c0de
Vassal
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It is clear that the chief argument against Islam not just on this forum,
but everywhere, is based on this basic question:
So lets deal with this issue directly, instead of wasting time talking of
suicide bombers, and burqahs for women. First, lets break the issue down
into two parts:
I will answer the second question very directly: Yes.
Islam is opposed to these conditions, and I am proud
to say that it is. But the real issue is the nature of these
conditions.
The critics believe that the cause of Western supremacy are the democratic principles, of which they are so proud. Every neo-con in the world believes this. But this is a case of selective amnesia. These critics usually forget (or simply fail to mention) that democracy came to the West AFTER it had already established global supremacy. This is a basic fact of history and is undisputed. The West achieved total domination on the high seas and the battlefields before the rise of liberal democracy, during the colonial era. Therefore, those lofty humanitarian principles that are now present in Western nations can not be cited as the cause of its rise.
Islam is against those "conditions" which caused the West to rise to the 'top of the heap', because those conditions are what caused the West to lose its very soul. This is why this thread is not in political section of the forum. Because the core question is not of politics, or economics, but essentially represents the battle between spirituality and materialism. Oswald Spengler (Historian/Philosopher who wrote The Decline of the West) used a term "Faustian" to differentiate the Western Civilization from every other. He compares the "Faustian soul" to the "Magian soul" of the rest of the world. Without going into the details (for there are many) I will consider it sufficient to just say that everything the West did to get to the top, required the shedding of blood, the looting and conquering of entire continents and the genocide of entire races. This also is undisputed.
Just as Faust sold his soul, the West did the same. This is the sacrifice which The West made in order that it might rule the world. But like every deal with the devil, there was a catch: the net result of this unholy pact is that the power in the world today rests not in the hands of the West, which rules the world, but The Machine, which rules the West.
The greatest crime of the Western civilization is not the conquering of the world. Many other civilizations tried to do this before. It merely succeeded where the others failed. The real atrocity for which the West is responsible is the chief consequence of its awe-inspiring success: it has forced the rest of the world to emulate its methods, to follow in its footsteps.
Today, most of the the cultures in the world are an endangered species. There was an article in 2007 in National Geographic and it stated that 7,000 languages will be extinct by the end of this century. But the issue is much deeper then a threat to culture. Its essence lies in the fundamentally spiritual. The West, by taking up materialism and discarding the spirit, has enslaved itself to The Machine. It is true that it has derived enormous power and luxuries from this, but the entire field of post-colonialism attests to the damage the rest of the world has suffered, and continues to suffer because of its actions. These actions were only made possible because the precepts of faith were discarded. From that moment on, even religion itself was turned into an imperialist force, as it turned away from faith and became an institution (refer to Max Weber, and his proccess of evolution of religions).
Islam is in fact opposed to the conditions through which the West rose to supremacy. And so is Christianity, and Judaism. However, the materialists among us ask: what of all the benefits that materialism has brought the world? Well, from the point of view of faith, such luxuries are meaningless if they are achieved at the expense of one's soul. And that is exactly the price that was paid. At the end of the day, the development of liberal democracy is a tale of oppression, not of liberation. Only the shallowest of historical analysis can claim the success of the West as a guiding light for the rest of the world.
Unlike the claims of some, the majority of Muslims actually seek to emulate the West. They are not just "moderate" they are liberal! Most are ready to sacrifice whatever spirituality they have left, many have done so already. The Machine simply demands it. It has told the world what it needs to do, and has said that no "progress" can be achieved unless it does exactly that. And as for the radical militants in Muslim countries, the materialists have failed to provide any real evidence which supports the idea that the scripture of the Muslims, or the example of the Prophet supported the actions and ideologies of these radicals. What they have totally ignored, is the hand that materialism has played in the formation of the conditions which perpetuate the continual recruitment of young Muslims into these radical camps. They ignore these factors because any balanced view of world history will prove that materialism is the actual root of all the world's problems.
.
.
