28 March, 2024

Blog

Graham E. Fuller, A World Without Islam

By Charles Ponnuthurai Sarvan

Prof. Charles Sarvan

Prof. Charles Sarvan

There are those who expend energy in making judgements rather than in trying to gaining knowledge and understanding: such judgement is easy, while knowledge is difficult. ~ (Adapted from the novel, Augustus, by John Williams.)

At the outset, I must reassure some, particularly Moslems, and disappoint those who are Islamophobiacs: this book isn’t anti-Islam. In many senses, Muslims have now very much become the new “Jews” in European society (233), and Islamic characteristics and culture are “open season” for cartoons, lampoons and derision in ways no longer tolerated by Western society in respect of Jews (225). Donald Trump, the presidential candidate of the Republican Party, has threatened to ban all Moslems from entering the USA.

What passes off as a conflict between two religions, or sub-divisions of a religion, is really to do with “worldly issues” (85) such as the struggle over power and territory. Consider for example the claiming of land and the building of Buddhist structures in the [as yet] predominantly Hindu Tamil North and East. What is at stake is not religion but questions of identity and power (85). The problem lies in the optic employed, the “immaculate conception” approach to crises, namely, that “we” are totally innocent, and the “others” totally to blame (7). The public is galvanized, and made ready to pay any price by demonizing the enemy. We are conscious of, and sensitive to, our own nationalism but quite obtuse to the fact that others also have such, similar, feelings. Aiya Sophia in Istanbul

The crux of Fuller’s argument is that the violence presently associated with Islam has little to do with Islam per se and, in reality, has deep geopolitical roots. Many are ignorant of the history of Western intervention in the region over centuries (p. 5). On the other hand, it would be “silly” to suggest that Islam has no role whatsoever in colouring elements and events. Yes, there’s violence, and violence is reprehensible but one must go beyond easy condemnation and make an effort to understand causes. Fuller argues that Islam is primarily a flag or banner for “other, deeper kinds of rivalries and confrontations” (6). Islam, in such uses, has really very little to do with Islam, with religion, and everything to do with politics (18). In other words, it’s not religion but the political use to which religion is put, be it in “Cairo, Tel Aviv, Mumbai, or Colombo” (20). Religious doctrine is almost never the issue: what counts is ethnicity, and the drive for power and domination (160). Power attracts religion, and religion attracts power (25). “Religion is an exceptionally powerful human force” (42. Italics added). The “closer religion becomes linked with state power, the further it drifts away from the realm of intellect and spirit” (46). What better way to promote one’s ethnic or political goals than to cloak them in “religious and godly garb”? (60). For example, Prime Minister Golda Meir asserted that Israel “exists as the fulfilment of a promise made by God Himself”: Such using of heavenly sanction for earthly ends is not unfamiliar. The popular belief among Sri Lankan Buddhists is that the Buddha miraculously visited thrice, and decreed that the entire Island should become the land where his doctrine would be preserved in its pristine purity. Therefore, the people have no choice but to turn this wish / command into reality.

All nationalisms read history retroactively; their historians go back and mine the past for evidence to buttress their nationalist and territorial claims of today and tomorrow (243). States marching off to war invariably claim that justice is on their side (311). Each side is convinced of the rightness, if not righteousness, of their action. In democratic societies, the dilemma grows: if the state were to acknowledge any notions of moral ambiguity in the course of conflict, it would invite disaffection among its troops and population, undermine the proclaimed absolute justice of the cause (311). Hence there’s the need to demonize the enemy (312). “In its own eyes, the state is always right, the state is always moral” (333) – even if it adopts the Israeli tactic of exacting one hundred eyes for just one eye (ibid). St Matthew 5:38, “An eye for an eye”, becomes “An eye for a tooth”. Once the conflict begins, hatred is ratcheted up on both sides; atrocity generates counter-atrocity (314), and original causes and grievances are forgotten.

Graham E. Fuller, A World Without IslamFuller asks what can better illustrate the ‘clash of civilisations’ (a phrase now associated with Samuel Huntington) than “Western crusaders brimming with Christian fervour, banner unfurled” marching under the Pope’s blessings to “liberate the Holy Lands from the infidel Muslims” (108). Fuller then goes on to argue that “religion was really the backdrop, the popular narrative, the justification of what was a powerful geopolitical move by the West” (ibid). If the Ottoman Turks had been Christian, would they not have invaded “Greek Byzantium, a rich and weakened state”? If the Tamils had been Buddhist, would history have been different? Religious aggression is “little more than pious pretext for imperial expansion” (193). Geopolitics transcends religion (213).

I have suggested elsewhere the following for consideration: Religious doctrine is divine, religion is human. In other words, there is a vast difference between religious doctrine, be it from the Buddha, Christ or the Prophet Mohammed, and religion with its rituals, paraphernalia, hierarchy, myths and superstitions. This helps to explain why the same religious doctrine can be interpreted and employed differently at different times. Indeed, why ‘religion’ can be used to act contrary to ‘religious doctrine’ such as, for example, the Buddha’s adjuration to avoid violence, and his urging followers to extend compassion to all, at all times. ‘Religion’ can lose the spiritual essence of ‘religious doctrine’: “Buddhism, when combined with ethnicity […] quickly loses its ethical considerations of pacifism, even on the part of Buddhist monks, when it comes to fighting in the name of the Buddhist Sinhalese community” (48).

The first schism in Christianity was between the Orthodox and Rome-centred churches, and Fuller shows that the grounds that led to division had much to do with power, prestige and influence. (Since it is the West that brought Christianity to Africa, Asia and further East, many in these regions, as in the West itself, are unaware that the “Eastern Orthodox Christian Church today remains the second-largest single Christian communion in Christianity after Catholicism”, 78). Theological differences were minor, and the quarrel was over who was to claim the mantle of Rome: the West based in Rome or the East centred on Constantinople. With time, as with the schism between the Shi’ites and Sunnis, these divergences gain a life and momentum of their own. Catholic crusaders from Europe pillaged the then-Christian city of Constantinople, and in 1182 about 80,000 Catholics were massacred in Constantinople: they were largely Venetians “who virtually ran the economy of Constantinople” (83).

Many in the West are ignorant of Western intervention in the Middle East over centuries (5) and they dismiss anti-Western feelings as pathology, rather than evidence-based (178). Anti-Westernism is mostly the direct result of Western political, economic and cultural expansion in the wake of imperialism and colonialism (179): In passing, one notes that Fuller maintains the distinction, now often blurred, between ‘imperialism’ and ‘colonialism’. The latter entails outsiders who come to live and take over the land: the natives are the nett losers (284.) After the Ottomans were stopped outside Vienna in 1683, Europe went on to “invade and dominate virtually every Muslim country in the world” (218). It is a history of invasion, empire-building, coups, political, economic and cultural domination, exploitation of resources and arrogance (164). Western territorial imperialism may be past but its effects are present. For example, hundreds of ethnic groups find themselves included within a culturally different state that is often suppressive of their identity and cultural rights. Fuller’s list includes Chechens, Uyghurs, Sri Lankan Tamils and others (33I). Imperialism also distorts natural development (284) and Fuller wonders whether “British imperial control of India over several hundred years” (261) has much to answer for what led to a Partition that was “Ill-starred and perhaps unnecessary”, one that “solved nothing”. (In the essay, ‘Reign of Anomy’, included in my Pubic Writings on Sri Lanka, Volume 2, 2013, I wonder to what extent the Island’s natural development has been distorted by centuries of Western, Christian, imperial rule, which was as exploitative as it was arrogant.)

