This is a very good article which my Tory self consumed with passion and reverence. The key point for me is the fact that regardless of Islams apparent growth in the 20th Century, it is utterly inward looking and stunted in its maturity.
Quote:
Other Islamic countries are almost as bad. Pakistan has witnessed the kidnapping of Christian missionaries. Sudan punishes “religious deviation†with imprisonment.
Christian evangelists complain that this creates an uneven playing field. But, in the long run, uneven playing fields weaken the home players. The West’s open marketplace in religion promotes innovation, even in something so basic as Bible publishing, while the Muslim world’s closed marketplace promotes dull conservatism. The Book and the Koran, by Muhammad Shahrur, which tried to reinterpret the Koran for modern readers, was widely banned in the Islamic world, despite its pious tone and huge popularity.
Christian evangelists complain that this creates an uneven playing field. But, in the long run, uneven playing fields weaken the home players. The West’s open marketplace in religion promotes innovation, even in something so basic as Bible publishing, while the Muslim world’s closed marketplace promotes dull conservatism. The Book and the Koran, by Muhammad Shahrur, which tried to reinterpret the Koran for modern readers, was widely banned in the Islamic world, despite its pious tone and huge popularity.
So will the fact that the Bible has been translated into many languages, is therefore accessible and easily understandable by all nations mean that it will win the race for minds and political power in the 21st century? It could be .... afterall Yankish has won the race for the global language (to date).
Quote:
Look at the relative performance of Christianity and Islam in the light of several centuries of history and the latter’s recent growth looks less impressive. Christianity has expanded massively since the 16th century, thanks to the dynamism of first Europe, then the United States.Despite the blessings of oil, the Arab world lags behind the West in most indices of economic success and political maturity, from investment in science to free and fair elections. There is depressingly little evidence of internal cultural creativity. More books are translated into Spanish every year than have been translated into Arabic in the past millennium.
warning - spurious assumption incoming
The explosion of Christianity from the 16th century appears to coincide quite nicely with the Bibles translation into other languages. "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it" is a phrase often used and I wonder if the Islamists out there are missing a trick from Christianity. I hope they keep missing it and keep inward looking and incestuous, I could do without an Islamic world for my lifetime.
There endeth my opinionated agnostic religious rant for the week
Now to pop out and do some sinning 
Edited, May 16th 2009 10:19am by GwynapNud
when each camp claims to be a more growing faith. 
