ISLAM

I was brought up in the Christian tradition of sacrifice and forgiveness, although my parents were neither religious nor honorable. Still, whatever the absurdities of his being the son of god (which he did not believe), Jesus seemed, growing up, to be a noble figure. His dictum of 'he who lives by the sword dies by the sword' seemed eminently right to me. I also grew curious over other religions, finding each both interesting and worthy of study. Islam nevertheless shocked me. A religious leader who was also a warlord! This struck at my very understanding of holiness. A religious leader who ordered killings! This I could not accept! No doubt Mohammed was both convinced of his calling and forceful, but he was singularly nasty.

How do we understand the religion's success. I suggest because it appeals to our visceral natures in a way that other more thoughtful religions do not. It is not a religion of the intellect, it does not clamour for ideas, only for sameness, insistence on the suppression of change and of life. Its condoning of violence, all Islamic states are oppressive, seems a beacon to the violent in all societies. I recall a photo of imans coming out of a national meeting in Bradford, making no dress concessions of course, bearded and miserable looking. Compare that to Hindus joyfully celebrating in their religious festivals. This is certainly the only religion in which its priests call for the murder of others. Extraordinary!

In its present form, Islam is a political/economic system that employs, those that do at least, terrorism to control territory. Westerners must not encroach on Islamic land (bin Laden), nor politically interfere in Islamic lands. Without armies they resort to other military means.