Castrating Islam

We live in a globalised world whether we like it or not. Goods and services are traded across borders worldwide, and as many nations abolish the very concept of borders themselves it naturally follows that the two most powerful forces in history can cross easily as well, people, and ideas. One of these ideas, is hard to classify, is it a political system? It has laws, and bylaws, appraches, platforms, and planks, its even got quite a few councills and its own declartation of human rights because, welll the universal declaration of human rights wasn't universal enough. Is it a religon? It has holy cities and priests, commandments and even a prohpet, and millions of fiery eyed fanatics who live and die for thier faith. Is it an economic system? It has economic prohibitions, accepted codes of business conduct, even advice on trading in the form of parables. So what exactly is Islam?

At the moment? Its dangerous.
Is it dangerous because its an inherantly violent religon?

Well there is quite a bit of violent rhetoric and exhortations of jihad, But we're told that our ignorance hides the true meaning of words. Jihad is an inner spiritual struggle, or at most, an evangelical recruitment drive, to bring others to allah through the sword of allahs perfect reasoning. And what of all those people recording Martyrs Messages, before boarding a bus somwhere with a suicide vest? We're told thier misguided unfortunates whose poverty and misery lead astray to be taken advantage of by extreemsits who perverted isalm true message. When we ask why there seems to be so many extremists in so many countries, when authors are having fatwahs called down on thier heads by a nations supreme ruler and young men with dead eyes saw off men and womens heads with knives we're told that Isreal and America's policy have created generations of discontent and that if we are only more culturally sensitive then things will stop.

Ok why not?
Lets say we buy of all that.
Then Is it Dangerous because millions of people who refuse to convert would be treated as the second class citizens they would be in a theocracy, as christians and jews living in Iran and syria are today? No of course not, That doesn't hapopen, and when it does it is isolated incidents by lone gunmen, don't you know that Islamic Tolerance of other religons are famous?

Ok I saw kingdom of heaven why not?

Then why is Islam dangerous?
Becuase you can't Islam the religon, from Islam the political system, from Islam the economic system, from Islam the litearture and musical conventions.

The problem you see is that Islam still has its Balls. Islam is unafraid to say "We are right, and everyone else is going to hell" Christianity won't say it, oh sure, some Christians will say it, but the vatican? The councill of baptist churches? Not a chance. Why? Becaus Christianity was castrated during the Enlightenment. It allowed itself to be, having no other choice to stay relevant. Islam however still has its balls, it still wants to rule the world. And it has, what could be the most perfect Conquest Theology in history. The religous faith provides the strength and vitality, as well as the absolution necessary to live with the methods needed to, enforce the legal and political aspects. Law is the word of God, in all matters great and small, and any attempt to argue the law is an attempt to argue god. Since the need to conquer infidels and deliver thier lands into the the hands of allah is also the commandment of allah through his prophet, and the war is a never ending one, if the religous component proves unable to control the populace, the army, experineced from all that jihad, can easily take care of a few apostate/traitors since in a muslim theocracy they are olne and the same. At the same time the absolution for crimes comitted in gods name allows any and all participants to not only wash the blood from thier hands, but sanctify it.

So the question becomes, How to Castrate Islam? How to force the seperation of political islam from religous islam. Is it possible? Can the religon survive such a sundering? And if so, How then is the best way to force islam to accept castration?
Is force and confrontation a better strategy than reasoned dialogue and mutual respect? If not why not?

I welcome comments from muslims always.

WATS for you!

Great, well thought out post.

I suppose we can learn by looking at the European enlightenment. That wasn't forced as such, although violence and revolution did occur as other powers sought to fill the vacuum. Enlightment, I guess, just happens as people's awareness expands. Western inslamic culture, particularly 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants, is evolving that way, and this may be one the the factors making the more othodox muslims feel their faith is threatened.

Trying to do it by force would be counter-productive. Enlightened ideas flows like a river, unstoppable, in time wearing down the most hardened dogma.

Good question.

The answer, I believe, is freedom. Freedom and Islamic political/social systems are incompatible--like oil and water. While there are "extremist" or; as I like to call them "literalist" elements, constitutional law prevents Islam from becoming anything more than another religion.

In countries where Sharia law is the rule of the land, Islam has more teeth. But in the US, it doesn't. Of course, there are many Muslims, most notable the CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) who use the civil court system (and our bond with political correctness) to sue anyone at the drop of a hat in order to impose their religion on others.

Intersting thread.