Remaining with history, Fuller sees the Crusades as one of the earliest indicators of the imperialist urge in Western politics: even if the Middle East had not been Moslem, Europe would have invaded (131-132). After all, Christian crusaders desecrated the church in Constantinople; smashed the icons and holy books, and sat a prostitute upon the “patriarchal throne” who sang obscene songs as the soldiers drank wine from the church’s holy vessels (119). The ‘Thirty Years War’, one of the bloodiest wars in European history, was ostensibly about religion, a fight between Protestants and Catholics, but in reality it was a power-struggle among states (135-6). Martin Luther’s Protestant Reformation succeeded because of support from German princes who wanted to reduce the power of the church (138) and so increase theirs. Apropos, it has been pointed out that making God masculine (a “He” rather than a “She”) strengthens the case for male domination: see among others, When God Was a Woman by Merlin Stone.

The suffering of the Jews, the “killers of Christ”, at the hands of Western Christians over the centuries, and culminating in the Holocaust, is well known. But today, the conflict is seen as one between Islam and Christianity. However, the Virgin Mary is mentioned more often than any other woman in the Qur’an, more often than even in the New Testament of The Bible. She is the most revered female figure in Islam (35). For Muslims, any denial of Jesus as a great prophet violates the beliefs of Islam itself. There are no disparaging remarks about Jesus in the Qur’an, while in Judaism there is much harsh criticism of Jesus (36). According to Islam, Jesus did not die on the cross but was taken up to heaven by God, the compassionate. “And it will be Jesus, not Mohammed, who will return at the day of judgement” (38. Original italics). The difference between Christianity and Judaism are far greater than those between Christianity and Islam (42).

Fuller cites several examples of the use of religion for purposes of power and politics. In the 1950s and 1960s, it was Arab nationalism and not Islam that was seen as a threat to Western interests in the Middle East (300). Mosaddegh, the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran, was overthrown in 1953 in a coup d’etat aided by the CIA and British intelligence, and the pliant and West-leaning Shah brought in, unwittingly helping to create the present theocracy. But the US and Britain funded the Muslim Brotherhood opposition to Nasser in Egyptian (301) and, in more recent times, helped armed Islamic groups in Afghanistan in their fight against the Red Army. Communist Stalin in the desperate struggle against Hitler turned for help to the Orthodox Church, symbol of Holy Mother Russia, while the Japanese invoked the sacred character of the Shinto religion (307). “In Sri Lanka, the dominant Sinhalese […] employed Buddhist monks to strengthen Sinhalese public support” (308) against the largely Hindu Tamils. In the 1960s, Israel released the Hamas leader Shaykh Ahmad Yassin from prison, and funded Islamist Hamas against the Arab nationalist PLO under the leadership of Yasir Arafat. Years later, in 2004, Israel assassinated Shaykh Yassin (301).

Islam is now associated with terrorism: “Not all Moslems are terrorists but all terrorists are Moslem”. But, as I have written in ‘Reign of Anomy’, one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom-fighter. It’s a matter of perspective. In the 1980s, the US enthusiastically supported terrorist attacks in Afghanistan against the occupying Soviet army. “Terrorism” is the clinching argument, and once it is invoked, no political approach or negotiation is required, and states have full moral authority to apply maximum violence to wipe out the opposition (329). As it has been pointed out, while “terrorists” may kill in the tens and hundreds, states have killed in the hundreds of thousands, far more civilians, including children and women, in a callous disregard for human suffering and life, lightly dismissing the carnage as ‘collateral damage’. “Terrorism” is a form of political violence but violence is routinely exercised, particularly by repressive regimes (330): the definition if “terrorism” is not consistently applied (334). It seems to me that one right a state possesses is to brand all those opposed to it internally as “terrorists”. ‘Terrorism’ is indeed reprehensible but it does not necessarily “delegitimize grievances” (338). In focusing on the former, we must not lose sight of the latter.

“Terrorism” is the weapon of the weaker (320-1): if the Palestinians had jets and helicopters, not to mention other ghastly ‘weapons of mass destruction’ stockpiled by Israel, these would be their weapons, not terrorism: see also the now-defeated Tamil Tigers. The Havana Declaration of 1979 of the Non-Aligned Movement condemned all forms of occupation, domination, interference. The NAM opposition to Israel was not based on anti-Semitism but on an exclusivist Zionist state built at the expense of the Palestinians. Islam has nothing to do with the origins of the conflict (304) and Moslems fear Israel is a creature of the West, deliberately implanted into the heart of the Middle East to dominate it (302-3). Islam has nothing whatsoever to do with the creation of the Palestinian problem. “The crime of the Holocaust” lies entirely on European shoulders: Palestinians are paying the price for European sins over the centuries, culminating in the Holocaust (303). The ‘Palestinian problem’ (the phrase suggests that Palestinians are a problem, rather than a people on whom a massive and tragic problem has been placed) has its roots “not in Islam, but in Western persecution and butchery of European Jews” (5). The Palestinian problem is “perceived across the Muslim world as the single most egregious case of imperialism, which has displaced local people and cast them into desperate living conditions in refugee camps, imposed second-class citizenship upon them in Israel, or pushed them into exile – for more than sixty years” (345). Jihad and violence are not the problem but the symptom or expression of a problem (316).

China is said to have trouble on its border regions because of Islam but, on examination, the problem is with ethnicity and not belief. Beijing has deliberately stimulated a massive flow of Han Chinese to migrate to Xinjiang province. Over time, ten million Uyghur will have little ability to preserve their identity and culture in the face of over 1.2 billion Han Chinese (272). Over the years, China will “gradually and quietly extirpate the Uyghurs as a distinct group” (273). Buddhism in Tibet will lose out but not because of a clash of ideology or religious belief but because of China’s territorial appetite and aspiration. It’s reported that Buddhists in Myanmar are attacking Moslems. At the entrance to Thaungtan village, as elsewhere, there’s a sign which reads: “No Muslims allowed to stay overnight. No Muslims allowed to rent houses.” The minister for religion, former general Thura Aung Ko, refers to Moslems and Hindus as “associate citizens” (The Guardian, London, 23 May 2016). But again, probing beneath the surface, looking behind appearance, the hatred is really based on this-worldly matters such as the ownership of land and the running of small businesses. Even if the Rohinga people had been Buddhists, they would not, as things are at present, enjoyed equality, inclusion and justice.

The hostile attitude to Muslims, particularly in the West, has “probably done more to forge a common-minded umma than any other factor” (9). Younger Moslems in the West, ties with their countries of origin loosening, find in Islam “a common link across ethnic lines” (221).Islam does provide focus, strength and vigour but, at root, is not the explanation. It may complicate, even exacerbate, problems but it does not create them. On the other hand, “we cannot dismiss the Islamic factor entirely out of hand” (221). I cite Fuller: The death of Islamic intellectual vigour and curiosity led to the decline of creative thinking in Islamic theology, philosophy, science and technology. Ritual and narrow legalism came to triumph over thought and inquiry. This atrophy of Muslim intellectual vigour is well demonstrated in the collapse of Muslim science and, possibly more damaging, in a general passivity toward science and technological development. Most Muslim reformers looked at the West as a warehouse of technological hardware, without grasping the need for the all-important cultural and intellectual software that made it all function (280). A majority of leaders in the Arab world are not elected, and pursue pro-Western policies unpopular with the majority of their people (289). Though claiming to champion democracy, the West is largely silent on the subject of civil liberties and human rights in these states. Indeed, the West has helped crush real liberation movements in the Middle East – as in Latin America. Religious leaders are seen as being in the pocket of the regime (325) and the Muslim world has a high proportion of despotic regimes (330).

