To Fix Islam, Start From the Inside

There is a global awareness now on the need to fix Islam - but darkness prevails on the best method - a solution that is simple and sure will evolve from here.Sounds far fetched ? Just consider the peculiar case of 1 million deaths in the Iran Iraq war- this was no Jihad with Kafir and hence all those dead went to hell for no fault of theirs except that they had Saddam as "boss" - in the post Lehman world we all agree that this is very unfortunate & avoidable case of bad direction by leadership , which brought ruin to followers!

A nuclear attack on middle east from either US or Israel canoot be ruled out at all - it appears to be very central to planners of Islamic life. As all muslims prey 5 times a day for death in jihad and seat in heaven ; this is the most practical way for a benevoilent kafir to delivery a heavenly martyrdom in jihad to all muslims on equal footing.... so that at the Allah's brothel - stock of 72 goats/ martyr can be enjoyed equally by each muslim.

65% of Irans populace is UNDER 30 yrs old. IF change can occur in Iran, then change can be brougt on in other moslem, radical countries. The "RADICALS" are the mullahs, old, bitter men who resist progress, and guys like Ahmadinajad who is apocalyptic and psychotic. Yes, empowering women is a great idea-but its the MEN who have the guns.

I didn't know that very many are still below zero in general ethics. There's no such thing as "feminist Muslim", Manji; and if you are as Muslim as the words that are credited to you, then you will have no idea what the consequences are. Perhaps you don't know that you will be called to account for your actions and words on the Day when degrees shall not avail one. I'm sorry for you. I hope you'll realize what you have done and will eat up your words.

MY GOD TELLS ME TO ERADICATE JIHAD.....

Do ya think that it's religeous belief everywhere that is the problem? I do. Stop it. Stop it now, and don't look back.
Yeah, it's the future now, get with the fact that none of your gods are going to save you.Ha Ha! "Gods" what a canard!

We should clean up our on Christian extremists before preaching to Islam about cleaning up its own extremists. Our Christian extremists are in many ways worse than the Taliban extremists??? et al. This is supposedly the land of the Free. We are not free when religion tells businesses (Blue Laws) when they can open and close. We are not free when religious groups tell people who can love who. We are not free when Religious groups dictate who may marry whom and invade the privacy of individuals. We are not free when Religious groups act like the KKK terrorizing our LGBT citizens by inciting others to murder them by telling lies and mythic distortions about them. There is the Catholic Church extremist telling us what laws we must have, what books its membership may or may not read and then there are the Mormons and the Southern Baptist Convention not to mention certain Pentecostal groups. All of these groups are destructive of the US Constitution, go around telling states what religious laws must be made civil law and imposing their religious values upon everyone. Someone is asleep in this country at the wheel and they need to wake up before these fascist religious groups fronted by such organizations as Focus on Family, The American Family Research Council et al destroy the Constitutional rights we all enjoy and are supposedly guaranteed. How is it these people seem to get away with such violations: well it is inconvenient for many so-called 'conservatives' to call these religious groups to tasks---this is like letting the Fox guard the Hen House. These people are the first to yell about THEIR religious rights but when it comes to others that does not count. The U.S. Constitution states that we have the right to be FREE of Religion and Free of its influence. Churches have no business telling States, the Federal Government and Local Governments what their laws can be, should be or would be. One American deprived of their full civil rights is one American too many. You may not like or agree with various segments of our diverse populations but if you take their rights away---yours will can too. Look for this happens if the California courts uphold Prop 8.

Oldies but goodies,..hey you have to call em like you see em :D I am just hoping we can soften the blow to their civilization.

It will have to change. There is no choice. It is inevitable. I would say the only choice is between the 'hard way' and the 'easy way'. Sorry, I know those terms are old and overused.

I am guessing by your handle that you are a "Screaming Eagle" which means you have probably seen the worst the islamic world has to offer. In your position I could understand the anger and frustration, but wishful thinking and hope are good places to start. The islamic world has no hope of surviving any type of military confrontation with either western or eastern civilization. The common folk know that, the zealots that hold them ideologically hostage are blissfully unaware that their continued existance is based solely on the morality of their enemies. A nuclear exchange anywhere in the world has terrible ramifications globally. After all we arent talking about fat man and little boy anymore. Consider that prior to womens suffrage, even in the west women were viewed as little better than property. The west changed, the middle east can too if and when it decides it needs to.

I guess SALMAN RUSHDIE was correct when he wrote "Satanic Verses"....admit it people, we are in a war of civilizations, and they started this long before 9/11. We were just too stupid to put the pieces together. There will be a nuclear exchange in the Asian sub-continent. I hope PAKILAND is turned into a sea of glass.

Oh, come on. This is all WISHFUL THINKING. Maybe if we bombed and destroyed all the madrossas in the tribal areas it may make a difference, other than that, there is no talking to islamic zealots. They have ALWAYS treated thier women like property, you think thats gonna change? Stop it....

lam3rd, that is a heck of a question :D I would like to expound by stating is fundamentalism (here defined as the purest form) in the faith necessarliy a cause for conflict? I think that with islam having so many influences other than simply the koran that there is a possible contradiction between culture and doctrine. In the case of the pashtun there is a code called pashtunwali where revenge is required for certain offenses, but islam allows great latitude for mercy. In the news we hear that there are calls for shariah law to be implemented in muslim countries. that is not unlike our legal system in western nations being based in Judeo Christain doctrine. but in the news we hear that shariah is brutal and unfair.. mostly by folks who have preconceived notions of what islamic jurisprudence requires..particularly in evidence and witnesses, while the punishments are harsh by western standards they still have the legitimacy of law. I agree that educated women do help educate their children. Mothers the world over have massive influence on their children, on the flip side, education without opportunity leads to civil unrest and eventually the possibility of revolution. after that bit of rambling, I would answer thequestion with my opinion that no, the interpretation does not perpetuate radicalism, or extremism. one can believe in the most severe and uncompromising aspect of their faith and not act on it.

