Sometimes I get the question of how to stop Islam. In the 1400 years that Muslims conquering the world, no one has figured out a way to stop them. A conquest cult honed to perfection.However, we can appeal to another generally valid principle. If a cult or civilization emerges later, it is usually stronger than the previous ones. It makes perfect sense, because every such movement is subject to a natural selection procedure. If it were not stronger than what already exists, it would be nipped in the bud. In the contact between Christianity and Judaism, the younger Christianity prevailed. In the conflict between Catholicism and younger Protestantism, Protestantism prevailed – after a wave of fighting, the European states divided along denominational lines, and the Protestant ones were more successful. Likewise, Enlightenment rationalism (readers know I consider it another Christian denomination) asserted itself against earlier forms of Christianity.
And as long as Europe was modern, scientific and strong, something remarkable was happening. Islam was beginning to change in its intense contact with such a Europe. Not entire Islamic societies were changing, but their elites were. They were throwing away bigger and bigger pieces of the original Islam. While the Arab and Turkish countryside remained in antiquity, what was significant for us was that the conquering tendencies were disappearing. But Europe’s modern ideals had run out, the West was returning to the old days, and Islam was discovering its historical roots.
It is as if we have discovered a formula. When the West is scientific and productive, Islam collapses. When the West collapses, Islam grows. In mathematical language, we could talk about independent and dependent variables.
What does this imply? That if Europe recovers its technological optimism, egalitarian ethos and productive mentality, this alone may be enough to tame Islam.
What does this imply? That if Europe recovers its technological optimism, egalitarian ethos and productive mentality, this alone may be enough to tame Islam.