In conclusion, even in ‘A World Without Islam’, there will be conflict unless Planet Earth were to be attacked by aliens from outer space. Then we would all, irrespective of ethnicity, colour, religion, unite to fight them (162-3). I am not sure about this for history provides many examples of people seizing opportunity, and allying themselves with powerful but total aliens against historic neighbours with whom the differences are less than the similarities. Divide et impera invariably succeeds: we, Homo sapiens, often display a woeful lack of “sapiens”. Understanding deep-structure; cause and motivation is important because it, hopefully, may lead to a solution. It is not to indulge in an easy exculpation: the struggle is to understand.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Latest comments

  • 6
    13

    The basic message of Islam is the same message of all the previous prophets (peace be upon all of them) worship God alone and avoid worshipping anything besides Him, whether it is a person, place or thing, directly or indirectly. This basic principle of Monotheism is contained in the opening chapter of the Quran, known as Surah al-Fathiha, verse 4: “You alone we worship and from you alone we do seek help.” In (4:37), Allah also said: “Worship Allah and do not associate partners with Him.” The last Prophet (pbuh) is reported to have said: Anyone who says: ‘There is no god worthy of worship except Allah’ and dies holding that belief sincerely will be eventually granted paradise.

    • 5
      12

      Islam is force to reckon,

      • 6
        4

        According to Buddhist history what Muslim worship in Mecca is Lord Buddha’s steps covered by a hugh stone brought by gods.

        Scientists say that the Rock in Mecca is a Meteorite. If it were a meteorite just fell down there randomly it would have made a hugh crater.

        the truth is, gods (angels in christianity) brought that stone and covered it.

        • 4
          4

          Softy

          You have a hard imagination.

        • 5
          1

          jim softy dimwit

          “the truth is, gods (angels in christianity) brought that stone and covered it.”

          Maybe from the inside your head.

      • 8
        3

        Excellent analysis: Conflicts are basically on self interests of ethnic groups for domination, power, land and resource grabbing and of course imperial expansion of states.

        • 1
          2

          When I was a boy I used to think that the communists were imagining when they talked about Western imperialists.

          Now more than half a century later I realize how correct they were: Ironically the two biggest communist/socialist countries themselves have turned into imperialists themselves.

          Small nations and big nations aspire to building their own empires: Don’t forget that small nations like Holland, Portugal and Britain had their vast empires around the world.

          We cannot rule out the possibility of small nations aspiring today to form their empires if they have the right leadership, resources, and alliances for creating one!

          • 3
            1

            Thiru:

            YOu are just thaka-thiru.

            KArl-MArx is western, HE wrote that while living in a Western City, London.

            Only the Asian cheer ready to accept and cheer for it.

      • 2
        5

        Maghribi

        “Islam is force to reckon,”

        Why not help the Muslims to get out of the In-breeding Practice, and dropping their IQ every generation.

        Use Reason, Use Intelligence and Remember that humans Evolved from primates, and human health and intelligence depends on genes. Your Idiotic Mullahs and Ulama, are ignorant and will not help you.

        1,400 years of inbreeding, with 30 years per generation is 46 generation. So,the Muslims IQ must have dropped bu 0.3 IQ points every generation, and with 46 generations, the IQ must have dropped from 100 to 0.3×46 = 13.8 points i.e. IQ 100- 13.8 = IQ 86 close to 85 IQ for South Asians and Middle Easterners.

        Muslim Inbreeding should be Haraam

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvlWU_Gf4Fw

        Published on Aug 17, 2013
        Stillbirths are the biggest killer of Muslims daily,this video investigates the root causes of this global phenomena,links for further reading

        Muslim Inbreeding—- a human catastrophe

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm6T1_au5GM

        • 4
          2

          Amare

          Ara okata ara – did you ever atleast consider it useful to evaluate your own IQ? I think you should, do it without any further delay. I for one will not be surprised with the results.

          • 3
            3

            Abu

            “did you ever at least consider it useful to evaluate your own IQ? think you should, do it without any further delay. I for one will not be surprised with the results.”

            Hope your IQ is high enough, unlike that of Wimal Buruwansa, who says 2/2 =0, so that you can estimate. Most Muslims have low IQs because of In-breeding, and that allows the Ulama and Mullah to treat them as Idiots.

            1. Have you gone for Haj to Mecca? You do Tawaf, circumambulate, performed seven times around the Kabba anti-clockwise.

            So, Estimate, A A= 7×20

            2. At Mina are three Pillars in the Valley of Mina close to Mecca which represents three times that Satan, Iblis, Devil, attempted to tempt Ibrahim (Abraham). Make sure that you have collected 49 Stones at At Muzdalifa, to be thrown over several daya at the three pillara in the valley of Mina, towards the Devil, Satan, Iblis.

            Now Estimate B, B=number of Pillars for Satan, Iblis, Devil

            3. Now Estimate the number of stones, Abu, will be throwing at the Satan, Devil, Iblis, who resides on the Pillars.

            Now Estimate, C . C- Number of Stones thrown at the Devil, Satan, Iblis.

            Now Estimate Amarasir’s IQ = A + B + C.

            Please do throw more stones at the Devil, Iblis, Satan. The more stones you throw, Amarasiri’s IQ goes up.

            PS. Do not get help from Wimal Buruwansa, if you have trouble in math.. Get help from Izeth Hussein.

          • 1
            0

            Abu

            Why are you still an Idiot? Is it because of your in-breeding?

            You are losing your brains to get out of in-breeding.

            You should consider it useful to evaluate your own IQ and the IQ’s of Muslims who are misled by Ulamas, Imams.

            IQ of Nations, In-breeding, Incest, Reason, Stupidity and Revelation.

            May be you should join the Thursday Club.

            Islamic Sexuality A Survey Of Evil. They are now competing against the Catholic Priests now.

            https://cairnsnews.org/2015/09/30/muslims-suffer-insanity-low-iq-recessive-disorders-from-1400-years-inbreeding/

            Muslims suffer insanity, low IQ, recessive disorders from 1400 years inbreeding

            Biological fallout from 50 generations of first cousin marriages

            from a Lockheed employee in Saudi Arabia.

            During the pilot transition program with the KV-107 and C-130 with Lockheed, we found that most Saudi pilot trainees had very limited night vision, even on the brightest of moonlit nights.

            Their training retention rate was minimal including maintenance personnel. Some had dim memories and had to be constantly reminded of things that were told to them the day before. An American, British or any other western instructor is burned out pretty quick. It actually took Muslim C-130 pilots years before they could fly in the dark safely and then would be reluctant to leave the lights of a city.

            Ask any Marine, Air Force or Army guy who’s been trying to train Iraqis, and especially Afghans. Islam is not only a religion; it’s a way of life all the way around. Yet another set of revealing facts about Muslim beliefs and traditions and ways of life. 1400 years of inbreeding.

