Quote:
Originally Posted by T-Rock
As Christians are to follow the example of Christ - are not Muslims to follow the example of the prophet Mohammed?  |
T-Rock--
Your placement of Christians under one banner suggests that you and I have fundamentally different understandings of the role religion has played European and American history. In a nutshell, the formulation that Christianity is simply following the example of Christ belies the historical evidence that there have been widely diverging interpretations as to just what that example was, who interprets it, and for whom it is interpreted.
In regards to your statement that "[T]here is a major difference between what's done in the [name] of religion versus what's dictated by religious [doctrine]," I invite you to elaborate with specific examples of how that "major difference" mattered to those on the receiving end in the New World. (I'd be most interested in reading your thoughts on the role of "Christian" doctrine in Spain's conquest of the Aztec empire during the sixteenth century and the efforts of many Americans to square the practice of Christianity with the "peculiar institution" of slavery during the nineteenth century.)
My broader point here is that I am dubious of the sustainability of comparing the Islamic world to the western world as part of a broader project to say that the former is dysfunctional in terms of the latter.
YMMV.