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> Islam is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a religion of peace. It is. The word Islam and Salaam are etymologically tied to the word "peace". If your
by aprilthird2021 2y ago
> Islam is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a religion of peace.
It is. The word Islam and Salaam are etymologically tied to the word "peace".
If your definition of peace is "never wages war", well there's no country or political regime in the world like that. Even India, which was liberated by the famous nonviolent philosopher Gandhi, did not last many years without needing to wage war and take territory.
Islam is the only remaining religion with a political element and an existing desire for statehood. You could argue for Judaism (but some of the Orthodox would disagree) also. Back when Christendom had aspirations of statehood, it was also not "peaceful" in the way most people imagine. But this isn't a feature of the religions. It's a feature of world politics. No one can be peaceful and engage meaningfully in world politics. Everyone is propped up by some army somewhere.
You can have many arguments against the social regime, views on gender, etc. Etc. of Islam, but to say it's not peaceful because it is a political entity is just not understanding politics or the world, imo
- tome 2y ago> Islam is the only remaining religion with a political element and an existing desire for statehood What do you mean by this? There are several countries that declare themselves to be Islamic.
- disgruntledphd2 2y agoI'm reasonably sure the GP is referring to the fact that there are explicitly political aspects to Islam (wanting an Islamic state) that don't exist in other religions. I'm not sure I agree though, as Judaism now has a state and Christianity had one and lost it.
- aprilthird2021 2y agoI mentioned "remaining" as the explicit political aspects are in all religions, it's just that as we came to modernity states became secular, and only Islam remains with that element still largely in tact. I did mention the Jewish state as well, but imo, since it is based partly on ethnicity even for open non-believers, it's kind of a mix between a secular and a religious state
- horrible-hilde 2y agoit means danger to the non-believer
- aprilthird2021 2y agoYes, that is pretty much what I mean. But the idea of a unified Muslim state is also still pretty alive in the world. In a way it's not in other religions (Judaism is an interesting edge case, imo)
- dllthomas 2y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_theology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_theology