The fundamentals of fundamentalism

A great number of people are up in arms about Islamic fundamentalism and the threat it poses to virtually everyone. A thought occurred to me.Is there a difference between Islamic fundamentalism and Christian fundamentalism, particularly as practiced at various times in the past? I'm thinking of things like the Crusades, the Inquisition, etc.Certainly one difference is the vastly greater potential for destruction present in Islamic fundamentalism than was practiced in Christianity's past. But is that simply a question of technology? Anyone wanting to commit mayhem has greater resources for it now than 100s or 1,000s of years ago. If the Crusades has nukes available, would they have used them? Suicide bombings?Don't assume that I'm trying to say there is no difference between the two. It's a thought that just popped into my head that I'm considering. I'm not advocating one way or another, yet, but proposing it as a topic for discussion.Comparative Religions, I imagine.

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Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for a temporary security will lose both, and deserve neither. -- Benjamin FranklinWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat

Thread moved here from the Proposed New Topics forum.

The fundamentalist does not threaten me, the fanatic ready to cause mayhem does. It is not the religion but the degree of fanaticism involved.And yes, there is no difference between an Islamic fanatic ready to blow up a shopping area in Beirut or the Christian fanatic ready to blow up a fertility clinic in Boise. The willingness to murder people - anyone who happens to be there - on a vast scale is not rational. As we saw with Oklahoma City. Personally I think there is more threat to Americans at home from fanatic Americans than from foreigners when it comes to using the latest big bomb method.

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More people are killed each year by Islamists than in the 350 years of the Spanish Inquisition. source]There is no comparison. I see the statistics everyday. The countries include Iraq, Afghanistan, Thailand, Pakistan, The Palistinian Authority, The Phillipines, Yemen, Bangladesh, Somalia, Israel, Sudan, Jordan, Chechnya, Syrai, Turkey....etcMore people are killed every year by Islamic Fundamentalists than the entire 350 years of the Spanish Inquisition. Page not found - Crisis MagazineToo often we only report the bad news from the world of Islam, but now here’s some cause for optimism! After years of uncanny stoicism in the face of the most atrocious videos of kidnappings and beheadings (with a dull kniife) in the name of their religion, Muslims have finally found a hostage tape they don’t like.Breaking long years of silence, Muslim leaders are expressing outrage over a new hostage video released at Long Island University in New York. Granted the hostage portrayed isn’t a real person . in fact, it’s a . well, it’s more of a rubber duck. And the hostage-takers in the video aren’t actually Muslims, just pretending to be. And it isn’t so much the taking of a hostage that bothers Muslim leaders. It’s the portrayal of hostage-takers as Muslims, based on their accents.Look, the point is that this is a start. Islamic narcissism can’t be conquered overnight. If we continue to show patience, maybe in another thousand years or so a real human being having their throat cut by Islamic militants on tape might bother Muslims just as much as a phony rubber duck video . . maybe even more.We can always hope. Bonk. Guess again. The case of the white nerd that blew up a building that one time has nothing on the number of people fundamental Islamists kill EVERYDAY. Don't remember 911? Besides that fact, if they COULD use a big bomb to kill you, they would.

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News Media: Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory 1 negative report at a time.

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But is that simply a question of technology? Anyone wanting to commit mayhem has greater resources for it now than 100s or 1,000s of years ago. If the Crusades has nukes available, would they have used them? Suicide bombings?

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Predictably, Tal completely ignored your point.Also, note that Tal falls into the usual trap: count the number of dead and maimed bodies. If the numbers attributed to the other side are bigger than those attributed to us, then they are the nefarious evil doers while we are obviously the good guys. As opposed, for example, recognizing that any dead or maimed bodies at all removes one's side from the moral high ground.Edited by Chiroptera, : typo

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In its 350-year lifespan only about 4,000 people were put to the stake.

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Islamists kill more than 4,000 every year?I guess your point is that Christians killed fewer people than Islamists so they were better. Of course, that says nothing at all about whether so-called Christians of the past would have killed many more had they had the technology available to them.

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Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for a temporary security will lose both, and deserve neither. -- Benjamin FranklinWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat

Careful with just using 'Muslims' here--certainly not every Muslim is proud of violence done in the name of Allah, just as I'm certain not every Christian/Catholic is proud of past and present slaughter in the name of Yahweh.If you mean to say 'violent fundamentalist Muslims', then this is kind of funny because the subject is relevant. However, I must say that acting on this verse isn't much different from forcing Canaanites out of their home country way back in the day, is it? To coin a term, the door swings both ways.

Good point. Much of the violent stuff grows out of a specific branch of Islam known as Wahabism. Most Muslims regard it as deviant and view it with abhorrence.A thread on Wahabism would do us good.BTW: I didn't know you when, Wingo, but welcome back._

OopsEdited by Tal, : Dern combat lag

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News Media: Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory 1 negative report at a time.

Easily. They kill more than 4,000 on a good month. No, killing innocent people is bad, nomatter the place on the timeline or the number. If you want to argue whether Christians would kill more if they had the weapons available today, the answer in front of you in the news everyday. We don't, in point of fact, kill innocent people in the name of Christianity today. Islmamists do (and alaways have, as the religion was started and spread by military conquest), at an alarming rate that everyone keeps looking past for some reason.It is simply their way of doing business.

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News Media: Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory 1 negative report at a time.

Hello One Charred Wing. Allow me to clarify. First, I AM using the word Muslim here as all inclusive when I say that they have not come out as a whole (or even 1 Imam) with a statement of outrage at any of the beheadings of innocent people that were posted on the net. Yet they are up in arms over some college stundents cutting off a ducks head. That's reprehensible.So, I will include them all here.Now, do all Muslims follow the extremists path of violence? No, that is only a small fraction.

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News Media: Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory 1 negative report at a time.

(emphasis added)A careful reading of the OP, and even the message you responded to, would show you that I am not referring to Christians of today, but those of the past.

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Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for a temporary security will lose both, and deserve neither. -- Benjamin FranklinWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat

I guess I'm doing sort of a reverse history analogy here. We can look at the actions of People A and B today, and figure what those groups might have done back then, given the technology. In this case, group B shows a pattern of violence, nomatter the era. That is more my point.

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News Media: Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory 1 negative report at a time.