It is clear that the chief argument against Islam not just on this forum,
but everywhere, is based on this basic question:
This is the fundamental complaint of all the materialistic critics, is it not?Why is it that moslems believe that the conditions that propelled Western civilization to the top of the heap should be scrapped and the conditions that cause poverty, ignorance and ethnic and religious hatreds be put in place?
So lets deal with this issue directly, instead of wasting time talking of
suicide bombers, and burqahs for women. First, lets break the issue down
into two parts:
- What are these 'conditions' which are responsible for the rise of the West and;
- Is Islam opposed to them?
I will answer the second question very directly: Yes.
Islam is opposed to these conditions, and I am proud
to say that it is. But the real issue is the nature of these
conditions.
The critics believe that the cause of Western supremacy are the democratic principles, of which they are so proud. Every neo-con in the world believes this. But this is a case of selective amnesia. These critics usually forget (or simply fail to mention) that democracy came to the West AFTER it had already established global supremacy. This is a basic fact of history and is undisputed. The West achieved total domination on the high seas and the battlefields before the rise of liberal democracy, during the colonial era. Therefore, those lofty humanitarian principles that are now present in Western nations can not be cited as the cause of its rise.
Islam is against those "conditions" which caused the West to rise to the 'top of the heap', because those conditions are what caused the West to lose its very soul. This is why this thread is not in political section of the forum. Because the core question is not of politics, or economics, but essentially represents the battle between spirituality and materialism. Oswald Spengler (Historian/Philosopher who wrote The Decline of the West) used a term "Faustian" to differentiate the Western Civilization from every other. He compares the "Faustian soul" to the "Magian soul" of the rest of the world. Without going into the details (for there are many) I will consider it sufficient to just say that everything the West did to get to the top, required the shedding of blood, the looting and conquering of entire continents and the genocide of entire races. This also is undisputed.
Just as Faust sold his soul, the West did the same. This is the sacrifice which The West made in order that it might rule the world. But like every deal with the devil, there was a catch: the net result of this unholy pact is that the power in the world today rests not in the hands of the West, which rules the world, but The Machine, which rules the West.
The greatest crime of the Western civilization is not the conquering of the world. Many other civilizations tried to do this before. It merely succeeded where the others failed. The real atrocity for which the West is responsible is the chief consequence of its awe-inspiring success: it has forced the rest of the world to emulate its methods, to follow in its footsteps.
Today, most of the the cultures in the world are an endangered species. There was an article in 2007 in National Geographic and it stated that 7,000 languages will be extinct by the end of this century. But the issue is much deeper then a threat to culture. Its essence lies in the fundamentally spiritual. The West, by taking up materialism and discarding the spirit, has enslaved itself to The Machine. It is true that it has derived enormous power and luxuries from this, but the entire field of post-colonialism attests to the damage the rest of the world has suffered, and continues to suffer because of its actions. These actions were only made possible because the precepts of faith were discarded. From that moment on, even religion itself was turned into an imperialist force, as it turned away from faith and became an institution (refer to Max Weber, and his proccess of evolution of religions).
Islam is in fact opposed to the conditions through which the West rose to supremacy. And so is Christianity, and Judaism. However, the materialists among us ask: what of all the benefits that materialism has brought the world? Well, from the point of view of faith, such luxuries are meaningless if they are achieved at the expense of one's soul. And that is exactly the price that was paid. At the end of the day, the development of liberal democracy is a tale of oppression, not of liberation. Only the shallowest of historical analysis can claim the success of the West as a guiding light for the rest of the world.
Unlike the claims of some, the majority of Muslims actually seek to emulate the West. They are not just "moderate" they are liberal! Most are ready to sacrifice whatever spirituality they have left, many have done so already. The Machine simply demands it. It has told the world what it needs to do, and has said that no "progress" can be achieved unless it does exactly that. And as for the radical militants in Muslim countries, the materialists have failed to provide any real evidence which supports the idea that the scripture of the Muslims, or the example of the Prophet supported the actions and ideologies of these radicals. What they have totally ignored, is the hand that materialism has played in the formation of the conditions which perpetuate the continual recruitment of young Muslims into these radical camps. They ignore these factors because any balanced view of world history will prove that materialism is the actual root of all the world's problems.