            Nikolai Sennels is a Danish psychologist who has done extensive research into a little-known problem in the Muslim world: the disastrous results of Muslim inbreeding brought about by the marriage of first cousins. This practice, which has been prohibited in the Judeo-Christian tradition since the days of Moses, was sanctioned by Muhammad and has been going on now for 50 generations (1,400 years) in the Muslim world.

            This practice of inbreeding will never go away in the Muslim world, since Muhammad is the ultimate example and authority on all matters, including marriage.

            The massive inbreeding in Muslim culture may well have done virtually irreversible damage to the Muslim gene pool, including extensive damage to its intelligence, sanity, and health. According to Sennels, close to half of all Muslims in the world are inbred. In Pakistan, the numbers approach 70%. Even in England, more than half of Pakistani immigrants are married to their first cousins, and in Denmark the number of inbred Pakistani immigrants is around 40%.

            The numbers are equally devastating in other important Muslim countries: 67% in Saudi Arabia, 64% in Jordan, and Kuwait, 63% in Sudan, 60% in Iraq, and 54% in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

            According to the BBC, this Pakistani, Muslim-inspired inbreeding is thought to explain the probability that a British Pakistani family is more than 13 times as likely to have children with recessive genetic disorders. While Pakistanis are responsible for three percent of the births in the UK, they account for 33% of children with genetic birth defects.

            The risks of what are called autosomal recessive disorders such as cystic fibrosis, spinal muscular atrophy is 18 times higher, and the risk of death due to malformations is 10 times higher. Other negative consequences of inbreeding include a 100 percent increase in the risk of stillbirths and a 50% increase in the possibility that a child will die during labor.

            Lowered intellectual capacity is another devastating consequence of Muslim marriage patterns. According to Sennels, research shows that children of consanguineous marriages lose 10-16 points off their IQ and that social abilities develop much slower in inbred babies. The risk of having an IQ lower than 70, the official demarcation for being classified as “retarded,” increases by an astonishing 400 percent among children of cousin marriages. (Similar effects were seen in the Pharaonic dynasties in ancient Egypt and in the British royal family, where inbreeding was the norm for a significant period of time.)

            In Denmark, non-Western immigrants are more than 300 percent more likely to fail the intelligence test required for entrance into the Danish army. Sennels says, “The ability to enjoy and produce knowledge and abstract thinking is simply lower in the Islamic world.” He points out that the Arab world translates just 330 books every year, about 20% of what Greece alone does.

            In the last 1,200 years of Islam, just 100,000 books have been translated into Arabic, about what Spain does in a single year. Seven out of 10 Turks have never even read a book. Sennels points out the difficulties this creates for Muslims seeking to succeed in the West. “A lower IQ, together with a religion that denounces critical thinking, surely makes it harder for many Muslims to have success in our high-tech knowledge societies.”

            Only nine Muslims have ever won the Nobel Prize, and five of those were for the “Peace Prize.” According to Nature magazine, Muslim countries produce just 10 percent of the world average when it comes to scientific research measured by articles per million inhabitants.

            In Denmark, Sennels’ native country, Muslim children are grossly over represented among children with special needs. One-third of the budget for Danish schools is consumed by special education, and anywhere from 51% to 70% of retarded children with physical handicaps in Copenhagen have an immigrant background. Learning ability is severely affected as well. Studies indicated that 64% of schoolchildren with Arabic parents are still illiterate after 10 years in the Danish school system. The immigrant dropout rate in Danish high schools is twice that of the native-born.

            Mental illness is also a product. The closer the blood relative, the higher the risk of schizophrenic illness. The increased risk of insanity may explain why more than 40% of patients in Denmark’s biggest ward for clinically insane criminals have an immigrant background. The U.S. is not immune. According to Sennels, “One study based on 300,000 Americans shows that the majority of Muslims in the USA have a lower income, are less educated, and have worse jobs than the population as a whole.”

            Sennels concludes: There is no doubt that the wide spread tradition of first cousin marriages among Muslims has harmed the gene pool among Muslims. Because Muslims’ religious beliefs prohibit marrying non-Muslims and thus prevents them from adding fresh genetic material to their population, the genetic damage done to their gene pool since their prophet allowed first cousin marriages 1,400 years ago are most likely massive. This has produced overwhelming direct and indirect human and societal consequences.

            Bottom line: Islam is not simply a benign and morally equivalent alternative to the Judeo-Christian tradition. As Sennels points out, the first and biggest victims of Islam are Muslims.

            Simple Judeo-Christian compassion for Muslims and a common-sense desire to protect Western civilization from the ravages of Islam dictate a vigorous opposition to the spread of this dark and dangerous ideology.

            These stark realities must be taken into account when we establish public polices dealing with immigration from Muslim countries and the building of mosques.

          • 1
            0

            Abu

            You need to accept the facts and the truths, and correct the errors. The Catholic inquisition is over, for the time being.

            Sam Harris Destroys Golden Age Of Islam. Reason Vs. Revalation

            In-breeding by Muslims. Muslims are decaying from inside, due to downgrading reason.

            India, Sathi in Hinduism?

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMbJUc_w2d8

            Sam Harris on the David Gregory Show

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHrxD-PYBxU

          • 1
            0

            Abu and Other Muslims, Please Use REASON!

            Race and IQ part 5; Inbreeding, Health and IQ

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drUuzsQlT1k

            It is amazing how much mental gymnastics there are around this issue. The facts are that the races score different on IQ tests. There are three responses to this.

            The first is that the difference is genetic, as shown in this video. Honestly this is the most simple answer and it never ceases to amaze me how people don’t just accept it and move on with their lives.

            The second response is that they are victims of their environment they can’t help being stupider because of how they were raised or taught. The general support for this line of thought is the idea of a racial conspiracy, and the more and more racism is rooted out, and the more and more blacks fail to achieve a high IQ despite of this, the more and more the hunt of a racist explanation begins to seem like a witch hunt. This is even more surprising seeing as the data always suggests it is the Asians who have higher IQ, and the Jews who have the highest. As the professor eloquently explained with the ghetto syndrome, this line of thought does not hold up under evidence.

            The third and strongest counter-point to this argument is that it is culture that fosters bad intelligence, or that the IQ test itself is made for a certain culture. The IQ test is indicative of western culture, which is the only successful culture across the globe.

            If it is true the the races are unequal because of culture then it would make sense to take away their culture from them, but I have a feeling that the left would also spit fire and scream about multiculturalism. Of course the left never really cared about the actual welfare of blacks except that they remain the championed under-class, as evidence from the past 50 years of American history has shown.

            If they left did care they wouldn’t allow them to damage their own lives using their own culture, which is the source of so much gang violence and educational failure.

            Why are the Muslim Ulama, Mullah and Imsans not bringing up the issue of in-breedinf, First and second cousin marraiges among the Muslims, that is making the community sicker than the general non-inbreeding population and also results in lower IQ>

            All because of the Revelation and the Lifestyle, Sunnah of Prophet Mohamed?

            When will the Muslims accept REASON and overrule Revelation and traditions, when the data supports it?

