| Submit your comments on this article |
| Olde Tyme Religion |
| Corruption of the Faith? |
| 2006-08-17 |
| By Andrew G. Bostom An August 12 Washington Times editorial endorsed President Bush’s use of the term “Islamic Fascism” to denote the ideology of the jihad terrorists whose plot to slaughter thousands of airline passengers leaving Britain was thankfully disrupted. The editorialists characterized the jihadists ideology more specifically as …chauvinistic, regarding non-Muslims as a lesser breed of expendable or contemptible dhimmis and infidels. It favors autocracy and severe social and economic restrictions, as did the Taliban. It demands the total subordination of the individual to the group—sometimes manifesting in murderously suicidal deaths like the fiery destruction Britain's would-be bombers sought. This is not mainstream Islam, of course. It is a corruption of the faith. Ignoring the expected outpouring of complaints from apologists for jihad terror who cynically decried (for example here, here) any “Islamic” references, or other less pressing semantic concerns ( “Islamism” versus “Islamic fascism” ), the Washington Times editorial, indirectly, raises this critical question: just what comprises “mainstream” Islam (“of course”), as opposed to “corruption of the faith”? These pressing corollary questions arise as well: What is the origin of “chauvinistic” concepts such as the treatment of non-Muslims as “contemptible dhimmis and infidels” who are rightfully placed under “severe social and economic restrictions”? Is it accurate to maintain that such discriminatory beliefs and practices merely derive from the very recent Taliban movement in (Pakistan and) Afghanistan, are unrelated to “mainstream” Islam, and further, represent a “corruption” of Islam? Is it really out of bounds to even consider that the heinous practice of suicide-homicide bombings may have profound Islamic religious justification? Rest at link. |
| Posted by:ed |
| #1 I don't think other muslims see them as lunatics. I believe they see them as the "Ultimate Muslim Faithfull". |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2006-08-17 11:06 |