Islamic Radicals or Radical Islam?

A lot has happened in the last few months, and even now I don’t find myself particularly motivated to write on most of the events. Instead, I like to see patterns and comment on those large, inescapable patterns politicians and the public would rather ignore.

Islamic culture preserved science, math, and philosophy in the West. Islamic scholars protected knowledge from, quite bluntly, Christians. Let us admit, the Catholic Church set the world back at least 400 years.

Radicals start all religions. 

Early Christians were radicals. All sects within Christianity were started by radicals.

Islamic radicals have been a pattern since the start of the religion. I don’t mean that every Islamic individual or even Islamic nation has been a problem, but I do mean that Islam seems to have its fair number of radical believers unwilling to enter the modern world. It’s not unique, though.

I’m tired of the line that Christianity was “just as bad” in some way. Much of Christianity still is toxic. White supremacism uses the Christian faith. Homophobic Christians cite scriptures and Apocrypha to defend their views. I’m not a Christian, and I’m not about to defend any religion or Colonialism.

Catholicism was part of colonialism. Yet, it was also part of the Social Gospel movement. Islam in some regions is oppressive, but that is not the history of the faith. Islam requires that its followers treat each other equally, regardless of background.

I also don’t think we should be comparing a current problem to the sins of humanity over the last six thousand or more years. Yes, the Crusades were terrible. The Muslim nations eventually won. Yes, the Ottoman Empire fell and European powers sliced up the Middle East, but some Arab leaders sided with Hitler —  not exactly a winning position morally or historically.

History is messy. Humanity rarely looks good in retrospect.

Thankfully, religion is fading in some places. I mean that sincerely. I wish religion would fade away entirely. I know, however, that it won’t.

When is the last time the majority of Europeans went to church? Clearly, modernity has trumped religious superstition in Europe. Maybe the only good thing to come out of WWII was a loss of faith. Enough people died because of religion that most Europeans have no stomach for such nonsense.

It is time for Muslims to stop caring what the Pope says. Who listens to the Pope? I can’t name a Catholic I know who listens to the Pope on major issues, ranging from birth control to gay marriage. The Pope matters more to Islamic Radicals than Western Catholics.

Religion is vulnerable to radicalization.

Once we admit faith appeals to people seeking external controls, external morals, external purposes, then we admit that religions appeal to people with emotional needs.

Cartoons? Operas? Stupid skits on Comedy Central? Deal with it. A tiny, tiny fraction of people claiming to “defend” Islam are doing harm to the faith’s image. Change the channel, do not see a film, and ignore a book. It’s not like people read that much, anyway.

Muslims saved the West during the Dark Ages. We should do a much better job teaching about the full, rich history of world religions.

Right now we need a change from within Islam, a call to peace, and the inner battle to be better people.