By Quin Hillyer at PJ Media…. [Note: The idea here is decidedly NOT to adjudge the truth of various faith doctrines, much less to assess various beliefs about salvation; it is, instead, an appeal to reason, on the theory that “by their fruits ye shall know them. We are told to proselytize, rather than hiding our light under a bushel — and claiming a greater appeal of one’s faith is an essential part of proselytizing.]
Our religion is better than theirs, and we should not be reticent about saying so.
By “our” religion, I mean all the varied denominations of Judaism and Christianity. By “theirs,” I mean Islam.
And by “better,” I mean that our faith’s values, broadly speaking, are more humane, more humanly decent, and nobler than Islam’s.
If a Muslim says I’m wrong and that his faith is better, I will take no offense, but just agree to disagree, and go about my business. But if I make my claim to his face, he would not only take offense but might well attack me.
Therein lies part of the difference.
Before further explicating the contention that Judaism and Christianity are “better,” let me root the contention within the sometimes furious discussion of President Donald Trump’s speech in Warsaw, Poland, insisting on the value of “the West” and the need to defend it. The speech was not an explicitly anti-Muslim speech (although it clearly was in parts anti-Islamist), nor should it have been. But there’s nothing wrong at all with defending not just the values of “the West” but also those considered Judeo-Christian.
Among those values, at least as understood in the modern world, is the value of respecting differences even if we don’t agree with them. Islamists (again, not all Muslims, but the politicized radical ones) insist on trying to force their beliefs on us or make us die while refusing to be converted; Jews and Christians offer our faith to all and try to persuade people in our direction – out of love, without force or conscription.
At the risk of over-generalizing, and with due respect for the reality that broad generalizations may not apply in certain individual circumstances, let us examine the differences between the faiths…..
[The full, and controversial, column is here.]
