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 Originally Posted by Poopadoop
The historical arguments go both ways. There's plenty of examples of Christianity being spread by force.
There is an integral distinction. Scriptural adherence to Christianity is contrary to proselytizing by force. Religious reformations are always about a return to scripture. Christianity's reformations have been a wresting of the soul of Christianity away from the corruption of it by the Catholic warlords that you've described, and instead an embracing of Jesus.
Islam is the opposite. Scriptural Islam is the way of Muhammad. The way of Muhammad is jihad against non-believers by the sword. Muhammad abrogates every other aspect of Islam. This is taught in every mosque in the world. Muhammad was a warlord who murdered and enslaved, and he died with that as his final message.
First, ISIS is radical, fundamental Islam. It is not mainstream but outside of that. Whatever you've been told or heard Donald Trump say is the propaganda. A lot of the people living as muslims in ISIS controlled territory fucking hate it and don't want anything to do with it. A parallel can be drawn with Iran. 90% of the people living there don't support the government and would prefer democracy. They ignore dress codes in private. They buy alcohol on the black market and drink it in their homes. They had public demonstrations over the election and the army opened fire. It's a fucked up place. ISIS is another case where a group of assholes have co-opted a religion for their own fucked up purposes of seizing power.
ISIS is only radical to us. To the Islamic scriptures and their teachings, ISIS is the reformation, the return to scripture.
Most Muslims have elements of being "nominal Muslims" and elements of secularization. However, it is not from their scriptures and their teachings that they derive this.
I'm not a theologian but I'd be surprised if that was it's purpose any more than Protestantism was created to destroy Catholocism, rather than as a reaction to dissatisfaction with mainstream religion and an alternative way of worshipping the same God.
Its purpose was jihad against the non-Muhammad-like. In the scriptures, Muhammad's success was entirely by murdering and raping and subjugating. He preached early in life but it didn't work so he changed to being a warlord. Even the most liberal of Imams today teaches total abrogation by Muhammad of all previous teachings. Jihad by the sword is Islam's intent.
You're implying that people with tolerant attitudes to religion have been unduly influenced by their education. I would argue you've been unduly influenced by xenophobic, intolerant individuals.
I'm tolerant of people doing whatever they want as long as they don't infringe upon others. This means that I am tolerant of Muslims who do not infringe. What I am not tolerant of is an ideology with the express purpose of killing me.
Islam cannot be changed because of its scriptural backing, and the strategy of its goal to eradicate all non-Muhammad-like elements of the world involves creep. The danger of this creep is seen in things like how there is a movement of young Muslims in the western world, who come from parents who are slightly more secularized, turning towards ISIS and similar jihad. The reason for this is because of the reality that religions can only reform towards scripture, and Islam scripture is jihad.
Events in the middle east >1000 years ago were pretty minor compared to how Christianity has been spread historically. I've also quoted more recent examples that directly contradict your last statement.
I answered most of this already, but I'll add one thing.
It is not a coincidence that where Christianity dominates there is tolerance for other ways of life, while where Islam dominates there is tolerance for no other ways of life. The tiny degree to which there is some small tolerance (for example in Iran) is apostasy to Muhammad, and ISIS is Islam's "Protestant Reformation" trying to fix that.
I'm not defending Islam, I think all religion is fucked. But I think your kind of thinking is dangerous because it promotes the sort of mentality that will lead to a modern day crusade.
Interesting word choice. IIRC the Crusades make up ~<5% of the battles between Islam and the Christian West. The remaining battles were Islamic conquest upon Christian territory. The Crusades were a meager counter, curiously in Christian territory previously conquered by Islamic warlords.
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