            Muslim Inbreeding—- a human catastrophe

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm6T1_au5GM

      • 1
        0

        Maghrib

        “Islam is force to reckon,”

        Yes. Too much in-breeding and making Muslims Stupid with low IQ and critical thinking skills.

        Muslims suffer insanity, low IQ, recessive disorders from 1400 years inbreeding.

        https://cairnsnews.org/2015/09/30/muslims-suffer-insanity-low-iq-recessive-disorders-from-1400-years-inbreeding/

        Biological fallout from 50 generations of first cousin marriages

        from a Lockheed employee in Saudi Arabia.

        Sennels concludes: There is no doubt that the wide spread tradition of first cousin marriages among Muslims has harmed the gene pool among Muslims. Because Muslims’ religious beliefs prohibit marrying non-Muslims and thus prevents them from adding fresh genetic material to their population, the genetic damage done to their gene pool since their prophet allowed first cousin marriages 1,400 years ago are most likely massive. This has produced overwhelming direct and indirect human and societal consequences.

        Bottom line: Islam is not simply a benign and morally equivalent alternative to the Judeo-Christian tradition. As Sennels points out, the first and biggest victims of Islam are Muslims.

    • 1
      3

      Hussain Fahmy

      RE:Graham E. Fuller, A World Without Islam.

      Use Reason, use your God Given Brain or the Evolved Brain.

      This would be world before Prophet Mohamed. Where would All the Ulama, Mullahs and their followers be? They certainly would have taken up other occupations, good or bad.

      They ails would have give prominence to reason over revelations.

      There also would have been less inbreeding.The current populations in Islamic Counters would have been healthier, and their native IQs about 10 to 15 points higher as well.

      Do you think that you can get the Muslim Civil Groups to Educate the Muslims to reduce In-breeding that results in lower IQs and more birth Defects?

      In the UK. South Asians are 3% of the population, but 10% of the Birth Defects.

      In India and Pakistan, the Lower IQ masses are dragging the High IQ fraction.

      The Heritability of World IQ Differences by Philippe Rushton part 5

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbpAnEAfqx0

      ALARMING High Rate of Inbreeding Among Muslims

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYQLGVtPCU8

      When Muslim Cousins Marry Each Other and Produce Inbreds – very sad (Part 4)

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB-moJXZovY

      Inbreeding should be Haraam

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvlWU_Gf4Fw

      A Question That Stumped Even The Islamic Schollars – Islamic Inbreeding & Insest

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jGaQvKsF3I

    • 1
      2

      Hussain Fahmy

      Inbreeding: The Movie (for Evolution)

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap44qHitND4

      Muslim inbreeding is a fact, nothing to do with racism. Islam is not a race anyway, it is a belief.

      Why Inbreed? Why not use reason and knowledge, instead of listening to the ignorant Ulama?

      • 2
        1

        Amare

        From where do you extract this kind of poppycock? Man! Aren’t you an entertainer?

        • 1
          1

          Abu and other Muslims, ……. Muslim Inbreeding should be Haraam

          ” From where do you extract this kind of poppycock? Man! Aren’t you an entertainer?”

          You have been entertained by your Ulama, Mullah and other Idiots, who followed Revelation blindly, without following reason, and as a result have got heir IQ’s decreased over successive generations by in-breeding.

          Muslim Inbreeding should be Haraam.

          Please reverse this trend, and not be known as a community of Idiots.

          The Islamic Golden age happened before this Idiocy, Revelation supersedes Reason and In-Breeding is acceptable prevailed.

          Can you address the core problem among Muslims- Inbreeding and Cousin Marriages? Why not help the Muslims to get out of the In-breeding Practice, and dropping their IQ every generation.

          Abu et al, you should try to address the Core Problem With Muslims.. Reason, Education and Inbreeding that Results in Low IQs for Muslims. This has been going on for too long, 1,400 years, and the Native IQs of the Muslims have dropped after accepting Islam, due to Inbreeding. Furthermore, their healths are also affected.

          Abu, ss a Muslim, you are in a good position to bring to the forefront, and help the unborn millions of Muslims and the world.

          Cousin Marriage in Islam and The Comparison of Mean IQ in Muslim and Non-Muslim Countries.

          https://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/comments/2s1jb1/cousin_marriage_in_islam_and_the_comparison_of/

          Here is an interesting write up.

          “I must make readers aware, I AM NOT an Islamophobe, nor do I promote hate-speech. I have friends of said faith in real life and I am an open-minded person to all idealogies (whether or not I believe them myself).”

          ” I recently was made aware of the following statistics and facts (check sources), and I am interested to what reddit thought of this. “In accordance with the Quran and the tradition of Muhammad, half of all Muslims are inbred — marriage between first cousins is encouraged in many Islamic countries. One of the results is an average IQ 19(!) points lower than non-Muslims. This means that 2 points above standard deviation (top 2 percentile) have an IQ of only 117 as opposed to 130 (gifted) in non-Muslims, and means that gifted members of the Muslim population — which basically means anyone who can even achieve a degree in the sciences — make up less than 0.2% of the population.”

          “It also means that the percentage of Muslims that are mentally disabled (IQ<70) make up %400 percent more of the Muslim population than the non-Muslim one. The thing is, it's not just a result of poverty either. The wealthier Muslim countries (Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia) actually scored the lowest."

          "Will this have an affect on the current issues? Should this information be more wide-spread, or will that just ensure more hatred? Was anyone here aware of this? Are you shocked or not surprised?"

          Cousin Marriage in Islam

          http://wikiislam.net/wiki/Cousin_Marriage_in_Islam

          Due to the actions of Prophet Muhammad and the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, marriage between cousins is explicitly allowed and even encouraged in Islam. The Qur'an itself does not discourage or forbid this practice in any way. In fact it implicitly allows it, as seen in chapter 4 verse 23:

          Prohibited to you (For marriage) are:- Your mothers, daughters, sisters; father's sisters, Mother's sisters; brother's daughters, sister's daughters; foster-mothers (Who gave you suck), foster-sisters; your wives' mothers; your step-daughters under your guardianship, born of your wives to whom ye have gone in,- no prohibition if ye have not gone in;- (Those who have been) wives of your sons proceeding from your loins; and two sisters in wedlock at one and the same time, except for what is past; for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful;-

          So everyone besides these relatives named can be married. Such marriages in Muslim majority countries are often preferred and even encouraged in some regions. This is in contrast with China, India. most of the United States and some other nations where cousin-marriage is against the law and regarded as incest.

          Even though there is some debate on this issue, scientists tend to agree it is genetically unhealthy. There are other problems with cousin marriages. According to the Hanafi school of legists, a man may give his daughter in marriage to his brother's son without her consent. This goes against free will which results in unhappy marriages.

          Use Reason, Use Intelligence and Remember that humans Evolved from primates, and human health and intelligence depends on genes. The Idiotic Mullahs and Ulama, are ignorant and will not help you in this endeavor.

          1,400 years of inbreeding, with 30 years per generation is 46 generation. So,the Muslims IQ must have dropped bu 0.4 IQ points every generation, and with 46 generations, the IQ must have dropped from 100 to 0.4×46 = 18.4 points i.e. IQ 100- 18.4 = IQ 81.6 close to 84 IQ for South Asians and Middle Easterners.

