So much of what is written by "experts" on Islam is little more than simplistic nonsense couched in impressive academic language. I enjoyed reading this article because it showed how easy it is to undermine the arguments used by those who keep painting Muslims as "the other".

However, I also find it disturbing when some Muslims keep harping on about double standards of western governments. Muslim governments hardly have an impressive record in this department.

excellent piece

Thank you for your thoughtful article. We agree on the ethical crisis of liberal democracies and the eventual futility of Fukuyama’s analysis. However there is one thing I must way about the theological shorthand you use when you describe Islam as: “an Abrahamic faith, (that) shares the monotheistic root and ethical vision of Huntington’s and Fukuyama’s “Judeo-Christian heritage” Firstly, Islam is Abrahamic only by a fairly superficial adoption. Abraham does not have the place in Islam that he has in Judaism as the father of faith. Please correct me if I am wrong. Secondly, to describe the Judeo-Christian heritage as having monotheism in common with Islam, while superficially true when compared to paganism, is misleading when we understand the centrality of the doctrine of the Trinity in Christian theology. This difference is at the root of many theological differences that exist between Islam and Christianity, most specifically how the sacred texts are understood. As I understand it Allah is a God beyond human sense and makes his will know by transmitting his law to the prophet. In Judaism God dwells in the text as the Word. While Mohamed is the human receptacle for the law, in Judaism God exists in his speech, in the text not beyond it. This understanding is brought forward into Christianity with the understanding that Jesus is the Word made flesh, he is not a messenger but is actually God enfleshed. While Allah is a “monadal consciousness” the Christian God is known as the truth of all things in history by human subjectivity. (Father, Son and Holy Spirit.)
Another very important difference between Islam and Christianity is that Mohamed was a warrior who used violence to progress his cause, Jesus, on the other hand, delivered himself over to the violent powers of the world to do their worst and thus revealed them for what they are. This must be lived out in the behavior of their followers, something that Islam, understandably, in the present crisis rarely acknowledges.

I do not wish to insult others - but islam has nothing at all to do with Judaism or Christianity. Moslems worship an entirely different god, a pagan god if you please. This pagan god was once called 'hubal' the moon god of Mecca. The islamic insignia remains a crescent moon. Islam was never a tolerant religion, all non-moslems had to pay extra taxes, live in certain areas, had not the recourse to the law as the moslems had. What we Christians call the Old Testament has over 300 prophecies regarding The Messiah, Jesus. All these prophecies were fulfilled. Then the New Testament which depicted the life and teachings of Jesus. Then, only then many of hundreds of years later came the koran which is a mishmash of both the Old & New Testaments. This koran claims that the Jewish Fathers - Abraham etc were moslem and that is a toal lie. The aim of moslems as stated many times in the koran is the death and destruction of all other religions - especially Judaism and Christianity. numbat

thanks numbat, for a second i thought this might be a productive discussion of the basis for the curent geopolitical situation and an attemmpt to discuss the future of contries like iraq, instead you drag us back into the pointless arguments of so many other threads on this topic.

but while we are here.

pagan: Of or pertaining to one of the polytheistic faiths indiginous to Europe. Literally means "country dweller" (latin, apparently an insult)

could you explain then how islams monotheastic worship of a divine god is the same as the worship of mulitple gods manifest in natural phenomena or animals.

or how about those very christian traditions of the christmas tree and easter eggs? pagan traditions assimilated by chritianity.

i may be wrong (sells im sure can help me out) but i thought the concept of the trinity was arived at to explain to the pagans of europe how exactly this infinite and all powerful god died.

my point, both christianity and islam have assimilted aspects of the religions that precede them, this is a non issue, now can we please get back on the topic?

I agree that hypocritical acts and statements of the US are the reason it is a target, and is a significant catalyst for the growth of Islamist terrorist groups, but the relative positions of Islamic nations is important. And there is a reactionary aspect to it, eg. the relatively recent prominence of headscarves in Turkey, and fundamentalism in general. I think a lot of it has to do with a sense of powerlessness, on personal, national and global levels. Similarly for Christian fundamentalists re:cultural values, but they are in a superior & comfortable economic position, have no real grievances and can't rebel against any foreign authority.

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Don't worry numbat, you're only insulting yourself. Where did you get that stuff about the moon? A Chick tract?

If the new testament is an extension of the old, then what's wrong with saying that Moses was of the same religion as Peter? Christianity also wants the death and destruction of all other religions ("No god before me","Unbelievers are anti-christs" etc.)