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Christianity or Islam: which is the real "religion of peace"?
Almost any liberal pundit will tell you that there's a religion bent on destroying our Constitution, stripping us of our liberties, and imposing religious rule on the U.S. And that religion is . . .Christianity! About Islam, however, the Left is silent--except to claim a moral equivalence between the two: if Islam has terrorists today, that's nothing compared to the Crusades, inquisitions, and religious wars in Christianity's past.
But is this true? Are conservative Christians really more of a threat to free societies than Islamic jihadists? Is the Bible really "just as violent" as the Qur'an? Is Christianity's history really as bloodstained as Islam's? In Religion of Peace? Why Christianity Is and Islam Isn't, New York Times bestselling author Robert Spencer not only refutes such charges, but also explains why Americans and Europeans must regain an appreciation of our Christian heritage if we ever hope to defeat Islamic supremacism. In this eye opening work, Spencer reveals:
* The fundamental differences between Islamic and Christian teachings about warfare against other religions: "Love your enemies" vs. "Be ruthless to the unbelievers"
* The myth of Western immorality and Islamic puritanism and why the Islamic world is less moral than the West
* Why the Islamic world has never developed the distinction between religious and secular law that is inherent in Christianity
* Why Christianity has always embraced reason--and Islam has always rejected it
* Why the most determined enemies of Western civilization may not be the jihadists at all, but the leftists who fear their churchgoing neighbors more than Islamic terrorists
* Why Jews, Christians, and peoples of other faiths (or no faith) are equally at risk from militant Islam
Spencer writes not to proselytize, but to state a fact: Christianity is a true "religion of peace," and on it Western civilization stands. If we are not to perish under Islam's religion of the sword--with its more than 100 million active jihadists seeking to impose sharia law--we had better defend our own civilization.
It seems that Robert Spencer is counting on the Christains to support his claim that are based on information from sources like Fox News when he gave the book the title he did. I am sure that the author is aware of the torture chambers used by Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, not to mention their killing of 300,00 Muslims civilians during "The Inquisition" (ReConquista) and deporting equal number or more number of the Muslims from Analusia (Muslim Spain).
Funny how those who point fingers at other people's religion are so full of hate. Spencer is a warmonger who hates Muslims and will take a lot of trouble to incite hate. The only thing you can glean from this book is Spencer is certainly is a man of war.
When reading Robert Spencer, who is a Deacon in the Greek Catholic Church, one becomes aware of the power of plain words. Although he is widely recognized as a world expert on Islam (nine books, two on the New York Times Bestseller list) he does not write like an academic. You will not be slowed by jargon when reading "Religion of Peace." Spencer has such a firm grasp of his material he writes with a clear, cool, confidence which is a pleasure to read. In person he speaks in precisely the same manner and seems to have almost total recall. His memory is just astonishing. (He appears on a number of YouTube videos.)
The intrepid Spencer has entered a minefield here. At the outset he has taken sides. This is not an objective analysis but a defense of "the peaceful nature of Christendom" against "the violent nature of Islam".
Rather than outlining Spencer's many telling points this reviewer will leave the pleasure of these discoveries to the reader. This book is, even to those well versed on the issues, an enlightening read. One concept that made a lasting impression was that during those historical occasions when Christians committed violence, it was in the name, not the example, of Christ. When Muslims commit violence (which they did from the very origins of their Empire) they are not only following the commandments of Allah, but the example of Mohammed. Jesus was a peaceful exemplary presence, both in word and deed. Mohammed not only preached violence, he committed it. As historian Samuel Huntington so concisely put it: "Islam has bloody borders."
Addendum: Huntington's extended comment was: "Islam's borders are bloody and so are its innards. The fundamental problem for the West is not Islamic fundamentalism. It is Islam, a different civilization whose people are convinced of the superiority of their culture and are obsessed with the inferiority of their power".... from Huntington's 1998 text "The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the World Order".
Robert Spencer is an absolute farce. His "analysis" of Islam is akin to FauxNews coverage of the Democratic party in the United States. Again and again, he distorts history, cites the Qur'an wildly out of context, and all to portray Muslims as murdering savages. His writings are nothing more than intolerant right wing diatribes and while I would not seek to discuss him with someone who actually believes the nonsense he writes (because they probably believe what Bill O'Reilly says too), I would caution the rest of the reasonable world away from reading this hatemongering nonsense.
The Cross v. The Crescent
This first chapters of this book by Robert Spencer is the putting forth of evidence that the religion that is ubiquitously referred to as the "Religion of Peace" is misleading and an outright falsehood and that Christianity gets a bad name when if there is going to be a hierarchy of religion in this country Christianity should at least be on a rung higher than Islam and that Islam, not Christianity (as told us by the media and the "bright ones" in academia) is the religion that is violent and explosive (pardon the pun).
He first points to the organizations early history and counters arguments saying that the early Christians were violent. He says that even though the Ottomans were better to minorities than Catholic Europe, this says nothing of what is happening now to groups of people that are considered
Inferior (gays, Christians, Israel, and even women).
Other evidence discussed as to why Islam is violent and Christianity is not is that there is no revival happening to bring back the mindset of Christian Crusades, no Christian equivalent of Sharia Law, no nation has ever willingly converted to Islam nor has any nation ever been coerced into converting to Christianity.
A major part of the book discusses reasons why Islam should not even be called a religion but a political establishment. And gives quotes from those who know Islam best backing this up.
Double standards in the way we think about the two religions are also mentioned. Christianity and its zealots are said to want to set up a theocracy in the United States and fuse the laws of the Old Testament with the Constitution and that this is a serious threat even though there are no countries in the world today that are set up this way save one.
Abortionists are compared to Jihadists as well and Robert gives evidence that while Christianity's cannons do not condone this as well as no churches preach this practice the writings of Islam support Jihad and it is taught in their mosques.
He compares the holy books of the two religions. The Holy Bible and the Koran and the verses mandating offensive and defensive violence in each.
All these things taken together, Spencer comes to the conclusion that, in his most controversial point, Islam's main practitioners are not following the religion as they should. There is more evidence in Islam for the way the radicals (suicide bombers) are acting than for the peaceful way the majority of Muslims live their religion.
This book is dripping with bias and the author's evidence for it.
A great book to read if you like controversy.