A.C., I agree with the central argument of your article, and honestly I think one of the strongest pieces of evidence is simply looking at the real-world outcomes across so many Muslim-majority countries themselves.
The proof of the pudding is in the tasting. Out of the dozens of Muslim-majority countries that exist today, only a relatively small handful could honestly be described as places with something close to full equality, broad secular freedoms, open criticism of religion, equal treatment across religions, and genuinely Western-style liberal democratic norms.
That does not mean every Muslim is dangerous or that all Muslims think alike — obviously they do not. But it does mean the larger civilizational and theological questions you raise cannot simply be dismissed with slogans or accusations of “Islamophobia.” The patterns are real, the historical record is real, and many people are increasingly noticing the same things you are describing.
And I also agree with one of your deepest points: Western societies often refuse to discuss these issues honestly because they are afraid of social, political, and media consequences. But avoiding difficult realities does not make those realities disappear.
Whether people agree with every conclusion or not, your article forces people to confront questions that far too many institutions prefer to avoid.
This approach is so important. Lies are said in English (and local languages) to influence the media and useless idiots. While in their own words, the truth is found. Thank you A.C. Rosenthal.
The West keeps getting conned by brochure Islam while jurisprudential Islam marches through the door. The interfaith dinner says peace, tolerance, and coexistence. The legal tradition says expansion, subordination, apostasy punishment, and rule over the unbeliever. That is not a misunderstanding. That is the bait-and-switch. Cultural Muslims who assimilate into America are not the issue. Political Islam is the issue. Sharia is the issue. CAIR-style lawfare is the issue. Imported blasphemy rules are the issue. America has one Constitution, one civil law, and one sovereign people. Worship privately. Assimilate publicly. But do not bring conquest theology into American government.
The Crusades, Spain and Portugal and forced conversion and expulsion. I could add other examples that highlight the cruelty of other religions but it is too depressing
This article is hate propaganda against Islam. In Judaism and Christianity there are passages in multiple texts one could weave to make the same argument. However in history - Jews expelled from Spain and many other Christian countries only to end up where? Arab Muslim countries where Jews thrived for centuries. The Talmud has laws for non-Jews and both obligations/privileges only reserved for Jews. I get the fact that there is an important and perhaps even existential political struggle between radical Muslim populations (maybe in the hundreds of millions) and both western societies and all Jews/Israel. But spreading these distortions/half truths/misleading texts only destroys credibility and creates a roadblock to actually addressing these threats.
What you write about Islam is true except about it being the only religion that has discriminatory treatment of non-believers. The Roman Catholic Church also systematically discriminated against Jews and during the Spanish Inquisition killed Jews and Catholics suspected of being Jews, and stole their property. Christian countries elsewhere in Europe, especially France, Germany, Slovakia, Russia, Poland, from the Medieval period to WW II and today in France, have discriminated against Jews.
(Altho Pope Paul VI in 1965 decided and Pope Benedict XIV in 2011 reiterated that Jews did not kill Jesus. It doesn’t stop the French.)
A.C., I agree with the central argument of your article, and honestly I think one of the strongest pieces of evidence is simply looking at the real-world outcomes across so many Muslim-majority countries themselves.
The proof of the pudding is in the tasting. Out of the dozens of Muslim-majority countries that exist today, only a relatively small handful could honestly be described as places with something close to full equality, broad secular freedoms, open criticism of religion, equal treatment across religions, and genuinely Western-style liberal democratic norms.
That does not mean every Muslim is dangerous or that all Muslims think alike — obviously they do not. But it does mean the larger civilizational and theological questions you raise cannot simply be dismissed with slogans or accusations of “Islamophobia.” The patterns are real, the historical record is real, and many people are increasingly noticing the same things you are describing.
And I also agree with one of your deepest points: Western societies often refuse to discuss these issues honestly because they are afraid of social, political, and media consequences. But avoiding difficult realities does not make those realities disappear.
Whether people agree with every conclusion or not, your article forces people to confront questions that far too many institutions prefer to avoid.
This approach is so important. Lies are said in English (and local languages) to influence the media and useless idiots. While in their own words, the truth is found. Thank you A.C. Rosenthal.
The author's reference of "14 centuries" is further explained in Bill Warner's video "Why We Are Afraid, A 1400 Year Secret" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_Qpy0mXg8Y&list=PLNjHlVXLqZFf0JicXyj81lWmvO_8fYHaX&index=8&t=107s)
I, too, have taken the same approach in my book "Revolutions: In their Own Words" (www.amzn.to/3T17NyZ), my forthcoming book, and my articles, like "Why negotiate with liars?" (https://www.jns.org/opinion/david-s-levine/why-negotiate-with-liars).
More must be written exposing this anti-Judaeo-Christian approach of Islam.
The West keeps getting conned by brochure Islam while jurisprudential Islam marches through the door. The interfaith dinner says peace, tolerance, and coexistence. The legal tradition says expansion, subordination, apostasy punishment, and rule over the unbeliever. That is not a misunderstanding. That is the bait-and-switch. Cultural Muslims who assimilate into America are not the issue. Political Islam is the issue. Sharia is the issue. CAIR-style lawfare is the issue. Imported blasphemy rules are the issue. America has one Constitution, one civil law, and one sovereign people. Worship privately. Assimilate publicly. But do not bring conquest theology into American government.
Where can you find this author's book "The Carpenter's Son and the Imam's Son, The God that they rejected Isn't Real."
The Crusades, Spain and Portugal and forced conversion and expulsion. I could add other examples that highlight the cruelty of other religions but it is too depressing
I think the question I wish to ask on this is:
"Can we give Islam an honor killing and get rid of it altogether?"
This article is hate propaganda against Islam. In Judaism and Christianity there are passages in multiple texts one could weave to make the same argument. However in history - Jews expelled from Spain and many other Christian countries only to end up where? Arab Muslim countries where Jews thrived for centuries. The Talmud has laws for non-Jews and both obligations/privileges only reserved for Jews. I get the fact that there is an important and perhaps even existential political struggle between radical Muslim populations (maybe in the hundreds of millions) and both western societies and all Jews/Israel. But spreading these distortions/half truths/misleading texts only destroys credibility and creates a roadblock to actually addressing these threats.
Thank you for this comprehensive summary. It is the explanation I have heard to date
What you write about Islam is true except about it being the only religion that has discriminatory treatment of non-believers. The Roman Catholic Church also systematically discriminated against Jews and during the Spanish Inquisition killed Jews and Catholics suspected of being Jews, and stole their property. Christian countries elsewhere in Europe, especially France, Germany, Slovakia, Russia, Poland, from the Medieval period to WW II and today in France, have discriminated against Jews.
(Altho Pope Paul VI in 1965 decided and Pope Benedict XIV in 2011 reiterated that Jews did not kill Jesus. It doesn’t stop the French.)
What you write about Islam is true except about it being the only religion that has canonized treatment of non-believers.
Two questions: given what you say, how can a country such as the UAE or Bahrain, etc join the Abraham Accords and trade and cooperate with Israel?
Second, apart from learning about Islam, and your essay is quite instructive, what are we to do about this?