tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14410967.post112467183208318310..comments2024-03-25T19:00:40.046-06:00Comments on The Constructive Curmudgeon: Review of "The Crisis of Islam"Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08766692378954258034noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14410967.post-1124783369831637072005-08-23T01:49:00.000-06:002005-08-23T01:49:00.000-06:00Nancy is right: Americans lack a sense of history....Nancy is right: Americans lack a sense of history. They are generally ahistorical idiots. Therefore, they do not know who they are or what they should do. <BR/><BR/>American Christians also lack a global and long-term perspective. We want things instantly, and if it can't happen with a snap of the fingers (or click of the mouse), we move on to something else. And when is the next "Left Behind" book coming out?<BR/><BR/>This must change if we are to be faithful to the Eternal One who calls us to better things for His glory. God is the Lord of history, God incarnated in space-time actuality, and continues to work in the matrix of the cosmos he created and sustains and which he will bring to judgment and completion on that Great Day. We are part of this cosmic drama. We are participants, not spectators. "Right now counts forever," as RC Sproul likes to say.Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08766692378954258034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14410967.post-1124783040374643712005-08-23T01:44:00.000-06:002005-08-23T01:44:00.000-06:00Weedend Fisher makes some solid points. Lewis is p...Weedend Fisher makes some solid points. Lewis is perhaps too charitable at times.<BR/><BR/>Islam grows principally in these ways:<BR/><BR/>1. Procreation (very high birth rates worldvide).<BR/>2. Immigration (part of their stated strategy).<BR/>3. Intimidation (Islams must not convert to other faiths, on pain of death in some countries).Douglas Groothuis, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08766692378954258034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14410967.post-1124761551879333372005-08-22T19:45:00.000-06:002005-08-22T19:45:00.000-06:00I've been a fan of Lewis for quite some time. Unf...I've been a fan of Lewis for quite some time. Unfortunately "The Crisis of Islam" has accumulated quite a layer of dust on my shelf - guess I better read it soon. Read anything by Lewis. As Doug demonstrates, Lewis diligently provides facts and anecdotes that help one begin to grasp the psyche of both the average and the militant follower of Islam. Interestingly, the WSJ Editorial page documented the significant influence that Lewis has exerted on current US policy. (You should be able to search WSJ Online, unfortunately I could not find it on the free www.opinionjournal.com)<BR/><BR/>From Lewis I learned about the insatiable interest the West had in Islam in the 1700's. This inquisitiveness was not reciprocated as Muslims determined that Islamic culture was complete and in no need of information or ideas from the west ("What Went Wrong").<BR/><BR/>Additionally, (as Doug mentions above) Lewis reminds us patriotic Americans that the notion of a "state" was foreign to Muslims. Their allegiance was to the local tribe and then more globally to the Arab/Muslim empire. The post WWI division of the Arab empire into smaller nation-states humiliated many.<BR/><BR/>Most importantly, some influential Arabs vividly remember the golden age that existed many centuries ago. In contrast, Americans can’t remember the last winner of “American Idol.” I seem to recall that OBL declared jihad on the US in 1994 (someone please correct me if I’m wrong on the year). But the big attack did not materialize until 7 years later… Many Americans seem to have forgotten the devastation that terrorism wrought on our nation only 4 years ago.nancyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02195858517405623656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14410967.post-1124746371242542372005-08-22T15:32:00.000-06:002005-08-22T15:32:00.000-06:00My interest in Islam went back well before 9/11/20...My interest in Islam went back well before 9/11/2001, and I've read as much of the early Islamic literature in translation as I can manage, plus a few more modern works. <BR/><BR/>I've read Lewis' book and he made some valid points. However, he also missed a few to the point where I think he can be legitimately charged with a mistake here and there. It's perfectly true, if you follow the preciseness of Lewis' language, that the 9/11 attacks in the sense of being suicide attacks had no precedent in early Islamic history and so forth, since the early Islamic attacks on other people were decidedly not suicide attacks, and bombs just weren't the modus operandi in the 600's CE. But the debate Lewis picks up on is largely a debate over suicide: the part that has no precedent is whether the Muslim is allowed to deliberately kill himself. It is not questioned that the Muslim is allowed to deliberately kill other people, only whether he is allowed to kill himself. Mohammed ordered enough assassinations, raids, surprise attacks, etc. -- and some of them on no more pretext than that the other person or tribe had spoken against him, said he wasn't a prophet, or laughed at what he considered to be his prophecies -- that there is no debate at all in Muslim circles whether assassinations, sneak attacks without declared intent and so forth are justified. They are universally regarded as sanctioned in at least certain circumstances by the example of Mohammed. The "certain circumstances" required for an attack need not involve more than the fact that someone spoke against Mohammed or the Qur'an. <BR/><BR/>Lewis also makes the naive mistake of thinking the militant Islamists are innovating when they say the old Meccan verse "There is no compulsion in religion" is an abrogated verse; Lewis speaks as if the idea of an abrogated verse is a shock. In reality, Mohammed discussed some verses abrogating others in the Qur'an itself; the history of tracing which Qur'anic verses are abrogated by others is a long-standing Islamic tradition; and the "no compulsion" verse was universally held (in Islamic antiquity) to have been either modified or completely abrogated by later pro-compulsion texts. <BR/><BR/>Lewis does make the good and worthwhile point that the Crusades were not actually unprovoked Christian aggression on peaceful Muslims, but were (long story short) a response to the jihad by which the Muslims had conquered ... er, well, every scrap of land that is in Muslim hands, much of which used to be Christian.Weekend Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10425001168670801073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14410967.post-1124679866591295032005-08-21T21:04:00.000-06:002005-08-21T21:04:00.000-06:00I need to read my translation of the Qur'an. Thank...I need to read my translation of the Qur'an. Thanks for sharing about and reviewing this book.Ted M. Gossardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10580691315315271791noreply@blogger.com