You gotta start attacking the evil somewhere, and educated women tend to have educated kids. I agree that a blanket statement like: Islam is itself the cause of radicalism and extremism seems silly. Just like saying that sports are the cause of hooliganism. One could ask: Do certain interpretations of the Koran perpetuate radicalism or extremism, or is it misinterpretation?

Yeah, I dont think we will come to a complete agreement on the economics. "Weren't we talking about fixing women and empowering radical Islam or something?" thats pretty much the topic. but I am not sure that the authors assessment is a cure-all. There is in my opinion nothing wrong with islam as a religon, it is in and of itself not the cause of radicalism or extremism. but I am definatly open to everyones opinion on the subject.

I agree that we are headed down that path, but I think it is more of a prediction that a reality at this point. I also think you are combining public debt with gov't securities and money it kind of loans itself. I believe these are pretty much two different things that you can't really add up and have a totally accurate #. Like if you add up tangerines and tangelos. Where are you getting the $7 tril for US citizens? I know consumer debt is somewhere near 2.7 tril. Does that add up business loans too, or does it include all of that plus mortgages? You are also not considering bankruptcy. That could change numbers significantly, but would in itself seriously hurt growth. I think you are counting out other natural resources and other assets in your figures, and presuming alot about the cost of a barrel of the black stuff. I could be wrong. Weren't we talking about fixing women and empowering radical Islam or something?

Think about the Jones' family in your neighborhood, they have good jobs and they have a huge house with beautiful cars and many many personal effects to go with it all. They pay payments on everything, for appliances, cars, credit cards, furniture and everything else. They keep refinancing based on "viirtual value" and they blow the proceeds on vacations and clothes. These people are cash poor and have assets to fall back on---this the problem with the western economy. Sure you may have nice things---but for how long and at what cost? What savings are there? What value did they build? NONE.
Now compare them to the Smith's. The Smiths make a good wage and have a house that is small, clean and tidy. They wait until they have the cash to buy things they need like furniture and appliances. They pay off thier credit cards monthly. They limit vacations and shopping to a modest level. They pay interest only thier home and car, but they pay a majority of the payment on principal of the loan.. The value of the house and car far exceed the debt on each.
The smith's have 50, 000 in cash and they own a small house lot.
The smith's might look like they live like crap, but they are living sensibly. One day they can sell thier home---with no debt and build a dream house. They will own it outright!. It might take them 12 years, but in the end they will gain so much.
The smith;s actually live patiently and will live much better thane Jones in the long run.
The Jones would be destroyed withini a month if a job was lost. The smiths' could hold out indefinitely. The smith's also could got to the bank and refinance in the case of an emergency--while the Jones could not---simply because they have no hard or tangible assets and they really have no equity.
his is what is happening now Jones---being like the UK and USA, while thew Smiths---China and Arab countries.
They are patient and they wait until they need things and in the end they pay for them in cash--not with virtual credit.
This will catch up to us soon---then we will see the result.

Aardwolf
Do the research on the value of the USA, my numbers are accurate. I live in the USA and I have lived in Arab and South Asian countries.
Actually the most valuable company in the world is Exxon pal, Microsoft isn't even close anymore. Exxon makes a profit of about 60 billion a year, but its holdings are everywhere in the world. The sheer value of the USA isn't figured in the way you think and Microsoft isn't worth near what you think. Anyway the REAL value of something including your home is the appraised value minus the debt on it. Think about our debt for a moment, our Government owes nearly 10 trillion dollars and the people of the USA owe about 7 trillion.
All the 'nice' things you talk about in the USA vs. the 'crappy' things in the Arab countries.---well there our stuff is all owed to others and they OWN the things they have. There is a huge difference. The Arabs are hoarding LIQUID reserves---CASH AND GOLD ARE LIQUID---Have you seen the price of gold?
You keep referring to "eco friendly" and "virtual". Eco friendly? The USA?? We are by far and away the world's largest polluter in the world and out country was designed based upon 10 dollar a barrel oil. You simply can't change that in an instant (or 3 decades for that matter) and we are we going to get the money from?
virtual money??? Have you seen the utter destruction by Wall Street, Hedge funds and people like MAdoff? That is the problem with virtual values---they are not tangible and not having tangible liquid assets have destroyed are economy. Any economist or business person will tell you the HARD assets are what survive---not perceived or virtual values.
The arabs are hoarding cash and take out the trash once a week instead of twice a week.
In the west we live off of debt and we have nothing to show for it in the end---especially considering the current economic condition of the USA. It would take 50 years of clinton type of surpluses to pay everything down that the government owes-- what about personal/private debt? In those 50 years the arabs will pump about 12 million barrels of oil a day ( at an average of 120 dollars a barrel) They will have no debt ( so no interest expense) and they don't overspend the money, what the end result be? A huge pile of tangible wealth--not virtual wealth.
You think the arabs ignore the poor, but its not true, they have a greater plan. Patience---the people will get what they want one day soon. It will be owned outright and not beholden to others like the USA.
The arabs are liquid and that value carries much more weight than virtual or perceived value. You need to understand economics before you speak about this. Think about our current economic condition and how it was fueled by this virtual economy. It didn't work. The world runs off of hard production and assets.

Ross1972, much appreciated, I am currently doing a little fact checking on myself, dont want to put out any incorrect information. I realize also that it is very easy to become heated over topics that mean so much to the heart. I consider myself quite priveledged to have been able to live a short while in both India and the middle east. I recommend visiting both to anyone.