History of Jihad

[icehorse]

I'm not one who agrees that 2 wrongs make a right.

Jihad was certainly a thing though, but also needs to be put into the context of the historical period where conquest and warfare were commonplace regardless of religious identity.

Isn't the second quote of yours a form of "two wrongs make it right" ?

In any case, I get your point, and while I've already agreed that Spencer has a clear agenda, I don't think his books are extreme. Certainly no more extreme than the common refrain "Islam is a religion of peace".

 

[Augustus]

Isn't the second quote of yours a form of "two wrongs make it right" ?

No, it's contextualisation.

Anyway, it's unrelated to the idea that it is absurd to think 2 false pieces of information from different sides of the spectrum 'balance' each other out.

Certainly no more extreme than the common refrain "Islam is a religion of peace".

Yet you criticise this view as obviously false rather than extolling it as "extremely valuable".

 

[YmirGF]

OK, I've read several of Spencer's books and that is mainly because he has a very light, highly readable and often humorous writing style. I do not consider him to be a scholar - by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[icehorse]

Anyway, it's unrelated to the idea that it is absurd to think 2 false pieces of information from different sides of the spectrum 'balance' each other out.

i didn't say that. What I've said is that everyone cherry-picks. Of course I agree that blatantly false claims should be removed altogether.

 

[Nicholas]

OK, I've read several of Spencer's books and that is mainly because he has a very light, highly readable and often humorous writing style. I do not consider him to be a scholar - by any stretch of the imagination.

Therefore you conclude what, regarding militant Islam?

 

[YmirGF]

Therefore you conclude what, regarding militant Islam?

I'd have to think about it. I'm nowhere near as concerned about it as I was a few years back. In a very real sense, I've moved closer to the perspective of @Augustus and others and see the accounts in a more open way. The problem with many of the accounts is that they are not likely literal.

 

[Nicholas]

Andrew Bostom has written about Jihad with a critical eye:

The Legacy of Jihad

From a review:

The Legacy of Jihad. Bostom’s book amply documents the systematic and
destructive character of Islamic jihad, refuting the much-repeated argument that
jihad is a “rich” concept that has many meanings and that jihad first of all
signifies “inner struggle.” Jihad is first of all war, bloodshed, subjugation,
and expansion of the faith by violence. The book implicitly devastates the
fashionable but uninformed opinion that all religions are elaborations of the
Golden Rule. Jihad is everything the Golden Rule is not.