If religion is the sole cause of the problem, then Christianity must have been the sole cause of the years of violence in Ireland, as Catholics battled Protestants. I say there are lots of contributing factors that cause extremism in society, social and economic not being the least of causes, add excessive nationalism to the mix, and the problems increase ten fold. Religious perversion can be used to justify radical action, there are still some Christians who hate Jews, using the justification that the Jews were responsible for the death of Christ, some 2000 years ago.

Dear Paul,

«If religion is the sole cause of the problem»

I would just drop the word "sole": religion is not the cause of any problem.
There is also no such thing as "Religious perversion", only perversion under the guise of religion.

While elements of both Islam and Christianity can be and often are incorporated into some people's religion, that does not automatically render them as religions by themselves.

Other than that, I completely agree with your comment.

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On the article:

Expecting "an easy relationship with liberal democracy" is overreaching and unreasonable, more so when we have neither true liberalism nor true democracy and likely no true liberal democracies ever existed anywhere.

I for one, also do not have an easy relationship with what commonly passes for liberal democracy, yet I do not kill, injure, burn, destroy or otherwise disturb others - and no more than this should be expected of Muslims either.

Similarly, no one should be expected to "grant innate dignity to non-believers", since innate dignity can neither be granted nor taken away: others may either have it already, or not!

Once such unreasonable demands are removed, one finds that the vast majority of Muslims are good people, well beyond just Ahmadiyya (and Sufism). One of them, in fact, Ahmed al-Ahmed, risked his life and was wounded in order to save "non-believers". And he is not an exception: his family and Syrian community are all proud of him.

At the end of the day, for better or worse, people are being ruled by their own hearts, not by theology or folklore.
(and speaking of theology and folklore, neither are necessarily of a true religious nature)

Hi Yuyutsu,

Perverted religious belief can be dangerous, and much of that stems from wild interpretation of scripture, be it the Bible, the Koran, simply in ones own mind, whatever. Mix that with self righteousness, and a belief that one is doing Gods will, then you have a possible recipe for disaster, agree? There are other dangerous factors involved, a charismatic leader(s) creating certain beliefs within the minds of the followers, claiming to be the prophet of God, or even the reincarnation of God himself. I think its called a cult following.

"A religious cult is a group with unorthodox beliefs, often centred on a charismatic leader, demanding extreme devotion, and using high-pressure tactics for recruitment and control, leading to exploitation (financial, sexual, labour) and isolation from outside life, with examples like Heaven's Gate or "The Family" (Anne Hamilton-Byrne) showing destructive potential, though "cult" is a contentious term, historically used for new movements now seen as religions (like early Christianity)."

Christianity has many cults within itself as does Islam and Judaism, and I'm sure others do as well. Those who for what reason reject the mainstream of the religion, and create an alternate radicalisation. some are benign, there are many within Christianity, but there are others that become so radicalised that violent extremism follows. Agree?

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1182981643695206

Christianity gas moved on since the Crusades !

ateday,
re steady,
Damn predictive text, only just spotted the error !

Dear Paul,

«Perverted religious belief can be dangerous»

Perverted beliefs can be dangerous.

Just beware please of mistakenly counting such dangerous beliefs as "religious", only because they happen to include the word 'God' or the like.

«and much of that stems from wild interpretation of scripture, be it the Bible, the Koran»

Again, are the above books religious? Are they truly scriptures?
I doubt.

«Mix that with self righteousness, and a belief that one is doing Gods will»

The intent to do God's will and that alone, is wonderful. It is a great purifier.
But how can God's will be consciously done when one has no clue what God is?

«then you have a possible recipe for disaster, agree?»

Yes, acting AS IF one follows God's will while having no clue what it is, can be a recipe for disaster.

«Christianity has many cults within itself as does Islam and Judaism, and I'm sure others do as well. Those who for what reason reject the mainstream of the religion, and create an alternate radicalisation.»

The term "mainstream of the religion" assumes that Christianity/Islam/Judaism are religions.

I disagree with that assumption.

«some are benign, there are many within Christianity, but there are others that become so radicalised that violent extremism follows. Agree?»

Yes.
So long as Christianity is not described as a religion, I agree.