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.

Islam is a violent religion which seeks to subjugate unbelievers. Duh. (4.0)

This isn't as illuminating a work as "The Truth About Muhammad", and it's a shame that the low level of discourse and education in our society forced Spencer to write such an elementary book as this. Certainly, clear-thinking and informed men have no need of such self-evident information. However, in the wake of 9/11, moronic celebrities such as Rosie O'Donnell and other self-hating dimwits of her ilk have taken to comparing Christianity unfavorably with Islam, and their unthinking talking points have started to filter down through society and be parroted by simpletons at large. Unwilling to find anything worthy about their own civilization and culture, they respond to any criticism of Islam with the idiotic retort, "Well, what about the Crusades/Inquisition/abortion clinic bombers? Christianity is a religion of violence, while Islam believes in tolerance!". Spencer easily demolishes such feeble opponents and such fatuous arguments.

While it must be admitted that professing Christians have inflicted numerous atrocities upon mankind, the fact is that they can find no justification for their actions in Christian Scripture or theology, and they act contrary to Christianity when they perpetrate such crimes. The same cannot be said for the Koran, dripping with the murderous dictates and violent example of its Allah and his Prophet.

As always, Spencer does journeyman work in exposing the violence and oppression at the heart of Islam. However, people should be aware of a few things about Spencer. In the first place, he habitually conflates Israel's cause with that of the West. Whether it's from conviction or because it's been the Jewish neoconservatives who have made his career, he inserts various comments through this book, and his others, which assume the righteousness of Israel's cause and our duty to defend her. I find that objectionable. Just because Islam has violent tenets doesn't mean that Islamic people can't have legitimate grievances, such as in Palestine; nor does it mean that we are obligated to expend our blood and treasure for every country which happens to be fighting an Islamic enemy. He is a paid propagandist, and one only has to look at the magazines he writes for, the companies that publish his books, and the networks he appears on to see which group holds the purse strings. The degree to which he is beholden to certain powerful groups can be seen in the fact that Spencer even denies the very basic, orthodox Christian doctrine of supersessionism, the belief that the New Covenant has fulfilled and replaced the Old. And Spencer calls himself a Catholic for some reason.

In addition, Spencer condemns those nationalist parties in Europe which seek to resist the Islamicization of their continent, if they also oppose policies such as slavish support for Israel, open Third World immigration and the dispossession of Europe's native people, policies which are dear to the neoconservative media lords whose patronage gave Spencer a livelihood. So, while Spencer is a valuable fighter against militant Islam, he is at the same time an active opponent of those who would fight other equally dangerous threats to the West's existence and sovereignty. His entire professional raison d'etre is to promote Western support for Israeli regional hegemony and geopolitical dominance, not Western nationalism and self-interest. So, use Spencer's information for what it's worth, but reject this man as an ally, for he's nothing but a Trojan Horse in the nationalist camp.

Five star common sense (5.0)

Please ignore any one star ratings, they are false ratings from Muslims that are stuck in their man made religion and to afraid to face the truth that others put in print, not only that, lying is part of a Muslims duty when it comes to communicating with non-muslims. Robert Spencers' Religion of Peace is as great as his other books. Robert Spencer does his homework on Islamic dribble, which is a real blessing when you consider the Koran is one of the worst religious books written. It is to bad books like Religion of Peace have to be written, but the truth is most people just don't get the common sense if a religion talks evil, acts evil, and looks evil, it probably is Evil and has nothing to do with the Creator of the Universe. Don't get me wrong, I know there are moderate-muslims, I just don't consider them active enough to be relevant to the Islamic problem facing the world, which seems to be controlling the direction of most EU countries.

I wonder what's the author's intenion (1.0)

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).

Completely racist and Islamophobic (1.0)

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.

"Islam has bloody borders," (5.0)

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".