Muslims are as schizophrenic in their thinking as Mohammed was in his. They see nothing wrong with stating something and then contradicting it later, as long as it benefits Islam. I see no signs of hope short of the Arabs running out of oil money. That can’t happen soon enough, IMO.

PRCalDude on April 24, 2007 at 1:03 PM

Well minus a serious energy initiative from us and other big oil consumers, this isn’t gonna happen anytime soon. Gotta love how we are funding both sides of the WOT.

U.S. aid to Egypt (Economic + Military) since 2001, by year:

2001: $694 million E; $1.3 billion M
2002: $655 million E ‘ $1.3 billion M
2003: $911 million E; $1.3 billion M
2004: $571.6 million E; $1.29 billion M
2005: $530.7 million E; $1.28 billion M
2006: $495 million E; $1.3 billion M

Buying hate was never cheaper.

- The Cat

When millions of Christians (or Buddhists, or Jews, or whatever) express views like this poll shows for Muslims – and when countless Christians (or whatever) start blowing people up and beheading innocents … then let’s turn to the imaginary Virgin and that crazy back from the dead story.

Until then, it’s either a) an attempt to avoid the real issues, or b) an attempt to further a non-religious political agenda.

Shorter: focus, people. The other side is.

Islam isn’t the only religion that lends itself to irrational thinking. Isn’t there a fairly widely practiced religion that believes its prophet was born of a virgin and came back from the dead?

The cheap swipes at Christianity wouldn’t seem half as tired as they’ve become if they were at least used on occasion to draw appropriate parallels. The issue at hand isn’t irrationality, though, it’s basic contradiction. “The moon is made of cheese,” is a false statement, and given the preponderance of evidence to the contrary, it could be argued that one who believes in it is irrational. “The moon is made of cheese, but it’s also made of rock,” is more than merely false or irrational; it’s self-contradictory. By violating the most basic common sense rules of logic, it transcends the irrational to become essentially incomprehensible.

Or, at least, common sense in the west. It’s not clear to me at all that the law of contradiction plays a vital role in many Muslim psyches, and that’s particularly disturbing.

Mojave Mark on April 24, 2007 at 2:11 PM

Don’t take the bait.

Islam isn’t the only religion that lends itself to irrational thinking. Isn’t there a fairly widely practiced religion that believes its prophet was born of a virgin and came back from the dead?

So let me get this straight, God who speaks the infinite universe into existence with four words can’t do miracles? Compared to creation, the virgin birth and the resurrection would seem like cheap parlor tricks.

Ooh, I bet that hurt! Guffaw!

88% of Egyptians polled think that violence against civilians violates the principles of Islam. There’s either some massive cognitive dissonance going on over there, or somebody translated “civilian” wrong.

In the view of islam, civilian only includes other muslims, as everyone else is an enemy

Islam isn’t the only religion that lends itself to irrational thinking. Isn’t there a fairly widely practiced religion that believes its prophet was born of a virgin and came back from the dead?

It’s fascinating that Westerners can’t talk about Islam without immediately trying to bring up Christianity. The two make completely different claims, but somehow need to be discussed in tandem, or Christianity before Islam.

Interesting attempt to co-opt the thread Enrique.

The worst thing we can do to Muslim nations is to let them torture themselves by adopting Sharia law.

Muslims are as schizophrenic in their thinking as Mohammed was in his.

Islam isn’t the only religion that lends itself to irrational thinking. Isn’t there a fairly widely practiced religion that believes its prophet was born of a virgin and came back from the dead?

It’s amazing what some people believe…

Well the positive things in pages 22-24 are some basis of hopefulness. (Openness to globalization, democracy, not seeing a clash of cultures as inevitable). Interesting study.

honora on April 24, 2007 at 12:51 PM

Muslims are as schizophrenic in their thinking as Mohammed was in his. They see nothing wrong with stating something and then contradicting it later, as long as it benefits Islam. I see no signs of hope short of the Arabs running out of oil money. That can’t happen soon enough, IMO.

Three choices y’all:
1) convert
2) be a slave
3) die

Anyway, with regard to the “cognitive dissonance”. No doubt the surveys questioners fail to note that Islam’s prohibition against violence against civilians and its desire for “peace” only extends to Muslims (assuming they are the right kind of Muslims). No doubt, those surveyed were not thinking in terms of us infidels.

How much money are we giving to Egypt every year?

It does underscore, however, how effective radical Islam is in uniting disparate Islamist thinking. Human nature requires there to be a “them” to blame. Unfortunately it’s U.S.