          If you take the IQ of the Mediterranean people on the Northern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, their IQs are close to 100, such as the Italians and Greeks, who do not inbreed. Genetically, the people are about the same.

          http://www.photius.com/rankings/national_iq_scores_country_ranks.html

          Muslim Inbreeding should be Haraam

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvlWU_Gf4Fw

          Published on Aug 17, 2013 Stillbirths are the biggest killer of Muslims daily,this video investigates the root causes of this global phenomena,links for further reading.

          Muslim Inbreeding—- a human catastrophe

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm6T1_au5GM

        • 1
          0

          Abu

          Why do you want to entertain the worls with Stupidity?

          Half of world’s Muslims are inbred due to generations of incest

          Here’s an explanation for Islamic terrorism that’s never proffered:

          Insanity and Stupidity

          https://fellowshipoftheminds.com/tag/muslim-average-iq/

          A never-spoken-about problem with Muslims is their inbreeding as a result of their long and deeply-ingrained practice of marrying first cousins — a practice that has been prohibited in the Judeo-Christian tradition since the days of Moses.

          More than 7 years ago, the UK’s environment minister Phil Woolas had sounded the alarm about this “very sensitive” issue that is “rarely debated”. Referring to the culture of arranged marriages between cousins in the Muslim immigrant community, Woolas said: “If you have a child with your cousin the likelihood is there’ll be a genetic problem.”

          Woolas, whose views are supported by medical experts, said most cases occur in immigrant families from rural Pakistan, where up to half of all marriages involve first cousins. Woolas said: “If you talk to any primary care worker they will tell you that levels of disability among the . . . Pakistani population are higher than the general population. And everybody knows it’s caused by first cousin marriage.

          According to Nicolai Sennels, a Danish psychologist who has done extensive research into Muslim inbreeding, close to half of all Muslims in the world are inbred:

          70% of Pakistanis are inbred.
          67% of Saudi Arabians are inbred.
          64% of those living in Jordan and Kuwait are inbred.
          63% of Sudanese are inbred.
          60% of Iraqis are inbred.
          54% of Muslims in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar are inbred.
          25-30% of those in Turkey are inbred.
          In England, at least 55% of Pakistani immigrants are married to their first cousins.
          In Denmark the number of inbred Pakistani immigrants is around 40%.

    • 2
      1

      Prof. Charles Sarvan

      RE: Graham E. Fuller, A World Without Islam

      Dr. Shabir Ally reviews “A World Without Islam?” by Graham Fuller

      Lot of uninformed negative comments from people who clearly haven’t read the book. Regardless of your views on Islam, it’s radically eye-opening and extremely hard to argue with his overall assertion (that the conflicts would exist with or without Islam), and impossible to argue with the historical accuracy of the incredibly violent power-struggle that existed between East and West well before Islam came into being — even, as this interview points out, between Eastern (Orthodox) Christianity and the Roman Catholic Church — much of which makes ISIS look like a bunch of Sunday School kids. Read the book!! may not change your mind about Islam, in general, but will definitely change your mind about geopolitics.

      Western Imperialism and Geopolitics. It has little to do with Islam, Christianity, Judaism or Hinduism.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voFq5OyWkgo

  • 12
    15

    world will be a lot better place without islam

    • 7
      11

      Go and creep into your kennel, before you get caught and castrated.

      • 1
        0

        dingo, you’re more like a Bingo!

    • 2
      7

      @ballah! Yes. This world would have gone to dogs (like you) without Islam

      • 0
        0

        People who want god are dependents. The concept of almighty god is a myth.

        All the words uttered by the so called god can be uttered by people (may be better than god).
        Except that he created universe.

      • 2
        1

        abu, islam is nourishing terrorism and on-going conflicts in the world are prime examples

    • 1
      1

      Ballah (I think you’re a foreigner, in Sinhala balla = dog)

      The world will be a better place without any religion.

      Make humanism the religion of people so people will be under one umbrella with harmony.
      No need of god to teach us love and we can make our own law.

    • 1
      2

      Ballah

      Keep on barking.

  • 6
    5

    Brilliant, brilliant analysis of the world political order. In the context of our country, Sri Lanka has no hope for salvation. Imagine Sirisena telling Sinhala Buddhists “be fair by the other communities” …. Never going to happen – and there never will be justice.

  • 4
    4

    I have not seen the book. But it is clear that Islam is discussed in the context of ‘politics’ sans mention of imperialism
    Understanding the cynical collaboration between the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey in Syria will tell us much about political Islam.

    A Eurocentric view of Islam dominates the media and the minds of many of us with anti-Muslim prejudices.

    • 1
      2

      Prof. Charles Sarvan and sekara

      “A Eurocentric view of Islam dominates the media and the minds of many of us with anti-Muslim prejudices.”

      We have seen this phenomenon throughout history. What is their strategy?

      First the Christian Europe had the Jews, then the Depolarization and Liberation movements, Communism, then Nationalism, and now they are after Islam, after using for their own advantage several times.

      There is another Book you should read. ISLAMISM BY TAREK OSMAN.

      Tarek Osman – Islamism: What It Means for the Middle East and the World

      http://yalebooksblog.co.uk/2016/01/18/the-two-futures-of-the-arab-world-an-essay-by-tarek-osman/

      THE TWO FUTURES OF THE ARAB WORLD, AN ESSAY BY TAREK OSMAN

      Five years since the Arab uprisings, a political, cultural and social battle is still raging across the Middle East. Tarek Osman, the author of Islamism, explores‎ the challenges facing the Arab world, and reflects on the conflicting factors that will shape its future.

      The Arab world is undergoing its most transformative change for a century. There are factors in this transformation that could plunge the Arab world into more disintegration, violence and chaos than what we have been seeing in the last five years. Yet, also within this transformation, there are changes that could salvage the Arab world, and usher it on a new trajectory of regeneration.

      Aside from the uprisings, regime-change, and civil wars, the key development that the Arab world has witnessed in the last few years has been the fall of the Arab state system of the past seven decades. The nation states in the Eastern Mediterranean that Britain and France created after the First World War and the fall of the Ottoman Empire have been unravelling. In Iraq and Syria central state authority has collapsed. Lebanon’s various political factions have for over a year and half now been unable to agree on a president, leaving the country effectively a shell-state where the government undertakes administration and coordination, while its different religious and feudal communities retain their own political structures and foreign alliances. Eight years after the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas took control of Gaza and broke off relations with the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, a cohesive Palestinian political entity remains elusive.

      ‘The system of the nation state in the Arab periphery has also crumbled. Sudan has been divided into two countries with opposing economic interests and strategic orientations. The North is ruled by a president charged by the International Criminal Court, Omar al-Bashir, and the South is mired in a low-intensity tribal war.’

  • 3
    3

    Prof. Charles Sarvan

    RE: Graham E. Fuller, A World Without Islam

    Thanks for a succinct analysis of the issues involved.

    1. “At the outset, I must reassure some, particularly Moslems, and disappoint those who are Islamophobiacs: this book isn’t anti-Islam. In many senses, Muslims have now very much become the new “Jews” in European society (233), and Islamic characteristics and culture are “open season” for cartoons, lampoons and derision in ways no longer tolerated by Western society in respect of Jews (225). Donald Trump, the presidential candidate of the Republican Party, has threatened to ban all Moslems from entering the USA.”

    2. “What passes off as a conflict between two religions, or sub-divisions of a religion, is really to do with “worldly issues” (85) such as the struggle over power and territory.”

