BRIEF COMMENT: IS ISLAM CIVILIZATION INFERIOR?

    "I'M A CHRISTIAN," SAID MY NEIGHBOR "I DON'T BELIEVE IN PHILOSOPHY"                  

Tom Friedman recently wrote a column in the Op Ed section of the New York Times describing the defects of Islam in Syria.  Friedman pointed out that the two major sects of Islam have been fighting and murdering each other for hundreds of years about who is the true heir to the religious/political teachings of the Prophet, that the Enlightenment passed Islam by, as did the Reformation, and that  the feminist revolution was a total mystery too.

All of this makes it appear that Islamic civilization is inferior to Western Civilization  (let's, for now, not engage the fact that most Muslims are not Arabs and don't live in Syria!).  But, we should remember, that for both Christians and Muslims, genocide in the pursuit of God's wishes is a virtue.  Too, it should not escape us, "Christian Civilization" has routinely persecuted, tortured, and killed heretics and intellectuals. 

And let's also remember that the enlightenment, reformation, scientific revolution, and the feminist reformation have not touched at least one-third of the U.S. populace who believe that dinosaurs lived with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.  To illustrate the point, not that many years past,  I had just moved into a house in the suburbs of los Angles, necessitated by the acquisition of a community college teaching job in the area, when I was greeted, on moving day, by the neighbors in the back.  "Welcome to the neighborhood" ejaculated a rotund house wife, leaning over the fence. 

"Nice to be here," I smiled.  "You gunna work around here?" inquired the no-filter Cool cigarette smoking husband. I told him that I'd just gotten a job at the community college  to teach philosophy.

"We're Christians," my new neighbor lady told me, "We don't believe in philosophy."

(Several years later, I had one of her kids in my class.  I, of course, did my best to totally corrupt the offspring.)

Let's get some balance here.  When my wife visited the Middle East several years ago, she was routinely bumped around and spat upon by leering, cosmetically challenged Islamic men.  But, for perspective,  rape is also routine in the U.S. military.  As to other matters:  After the madness of Christian book burning, after the fall of Rome, it was Muslims who saved many works of Greek philosophers, poets, playwrights, and scientists from the Christian Torch.  And, today, it is some of the children of Baby Jesus who, in the U.S., are attempting to impose their God Given anti-science beliefs (evolution, climate change issues) in the public schools.  And today's Muslims?  Well, Freidman has it right about many of them.

Two points: 1)  The Bible, The Koran (the vast majority of world religious texts) say that peace is better than war, love is better than hate, love your neighbor, and that forgiveness is better than retribution. These are absolutely crucial teachings.    Neither "Muslim" nor "Christian" civilizations, on balance, have shown much interest in these values.  Neither one has a monopoly on either evil or virtue.

2) There are a lot of defects to go around if one's religious heritage is Christian or Muslim.  Their nation states are made up of human beings (with religious pretensions) who are, after all, the asshole species of the various life forms on the planet,  (Humans will, sooner or later exterminate themselves and  many other life forms due to denying/being unable to do anything about climate change.) God, no doubt highly displeased by the use of her name to justify notions of religious superiority, cultural supremacy, torture, female oppression and book burning will then be free to contemplate her vagina without such annoying distractions