Islamic Fundamentalism - The Problem of Confusing Muslims with Islam

Politics / Religion Jan 16, 2015 - 06:45 AM GMT

The whole world over, people, are people are people and most people are moderate. In the wake of the Paris terror attack there has been an outbreak of muslim phobia that carries the label of Islamophobia, which in my opinion cannot exist because Islam is not a race or people but an ideology. Just as Christianity and Judaism are ideologies and not a race or people i.e. you can change your ideology but you cannot change the colour of your skin (see Israel's Dark DNA Secret Revealed ).

The debate in the mainstream media appears to be focused on fundamentalism by labeling whole countries, even all who follow Islam as being Islamic fundamentalists, whereas the reality is neither are nations such as Iran Islamic fundamentalist nor are most muslims Islamic fundamentalists. The confusion here is in making the distinction between the PEOPLE and the REGIMEs, which where Iran is concerned is an Islamic fundamentalist regime but its people are not Islamic fundamentalists, they are mostly muslims. Furthermore not all muslim countries are the same for Indonesia and Malaysia are not the same as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia etc. The difference is in how far they are on the road to becoming a modern secular state.

Most people are moderate, most muslims are moderate. However as is the case with EVERY human population group anywhere from 10-15% can be extremist in their beliefs. The extremist population is very fluid depending on peoples circumstances i.e. civil war is likely to encourage more extremism. Of the fluid 10-15% of the muslim extremist population the number who are actually susceptible towards committing acts of violence in the perceived defence of Islam is probably less than 1%.

Whilst 1% is still a significantly large number of people predisposed towards committing violence, however the fact is that muslims are a human population which means the same number of violent extremists will exist in all other population groups be they other religions such as Jews, Christians, Hindus or manifest in populations groups engaged in violent crime such as the mafia and similar violent gangs and paramilitaries across the world with the most violent concentration of extremism being organised militia's and militaries of the worlds nations, as the example of Israel's military recently killing over 600 Palestinian children amongst approx 2,400 civilians killed in Gaza barely 6 months ago. Or go back further still we saw what Germanys extremist 1% were capable of committing during WW2. Or the Japanese 1% that went on the rampage across asia. The key point is that the vast majority are always moderate!

Therefore whilst it is very easy to pick up any religious text and pluck out violent passages, urging murder to be committed in the name of God. However, as I have often pointed out most muslims do not actually follow Islam as it is written but just as is the case with all religions instead play pick and mix with religion to suit cultural practices and circumstances because most people are living in the 21st century and not the 7th century!

So don't confuse the ideology with the people, they are NOT the same! The primary purpose of Religion is to ENSLAVE PEOPLE. Religions seek to take away free will, take away freedom of thought as the shepard's have their flocks fill their minds with contradictory scripture that the flock will literally spend their whole lives trying to make sense of with little success because its not meant to make sense only to confuse and which is why people come to rely on those who profess to be able to interpret confusing scripture. Though these shepard's do what what all shepard's do which is to fleece their flocks and worse.

The slaves are commanded to obey the shepard's who interpret the will of God who tends to seek to command obedience in the slaves every actions under threat of severe punishment that is not just limited to this life but will continue for eternity. The divine dictator, infinitely more intrusive than the NSA who even monitors you in your dreams to exact severe punishment if you do not slavishly obey and submit your entire existence to his will and the sheep can never escape slavery not even in death!

The reality is that whilst we are here only for a short period of time, luckily we are living in the age of reason where most of the of the people in the west at least have it in their means to live FREE for the first time since homo sapiens first started to look for answers for what they could not understand in deities and in the course of gave up free will in the service of the religious elite that were said to converse with the all powerful and all knowing deities. Where muslims are concerned it should be the task of every western enlightened person and institution to enlighten as many muslims as possible to the "Age of Reason", just as they should for Christians and Jews for they can be just as fundamentalist as muslims.

Remembering the difference between Muslims being people and Islam being an ideology i.e. through reinforcement of the SECULAR CULTURE of the HOST nation and NOT MULTI-CULTURALISM.

By Nadeem Walayat

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk

Nadeem Walayat has over 25 years experience of trading derivatives, portfolio management and analysing the financial markets, including one of few who both anticipated and Beat the 1987 Crash. Nadeem's forward looking analysis focuses on UK inflation, economy, interest rates and housing market. He is the author of five ebook's in the The Inflation Mega-Trend and Stocks Stealth Bull Market series that can be downloaded for Free.

Nadeem is the Editor of The Market Oracle, a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication that presents in-depth analysis from over 1000 experienced analysts on a range of views of the probable direction of the financial markets, thus enabling our readers to arrive at an informed opinion on future market direction. http://www.marketoracle.co.uk

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Comments

Andrew1957
19 Jan 15, 20:25

Religion

Dear Nadeem

I have decided that I need to comment on what you have said. I have to take issue over your extreme negativity towards religion. As far as Muslims are concerned I agree with much of what you say. Most want to live in harmony and provide for their families etc and it is only a minority that seek some sort of deluded ascent into paradise.

But Christianity is completely different. In an earlier article you mentioned the Reformation out of context. The correct context is that much of your criticism of the Church of Rome is true and the church bore no relationship to the teachings of Jesus and it was the revolt of the rank and file Christians who translated the Bible into their own languages so that all could read the teachings of Jesus that brought enlightenment to the world. Most Christians today are entirely independent thinkers and certainly in no way controlled by any form of church hierarchical leadership.

And few Christians today (apart from sadly a small number in the US) are deluded and mad or seeking Armageddon. In fact as a Christian of more than 30 years I have never met a Christian who is seeking to accelerate us towards some sort of paradise experience. I do believe that in the end that there will be a dwelling place with God but no Christian I have ever met would seek to bring about the end of the world to achieve this. The lunatic fringe in the US that do seem to have that objective are in no way Christian as I understand the meaning of it and do not seem in any way to follow the teachings of Jesus who taught us to love others, love the foreigner and be good stewards of the earth. And my experience is that many millions of Christians in the UK go about their lives doing exactly that. And I for one are as concerned as you about the lunacy I see around us - especially the mad US neocon strategy which seems to me to create a risk of nuclear war, as I would much rather live a long and productive life before I go to meet my maker. Please do not tar all religious people with the same brush.

Nadeem_Walayat
20 Jan 15, 00:14

Religion

Hi Andrew

I agree with what you have written, that perhaps 70% of Christians, 50% of muslims and 50% of Jews are 'modern'.

Its just that the fundamentalists, Christian, Muslim and Jewish congregate in the middle east. This concentration in a small area coupled with means for armageddon could devestate that region and PULL countries such as the United States down with them.

"Modern" .... hmmm I see another article forming - the evolution from homo sapien religious to homo sapien modern.

Best

R.E.B
20 Jan 15, 14:17

Religion

Wow, that still leaves 30% Christians and 50% of Muslims and Jews that are reactionary or fundamentalist. That is a lot of people, not sure about that ratio. Judging by Pew poll data, and the protests in the Islamic world, and reading accounts of moderate Muslims like Yasmin Alabhai Brown, Saudi Arabia seems to have been quite successful in spreading the Wahhabi strain of Islam around the world. I cannot imagine why anyone would want to follow this ideology. Iam sure most Muslims think it is nuts surely?

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