    3. “The problem lies in the optic employed, the “immaculate conception” approach to crises, namely, that “we” are totally innocent, and the “others” totally to blame (7).”

    4. “The public is galvanized, and made ready to pay any price by demonizing the enemy. We are conscious of, and sensitive to, our own nationalism but quite obtuse to the fact that others also have such, similar, feelings.”

    5. “The crux of Fuller’s argument is that the violence presently associated with Islam has little to do with Islam per se and, in reality, has deep geopolitical roots. Many are ignorant of the history of Western intervention in the region over centuries (p. 5).”

    6. ” On the other hand, it would be “silly” to suggest that Islam has no role whatsoever in colouring elements and events. Yes, there’s violence, and violence is reprehensible but one must go beyond easy condemnation and make an effort to understand causes”

    Yes. Read about the Great Game of the 18th Century between the Great Powers (Britain, Russia, France) of that time. During the Soviet Invasion of Afganistan and it’s subsequent resistance by the Muslim and Islamic Freedom Fighters, there was no Problem with Islam.

    Is it Islam , or is it Wahhabism, that was initially promoted ny the British, as a tool against the Ottoman empire, using the “Stupid” Arabs, who trusted the west more than the Turks, and the recent use of the “Islamic” Fighters by the West and Pakistan towards their own ends?

    Why?

    Because, it was useful and could be used against the Soviets.

    Have the West forgotten the Atrocities by the Christians over the pas 20 Centuries? Pogroms against the Jews, the Crusades, the Inquisitions, the Western Colonialism etc. where Christianity followed the Western Imperialism and the direct complicity of the Christian Church?

    Hitchens DEMOLISHES the Catholic Church

    Published on Oct 27, 2014
    The great Christopher Hitchens destroys the Catholic Church in this amazing opening statement of the “Is the Catholic Church a force for good in the world?” debate.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAxgnd8mYr0

    “In conclusion, even in ‘A World Without Islam’, there will be conflict ” because of:

    a) Western Imperialism and Hegemony

    b) Christianity and its need to save people from “Sins”.

  • 4
    1

    Dear Prof Sarvan,
    Thank you Professor for the wonderful analysis. On the topic of knowledge, the great quote of Chinese philosopher Confucius comes to my mind. “Knowledge without thinking is meaningless; thinking without knowledge is dangerous.”

    I do not agree with Grehem Fuller. Alas, the issue as we analyze is not with religion or ideology but those extremists who abuse religion to further their political means like those behind Bodu Bala Sena, Sinhala Urumaya, Ravana Balaya, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress or the Tamil Liberation for whatever that polarizes ethnic harmony is what needs to be banned in this country. Beyond out shores, the problems are also due to other nations interfering in domestic affairs by taking advantage to further selfish national self-interest. What I am about to say is not anti Semitic although anti-Zionist. Not all Jews are Zionist; not all Zionists are Jews. The entire world will be a better and a safer place without such Zionists like Henry Kissinger or Golda Meir’s that exacerbated conflicts around the globe with such draconian foreign policy. Obviously conflicts and terrorism will rise when religions are hijacked to fulfill one’s narrow minded self interest when imperialist agenda is forced on people, land is usurped, territories are illegally occupied, foreign forces conquer, people are ethnically discriminated, entire populations are starved with embargoes and left destitute, the UN, HR and International laws are violated, when human dignity is shunned and human misery is spread anywhere in the world whether in Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Arab world, Africa, America or Jaffna. The largest supporter of Islamic extremism or hotbed for terrorism emerge from the lack equal opportunities, justice and government representation, lawlessness, illiteracy and ignorance. The biggest support for Zionism and extremism outside of Israel is not perpetrated by Jews but by ignorant Evangelical Christians. Stupid buffoons like Donald Trump only help add fuel to such turmoil. One of the best speeches in recent history that I have ever heard is from US President Barak Obama at the commencement at Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA. President Obama stresses the importance of understanding cultures, conflict resolution, intellectual discussion, mutual respect and diplomacy is the passport to make ours’ a better world. A timely reminder to emerging leaders that “Ignorance is NOT a virtue” as quoted by President Obama. The US-president acknowledges that he is far from perfect. The USA (a very new nation) is not the best democracy as it claims to be. I suggest the CT allow me to share this youtube link.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ9jJm_q5Jo

    Let us start the intellectual discussion in making ours a descent country where everyone can live in peace if we unite under one banner for prosperity and hope for a better future.

  • 7
    1

    Excellent piece!

    Although religions are professed to be for the good of man, on balance religions have done more harm than good. Vastly more harm.

    The question is, do we really need religions?

    • 4
      2

      You ask, Do we really need religions?

      I’ll attempt to answer:

      Do we need Policemen? Has anyone ever asked why do we need policemen? No. Never.

      Yet, there is your question. You are not the only one who has asked that question.

      When you have the intelligence(?) to ask that question, you certainly have the intelligence(!) to answer your question.

      Why do you believe that religions do more harm than good. Harm is done by men, not by religions.

      Lord Buddha never preached disharmony. Lord Buddha never imagined that His subjects will turn violent, in his name. But, isn’t that what is prevalent in Sri Lanka. Will you be blame Lord Buddha for that?

      Blaming religions for human lust and greed is shifting the blame away from you!

      Do we need religions? Yes, until we are ready to declare that we don’t need policemen.

      NB: Don’t, for a moment, imagine that I am equating police to God. If you do, I have wasted my time with you!

      • 7
        1

        Mr Nathan,

        “Blaming religions for human lust and greed is shifting the blame away from you!”

        “Why do you believe that religions do more harm than good. Harm is done by men, not by religions.”

        Some guy said “In the absence of God, man is CONDEMNED to be free.” In the absence of “a” God/religion man is terrified of freedom because with freedom comes responsibility for each and every one of his actions. God/religion is only a tool to deflect responsibility.

        “Do we need religions? Yes, until we are ready to declare that we don’t need policemen.”

        This is a wrong assumption. In a “civilized” country disobeying “rules” of a religion has no consequences but disobeying rules enforced by policemen have consequences.

        Aren’t the rules/ethics observed in a “civilized” country insufficient for the entire society to function in a manner to safeguard the rights of everyone? Should we veer further into Gods/religions?

        The point is, what if there is a set of rules/ethics devoid of any religious/ideological/what-have-you connotations? Like a set of road-rules that people are compelled to observe simply out of self-interest? Rules/ethics based on religions/ideology/what-have-you only give man nooks and crannies to hide his other nefarious intentions.

        In a “free” world, each to his own. After coming into contact with a group of people, who had no other option but to think for themselves as they had not been exposed to religion or education, I have come to believe, that to a greater extent religion/education/culture, in the main, is nothing but a gang-rape of our minds from infancy which smothers independent-thinking and prevents us from thinking for ourselves.

        On a personal note, I have practiced what I believe (I don’t preach! :)) ) I have brought up two children without any religion; only with a set of ethics. In any worldly crisis they have to depend on their own resources without beseeching divine intervention or guidence. They haven’t done too badly; in fact it has made them stronger.

        • 0
          0

          Wonderful Nimal. Well done.

          Life is also a funny animal. You who are so independent, all-knowing and totally unreliant on any invisible power, may you not be put in such a situation as to implore the divine to bring your kid back to you from his/her death bed.

