When Muhammad first started, Islam had a distinct message of live and let live
Sun Tzu, I don't know if you've checked out the history, but Islam's conquest of the Middle East, Northern Africa and Spain was not exactly a peaceful merger and acquisition.
Sure, you can find messages of revenge in Judaism. And you can find messages about the goodness of forced conversions and Crusades in Christianity. But jihad is a pillar of the faith in Islam, front and center. Unlike Christianity, the founding prophet of Islam was also a conquering general. That's why Churchill once described Islam as a "barracks religion," meaning a great one for soldiers.
Along the same lines, Christianity has not been so peaceful either. Today Christians see their God and their religion as a forgiving loving God. But even a cursory look at its history shows that this perception has not always been true or at least has not always been fallowed.
Again, sure. But we are talking about today, ST. About what is the mainstream-the-proof-is-right-there-in-scripture-it's-easy-to-support-and-hard-to-oppose position for Islam, Christianity and Judaism today. Not a thousand years ago, or two thousand.
When you look at the religions today, there is no question that Islam, taken all in all, is far more literal-minded and far more warlike than Christianity or Judaism. The Wahabbi/Takfiri influence is just too strong. |
