The Muslim faith is widely scourged here in the land of the free, as people are inclined to be provincial and project their own evil onto others. (I’m way above that sort of thing myself, mind you.) But if you set aside the jihads and seven virgins waiting (just as Christians should set aside virgin births and Revelations), it has some appealing features.
Among these features are avoidance of alcohol, daily prayer rituals, and a severe mandate that those who accumulate wealth must share with those who are less fortunate.
They also have some weird stuff, just as other religions do, concerning diet, clothing and travel. Food restrictions probably came from a time when they made sense, as with Jews who avoided crustacean seafood, which could be deadly poisonous. And the pilgrimage to Mecca is a wasted vacation, as far as I am concerned. I’d much rather go to Arizona and watch spring training.
What set me off on this was some reading I did this morning by Loretta Napoleoni in her book Rogue Economics. I’ve just been triggered to learn more about it, and can’t begin to be useful here, but she was writing about Sharia Economics, which has its roots in the Qur’an.
The concept of “interest”, or money making money on money, is outlawed in Islamic societies, though in practice they cannot avoid it, since western economics sets the table for them.
The ideal behind the concept is that wealth is the product of labor, and that payment of money must be done in return for good or services, and not merely because someone holds financial investments. It is so foreign to Westerners that we automatically dismiss the idea as impractical. But events are leading many of the Islamic faith down a non-western path.
Napoleoni specifically writes about two events: The Asian collapse of 1996, and the aftermath of 9/11/2001.
The former was brought about by flight of capital from South Korea, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. (The latter two are heavily Muslim.) It is a classic example of too much power in too few hands, and the inability ot nation states to control the flow of capital. Those countries were devastated by the collapse, and are yet to recover. One country, Malaysia, decided to abandon Western economics, and turn to the Sharia form. It limped along for a while, and of course was shunned by the IMF, which waited for it to regain its senses. In recent years, it has attracted Muslim capital, and the country is performing quite well.
The other event was 9/11, and the ominous “War on Terror”, which many Muslims regarded as a mere witch hunt. It caused many wealthy Muslims to withdraw from the world scene, and seek to close the walls and build their own economies, free of Adam Smith, Alan Greenspan, and the IMF.
The brief chapter I read this morning was just a trigger, and it’s a whole new area for me – I invite readers here to spill their knowledge on us – if you can add some expertise to these ramblings, I can simply put up a post under your name and let you have at it.
Please add your two bits. In the meantime, it’s a whole new avenue for me.
Piece of Mindful 
Hasan thought Sharia law had appealing features too.
>>Aulaqi described Hasan as a man who took his Muslim faith seriously, and who was eager to understand how to interpret Islamic sharia law. In the e-mails, Hasan appeared to question U.S. involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and often used “evidence from sharia that what America was doing should be confronted,” the cleric told Shaea.
“So Nidal was providing evidence to Anwar, not vice versa,” said Shaea. “Anwar felt, after seeing Nidal’s e-mails, that [Hasan] had wide knowledge of sharia law.”Shaea said he interviewed Aulaqi in his house on Saturday in Shabwa, a province in southern Yemen that has become an extremist stronghold and where al-Qaeda is seeking to create a haven.<<
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Hasan appeared to question U.S. involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and often used “evidence from sharia that what America was doing should be confronted.”
Does that mean I’m a Muslim too? I don’t know what the U.S. is doing over there, but also know that it isn’t for any publicly stated reason.
You are kind of hard to reason with. Your attitude about Hasan is not rational. You are not thinking well.
What am I to make of a certain militia-oriented Irish Catholic American who prayed to his Christian god and then went and blew up an office building in Oklahoma City? That he represents Christians? Irish Catholics? Americans?
Perhaps he was crazy.
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Can’t have it both ways, Mark.
Meaning, I wouldn’t want an interest free loan, if my wife could be stoned to death over an exposed ankle.
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Because this post was clearly advocating the immediate institution of Sharia law.
Idiot.
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“But if you set aside the jihads and seven virgins waiting (just as Christians should set aside virgin births and Revelations), it has some appealing features.”
Prick.
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Because saying it “has its appealing features” is the same thing as saying we should institute it.
You are very stupid, you know. I coubt you could even pass the 4th grade NCLB tests for reading comprehension.
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Is 4th grade that the full time job you’re having trouble getting, Steve?
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I don’t think it is as simple as getting an interest-free loan, Swede. But as today was my first exposure to Sharia economics, I have to wait at least one day to proclaim myself an expert.
Please re-read, if you would please. Especially the part about projecting our own evil tendencies on others. It sort of undermines your moral superiority. Is taht what pisses you off?
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It pisses me off that the capitalist system, is constantly your demon.
Your seemly trying to find good in every other repressive system, Mark.
Overreaction on my part, probably, but most of the times you have tunnel vision, to the overall well being of a given populous.
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I have repeatedly said that I believe in regulated capitalism, that I am kind of a European socialist.
I don’t think you understand that, nor do I think you see the dangers of unregulated capitalism.
So we don’t communicate well.
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Swede-
It pisses me off that you, don’t know where to put your, commas.
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In real conservation, I stutter.
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Back to your European model.
Wouldn’t ya think that if it was so successful they’d have a more vibrant economy, high standard of living, low unemployment?
And can you blame a more restrictive, even collective type governments on declining birthrates in native europeans?
I firmly believe Europe in in its death throes. I know you’ll hate this, and there’s many disputing its numbers, but I agree with the authors of this video.
Not just because they’re Christians and are looking to rally the troops.
Amazing, you like the European model, as it slouches into Islam and eventually, Sharia Law.
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As I viewed that video, I became quite concerned – 11 million people had viewed it! That’s quite a reach for such a piece of nonsense.
http://richardabanes.wordpress.com/2009/06/27/muslim-demographics-a-christian-response/
It sounds specious from the start – who is the guy doing the talking? Isn’t he the same guy that does NFL highlights? Unsourced statistics, frightening projections …
A couple of thoughts – one, even if it were all true, which it isn’t, why be concerned? Eventually, they will all be Europeans. You know how the Chinese conquered their enemies? They assimilated them.
Tw, the racism in that piece is really unsettling, and this is directed right at you Swede – smarten up! Don’t fall for such nonsense. Relax a bit. You will find that Muslims, like Christians, like Canadians, are largely harmless and nice, with a few nuts interspersed who make life interesting for all of us.
Get some rest.
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Ok lets take Richard at his word. This vid is racist, spawned by white supremacists religious fanatics.
It still doesn’t debunk the theory that a overall 1.38 growth rate is a game changer. Lets replace Muslims with any other noneuropean race. The demographics will still change.
Has California changed due to the influx of illegals? For the better?
And lastly, is Europe aborting itself into its demise?
>>The Institute for Family Policies pointed out that the annual number of abortions carried out in the EU in 2007 were equivalent to the combined populations of the union’s 10 smallest member states, with Britain, France and Romania accounting for half of those.<<
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So much to do, so little time …
1.38 is not static. It can change. But you will find around the world that as women’s rights improve, the birth rate goes down.
The problem of illegals in this country is a whole ‘nother discussion. One, it was spawned by NAFTA, and two, if there were penalties enforced against employers rather than trying to rout out individuals, the problem would go away. But meat packers and large growers would not like that, so it is not done.
Finally, abortion – a whole ‘nother discussion. But whenever I hear someone complain about it in terms of lost population, I have to remind you that legal or not, these abortions will go on, and in the same numbers.
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