People keep arguing over whether Islam is peaceful or warlike. Is Osama a representative of the extreme fringe of the religion, or a defender of its central doctrines? I think the question needs to be looked at a bit differently, because Islam is not one thing, the way the Catholic Church is. In spite of all the liturgical and cultural variations in the Church, not to mention the outright dissent, it’s still possible to say “The Church teaches X.” If you disagree with X, you’re not Catholic, or at least you’re disobedient. Not so Islam. With regard to whether or not to nuke the West, the opinion of any given Muslim is just the opinion of that Muslim, and he isn’t more or less Muslim according to his stance. So in answer to the question of whether Islam is militant or peaceful, I think we should just acknowledge that some Muslims are peaceful and some warlike, and then work on making ourselves more truly and intensely Catholic.
Categories
Blogroll
Christians
Conservatives
Microbrew Education
Musica Sacra
The Church Visible
The Culture of Life
The Touchables
- Barbarian Books
- Blatter Pipes
- Blown Glass by Toccalino and Toccalino
- Casavant Organs
- CJ Dixon Celtic Instruments
- Ernie's Knives
- London Potters' Guild
- M-J Falconry Hoods
- Michaud Wooden Games
- Neil O'Grady Uilleann Pipes
- Northern Watters Knitwear
- Richard Cox Irish Flutes
- Silva Bay Shipyard School
- Smithbilt Hats
- Somers Bagpipes
- Splash Unbleached Cotton Clothing
- Split Cane Rods by Don Andersen
- Stelios Chrysochou & Co, Gunsmiths
- Stoneboat Vineyards
Archives
Meta
Dunno if I agree on this one. Being currently rather deeply immersed in the whole question of jihad I think you have a point and then again I think you don’t. Granted Muslims don’t have one final spiritual authority to turn to on questions of faith but if you read the Koran it’s pretty explicit about what constitutes a true Muslim. Of course, some Muslims are going to interpret the Koran their own way just as Protestants can interpret the Bible as they see fit. So I guess your first point stands. Re: your final statement. As always the main focus of our lives ought to be focusing on our own spiritual lives however, the question of the nature of Islam cannot be ignored because a) they are one of a very few groups of ppl out there still having kids and pretty soon they’ll be the majority in previously Catholic centres of power. This ought to concern us. b) the warlike ones ain’t too nice to Catholics be they intense or lukewarm and we better be prepared to deal with it ourselves or at least to support the many of our brethren already suffering under the persecution of Islamic fundamentalists in the Middle East and Africa. Islam is at odds with our religion and to deal with any threat one must understand it to some degree.
gee maybe I should go write my thesis instead of wasting all this time ranting about it here
Yeah, points taken. But I think the way not to get demographically run over by Islam is to 1)be better Catholics, thus making evident the truth of the Faith, and 2)as part of being better Catholics, give the gift of life with wild abandon. With regard to Catholics currently being persecuted, I’d say we can’t pretend to be making ourselves into better Catholics unless we’re willing to help our brothers.