Barbarians: Culture or Religion?

It seems to me that it is unarguable that the following are barbaric acts:

Rioting over cartoons.
Killing a non-because the Pope suggests Islam is violent.
Suicide bombings.
Taking hostages and beheading them.
Killing converts to Christianity from Islam (thus assuring that they will never convert back, I guess).

Are the people who do these things barbarians because of their culture? Or because of their theology? That is, what causes the barbarism?

Now we learn that in Muslim Pakistan, kite flying is a popular pastime. However, the kites are often flown with strings laced with ground glass and metal, which may and often do kill other kite flyers. In the last few days, at a kite flying event, 11 people were killed. see DebbieSchlussel.com

Barbaric? Of course. I wonder if the Islamic resistance to social change is partly to blame for the barbaric culture displayed.

Islam and Skinheads

Supremacism is the belief that a particular race, religion, gender, belief system or culture is superior to others and entitles those who identify with it to dominate, control or rule those who do not. Source: Wikipedia

The only difference between white supremacy and Islam is the identity of the superior people. White supremacists come in various varieties. Most are not themselves violent. Most would not themselves kill or physically harm African-Americans or Jews. However a number of them would do such things. But all believe in the inherent, God-given superiority of whites. So it is with Muslims.

I have spent many, many hours agonizing and studying issues relating to radical Islam in the United States and throughout the world. I have read it the analyses of Islam by the likes of Robert Spencer, Daniel pipes, Kenneth Timmerman, and others (I apologize for those not named). And I have read and listened to Islamic apologists. I have agonized over the questions of how to deal with Muslims, knowing that many do not actively support violent jihad. Nevertheless, there remains an undercurrent of support. Dinesh D'Sousa and others suggest that exposing Islam as a violent religion will simply cause the currently nonviolent ones to circle the wagons and push them toward the violent factions. Maybe, but education about Islam should not be suppressed.

After careful study, I come to one clear conclusion about Islam. Islam as a political system and as a theology is essentially supremacist. Under Islam, a nonbeliever is less than that of a Muslim and even less than human. Every Muslim is greater than has more rights than any nonbeliever. The Koran instructs Muslims to call nonbelievers to convert, failing that, subjugate them, and failing that to kill them. The violence stems form the supremacism.

There is nothing similar in the teachings of Christianity or Judaism (despite periods of distinctly un-Christian behavior during the Spanish Inquisition, for example). Nothing in Christianity teaches supremacy, least of the sort that instructs believers to subjugate or kill nonbelievers.

Sure, Christians may consider themselves better than non-Christians in many ways. Jews consider themselves better than non-Jews in many ways. But nothing in Christianity or Judaism teaches believer to lie to unbelievers, to mistreat unbelievers, or to hate unbelievers. To the contrary, Christianity teaches us to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Islam teaches hatred of Jews and Christians as idolaters. Islam teaches that once subjugated, unbelievers must pay a special tax to support Muslims. Unbelievers in Islam may not build any new churches. Unbelievers are to know themselves to be subjugated to Islam.

The theme of Islam, it seems, is "Islam uber alles." Supremacy in all.

If our politicians need a conceptual model, to understand Muslims, they need only look to Skinheads.

Pelosi Blunders Update

It seems that Nancy Pelosi is determined to continue provide grist for the blunders mill. Now Nancy Pelosi wants the Pentagon to provide her with a bigger jet for her private travel to San Francisco. I gather that the military provides this transportation for certain leaders in the wake of September 11, 2001.

She says it's not about the size, but the distance. She does not want to have to make refueling stops.

I don't know. It sounds to me more like locker room boys bragging about the sizes of their privates. It is hard to feel sorry for her when the rest of us have to try to find our connecting flights.