Islam brooks no form of dialogue that contains ANYTHING that smatters of direct or indirect criticism.It cannot afford to because it is afraid of rational scrutiny and any belief system that is guilty of this admits to a known and feared inferiority.
It is basically the remnants of bronze age thinking and thus in the 21st century it is an anachronism that has outlived its use-by-date.What keeps it alive is the use of intimidation and violence. They depend for iteir survival on keeping its adherents in ignorance.Look at the example of the Taliban, the scourge of the world.Lovely freedom-loving people,arent they..Everyone of them ignorant bigots ...they dont even understand their own religion.

What has any Islamic community been able to offer the world from its sciences?Look at the contributions of non-Islamic countries' contribution from India and China.Where Muslims are beginning to make their contributions are from the shelter of liberal democratic and secular societies. Most Islamic countries are feudal in their political and social structures.

Why have millions of Muslims migrated to other countries?I should have said FLED to other parts of the world.It is because they want something better for their children and grandchildren.They want freedom from fear and intimidation. They have had a gutful of the politics of repression and hate.

socratease

The power of religion in indigent societies is more potent and influential upon its believers than political power or military power, especially in Muslim societies where religious and political power are inseparable and is exercised by theocracies. And as the author correctly states the believers of Mohammed are vulnerable to the most fictional conspiracies and tend to scapegoat others for their own ills and those of their countries. It’s this unshakable belief in the evil of others, in this case of the West in general and of the American Satan in particular, that makes Muslims extremely dangerous to Western civilization.

http://daringoutlook.blogspot.com

Interesting article.

One of the key points would be:

<<Reminded daily that they are recipients of God’s final revelation, a large minority of Muslims - perhaps between 10 and 15 per cent - embrace the Islamist idea that the cause of their backwardness lies not in a failure to embrace modernity but in a failure to fully embrace their faith.>>

I suggest this is the problem in the West also. Our vulnerability to highly organized, highly motivated groups who are opposed to our values lies in our spiritual weakness and denial of that foundation from which we derive our date 6/6/ 2008.....

That the events in Jerusalem way back then, are pivotal in history cannot be denied. The world began changing then in ways that cannot be fathomed by the shallow minded.

The outpouring of the Grace of God, the self sacrifice of Christ Jesus, his command to spread the world of love and Grace, and to make disciples of all nations..... this, without question is what gave us the best of 'today'.

Sadly, the West has not used it's freedom for the best choices. The great Apostle Paul said

<<You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.>>

Have we done that as nations? no.. we have increasingly served the sinful nature, and served self rather than loved others in His name.

So..shame on us, we need to repent.. yep..repent.. turn around, turn back, embrace the truth of God in Christ and begin that process which Paul describes as:

"Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

The author singles out Islam but I would say most religions "wield fear and faith to pressure their societies in conservative directions".

Q&A...et tu, tu quoque.

No "Christian" nation on the planet is a theocracy, other than the Vatican (which is hardly a "nation"). Yours is a very thin response.

An interesting article which will inevitably draw the Islamophobes like cats to exposed meat (so to speak). As it has done thus far.

Viking, your comment got me thinking - which "Muslim" nations do you think are theocracies, and on what basis would you nominate them as such?