: Henry Frisch

Henry Frisch — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 16:26:39 +0000

Yoel-

I would never lump all members of any group together. The fact remains that you cannot point to firm, positive widespread action against fundamentalists from within Islam. Without internal Muslim policing, the situation is not going to improve. Christianity has basically changed and Islam needs to follow suit. A pluralistic world view that tolerates others is an absolute requirement for an improved future.

By: Yoel

Yoel — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 12:12:10 +0000

This kind of attitude towards Islam as a whole is pretty distressing, and not especially constructive. To be sure, view our enemies (fundamental Muslims who view Jews as an enemy and terrorism as a solution) with this sort of animosity. Do not, however, lump all Muslims in to one category. Don’t forget that they are the only other religion in the world which worships Hashem alone (with the exception of Unitarians, I suppose) and that when the time comes, it will without any doubt be us and them against the Christians who seem to be such good friends to us now.

By: Henry Frisch

Henry Frisch — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 11:49:59 +0000

Essentially, the Muslim world refuses to take responsibility. Where are the fatwas against extremists and their views? Where is the Saudi government when it comes to containing extreme Wahabi imams? Where are the Shiites who would likewise curb and modernize their brand of Islam? Are there no ways for western powers to influence Muslims short of undertaking a real effort to curb oil use? And would even that help?

Still, the problem in the U.K. seems related to the social structure. Other western countries have been more successful at the kind of integration that deters the e3xtremism.