          Before I go, let me ask you, what is your “belief command” regarding lending or borrowing money on interest? Indulge or not? It is that practice that has made 20 percent of the world’s population own 80 percent of the world’s resources. So what is your answer?

    • 1
      0

      nimal fernando

      “The question is, do we really need religions?”

      Karl Marx said ” Religion is the Opium of the masses”.

      Do do we need opium, drugs, alcohol etc?

      Anyway, do we really need religions to interbreed and end up with birth defects, and decrease the IQ with every generation? No.

      Separate Interbreeding from Religion. Muslims and Hindus please take note!

      Inbreeding: The Movie (for Evolution)

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap44qHitND4

      In India and Pakistan, the Lower IQ masses are dragging the High IQ fraction.

      The Heritability of World IQ Differences by Philippe Rushton part 5

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbpAnEAfqx0

      ALARMING High Rate of Inbreeding Among Muslims

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYQLGVtPCU8

      When Muslim Cousins Marry Each Other and Produce Inbreds – very sad (Part 4)

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB-moJXZovY

      Inbreeding should be Haraam

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvlWU_Gf4Fw

      A Question That Stumped Even The Islamic Schollars – Islamic Inbreeding & Insest

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jGaQvKsF3I

      • 2
        1

        Amare

        I have observed for a long time now that you seem to have a fixation with IQ. I do not know whether a misplaced and detached psychosexual is manifesting itself in your adult life. For what’s worth get a consultation with an expert.

        Freud theorized that some humans may develop psychological fixation due to one or more of the following:

        A lack of proper gratification during one of the psychosexual stages of development. Receiving a strong impression from one of these stages, in which case the person’s personality would reflect that stage throughout adult life.

        • 1
          1

          Castration may solve Amare’s problem.

          • 0
            1

            Fun lover
            Your are being cruel to the friendly neighbourhood Amare by suggesting castration.
            I think Amare could learn a thing or two by the use of a whip

        • 1
          1

          Abu, Funlover and Ken Robert,

          The evidence is overwhelming with sufficient correlation on the Intelligence and performance of people and nations.

          If your IQ is low, so be it. Live with it and do the best you can, and for heaven sake, do not in-breed!

          Even though your IQs may be at the lower ens of the spectrum of IQs, it is hoped that you can be helped by pointing out the deficiencies.

          While they are primarily genetic, it has been made worse for some by in-breeding.

          There is positive correlation with the Wealth of nations, Development and IQ.

          It makes no sense in wasting resources on those with low IQs, to get them to do tasks the are incapable of.

          The idiot Abu cannot even recognize the damage dine by in-breeding to the Muslim Population. The Saudi Arabiam Graduates scored the Lowest on the GMAT Exam, that tests critical thinking skills. It is because of Wahhabism and on-breeding.

          IQ and the Wealth of Nations

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IQ_and_the_Wealth_of_Nations

          IQ and the Wealth of Nations is a 2002 book by Richard Lynn, Professor of Psychology, and Tatu Vanhanen, Professor of Political Science.[1] The authors argue that differences in national income (in the form of per capita gross domestic product) are correlated with differences in the average national intelligence quotient (IQ). They further argue that differences in average national IQs constitute one important factor, but not the only one, contributing to differences in national wealth and rates of economic growth. Critical responses have included questioning of the methodology and of the incompleteness of the data, as well as of the conclusions. The 2006 book IQ and Global Inequality is a follow-up to IQ and the Wealth of Nations by the same author

          Quick Post: L&V’s National IQs predict GMAT scores across 173 nations

          The GMAT is a graduate entrance test used by more than 5,900 business programs offered by more than 2,100 universities worldwide. While the test is given in English, it is designed to be as minimally English dependent as necessary to predict successful completion of Business programs taught in English. Further, the test is carefully scrutinized for item bias. Rudner (2012) explains:

          Yes, the GMAT test is administered in English and is designed for programs that teach in English. But the required English skill level is much less than what students will need in the classroom. The exam requires just enough English to allow us to adequately and comprehensively assess Verbal reasoning, Quantitative reasoning and Integrated Reasoning skills….

          We carefully review our questions using criteria defining good item construction. We also compute statistics to assess whether our questions are appropriate across culture groups. We constantly update guidelines for our item writers, including a master list of terms and phrases to avoid in order to assure cultural fairness. By using carefully defined and thorough item development and review processes, along with statistical analyses to flag questions with possible cultural bias, we have developed a test that minimizes the impact of culture and language. The GMAT exam is the best objective measure of the likelihood of success in management programs across the globe.

          We decided to explore to what extent global differences could be accounted for differences in National IQ. To do this, we examined the relation between measures of national cognitive ability, English language proficiency, English language usage, and GMAT scores by reported citizenship. We also sought to determine to what extent GMAT scores could be used to index the National IQs for poorly investigated regions such as North Korea, Rwanda, and St. Kitts.

          http://humanvarieties.org/2014/02/02/quick-post-lvs-national-iqs-predicts-gmat-scores-across-173-nations/

          https://humanvarietiesdotorg.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/gmatregressionplot.png

  • 3
    6

    “Consider for example the claiming of land and the building of Buddhist structures in the [as yet] predominantly Hindu Tamil North and East”.

    Needs correcting immediately. The east is NOT predominantly Hindu.

  • 1
    1

    I reproduce, verbatim, a message from the author, Graham E. Fuller, received today, 29th May:-

    “Thank you for reading my book World Without Islam and for writing a very thoughtful and insightful overview of it. I certainly think you have more than grasped the essence of the book. More interestingly to me, you have brought in rich examples of the Sri Lankan case in far greater detail than the fleeting references I made to it.

    I have been interested for some time in the Sri Lankan case. Despite my Christian upbringing, it is ultimately Buddhism which has contributed to my personal, most basic world and spiritual views today (altho I don’t claim I am Buddhist as such.) I had initially tended to think that Buddhists were of course something of an exception to the bloody links between religion and violence.

    Yet I discovered in later years that in Sri Lanka, and indeed in Myanmar, that Buddhists too (not really surprisingly) still fall prey to the same human instincts when pressed. (We might cite Japan as well.) So indeed many of the arguments in my book do also apply to Buddhist society; your discussion strongly bolsters those arguments.

    In any case, I can see that you are a highly individual thinker, and have been much involved in the controversies over your country’s past with a wealth of writings. Perhaps anyone who thinks too much on these issues is bound to offend people in his own society.

    Thank you for taking the trouble to review the book. I appreciate your thought and efforts.”

  • 1
    0

    Prof. Charles Sarvan

    “….we, Homo sapiens, often display a woeful lack of “sapiens”…”

    Couldn’t have put it better!

    ‘Graham E. Fuller, received today, 29th May:-
    “I had initially tended to think that Buddhists were of course something of an exception to the bloody links between religion and violence.”‘

    Unfortunately, Buddhism as practised in Sri Lanka, is more Ritualistic than a ‘Way of Life’.

    Probably adapted to Counter Conversion to Christianity, which is more appealing to those who find it Easier, to hand their Salvation to Someone Higher than themselves.

Leave A Comment

Comments should not exceed 200 words. Embedding external links and writing in capital letters are discouraged. Commenting is automatically disabled after 5 days and approval may take up to 24 hours. Please read our Comments Policy for further details. Your email address will not be published.