The responses to the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris include an intriguing reflection from an atheist comparing Islam and Christianity.
Islam, Christianity, and Judaism are the world’s three great monotheistic faiths. All three trace their linage to the patriarch Abraham. He is father of the Arab (largely Muslim) peoples though his son Ishmael, of the Jews through his son Isaac, and of the Christians who were “grafted in” through the Jews (see Romans 11:17ff).
But notwithstanding their historic roots, Islam and Christianity have grown in very different ways.
Self-professed atheist and author, Robert Tracinski, has written an informative piece on the contrast of Islam and Christianity. During the darkness following the Charlie Hebdo attack, Tracinski wrote, “Why Islam Is More Violent Than Christianity: An Atheist’s Guide.”
The Charlie Hebdo massacre once again has politicians and the media dancing around the question of whether there might be something a little bit special about this one particular religion, Islam, that causes its adherents to go around killing people.
It is not considered acceptable in polite company to entertain this possibility. Instead, it is necessary to insist, as a New York Times article does, that “Islam is no more inherently violent than other religions.”
Is it true, as Western elites contend, that Islam is no more inherently violent than other religions? Tracinski insists that such a statement is “absurd.”
In the book Emancipating the World: A Christian Response to Radical Islam and Fundamentalist Atheism, I argue that the symbol of Islam is the sword and the symbol of the Christian faith is the cross. The former conquers through violence, the later emancipates through self-sacrifice and service.
Not all Muslims are violent. Not all Christians are self-sacrificing servants. Far from it; most Muslims are non-violent and many Christians, like our modern culture, are self-serving. These are simply the standards set by the corresponding founders of Islam and Christianity.
- Darrow Miller
See these related posts:
Hamas and Israel: Is There a Moral Equivalence?
Leaders of Muslims Condemn ISIS Tactics
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2 Comments
Clark Dahl
February 7, 2015 - 2:50 pmThis was an excellent article. You would think if he is as intelligent as he apparently is he would no longer be an atheist. I guess it is because the gospel is foolishness to the world.
admin
February 9, 2015 - 7:40 amThanks for reading and responding, Clark. As Darrow often says, no one is an atheist for metaphysical reasons. People profess atheism because they don’t want to submit to a higher, divine authority over their lives.
Gary Brumbelow