Quote:
Originally Posted by JHD
I have been reading this thread with fascination and appreciate the level of intimate knowledge you all have learned about this religion. I know this thread is not comparing Islam with Christianity, but in pondering the question posed by the OP, I can't help but do so.
In Christianity, free will is paramount, as God wants us to come to him of our own free will and not by force. Islam seems to be a requirement for all believers and non-believers must be forced into it. (I know there are examples in history where this is not the case, but for the past few centuries, Christianity has not been killing non-believers while followers of radical Islam have.)
Christianity follows the Ten Commandments, including "thou shalt not kill", while Islam encourages murder of non-believers and degradation of women.
Our country was founded with the belief that all should have the freedom to worship, or not worship, as they see fit. Radical Islam is not of the same opinion.
In all religions, there are the devout, and the less devout, and the not-so-much. But even the not-so-much devout Christian believes the core principles of Christianity even if they don't always follow them. I am assuming it is the same for Islam. There are also those that pick and choose what they will or won't believe in on both sides, but that is probably not the majority.
So, in theory, if we are not at war with Islam itself, IMO, we should be. And I like the idea of fighting it from within. It seems it would have to be an insidious method to achieve success and chane their way of thinking and the basic fundamentals of their beliefs.
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To change "their way of thinking and basic fundamentals of the their beliefs" is an exercise in futility, IMO. You simply cannot change who a person is or any group of people's core beliefs. To fight this battle ("war") from the point of view of Christianity v Islam is a trap and is a no win argument for the reasons that Sigaba and others have pointed out.
The objective (again my opinion) is to find the groups or a demographic that already aspire to personal liberty and reject the subjugation of Islam. The Pew report that 98G references seems to identify possible demographic groups that are aspiring to that. Malala is a case in point and the women under the age of 25 may be the target assets. And the more I think about it, the better I like MR2s idea of a Phoenix Program Redux as a means.
Pete, to your point, I hadn't thought about it, but I don't recall NOW getting their panties in a knot over the subjugation of women under Islam either. Hmmmm!