What really concerns people in the West aren’t the economic, but the political ramifications of Islam. While many other religions, from Voodoo to Hinduism to Mormonism, may be viewed as quaint, nonsensical, or bizarre – but at least well intentioned – Islam is seen as threatening. That’s because of Islam’s political ramifications, including what was once the 6th Pillar, known as Jihad, or Holy War to defend or spread Islam. That, understandably, scares Christians (and others). But no more, I suspect, than hearing a congregation sing “Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war” on a Sunday scares Muslims (and others) while the U.S. Air Force is plastering various Muslim countries.
Some say that Islam is fine in itself and, as with Christianity, the problem is fundamentalism. Fundamentalism is basically living your life exactly according to the dictates of The Book, as least as you understand it. And this gets us back to the problem of hypocrisy. If Allah, via the Prophet, says it is wrong to charge interest on a loan, under any circumstances, how can you rationalize that with modern banking practices and economic theory, in which interest is the time value of money? If Jesus, who many Christians believe is God, says that it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into Heaven, how can you rationalize being rich? Well, Muslim banks have at least 18 ways of getting a return on loans without calling it interest (fees, return gifts, commissions, tokens of appreciation, percentage of profit, etc.). As for how Christians solve the wealth conundrum, I’m sure we’ve all heard the answers in Sunday school.
Actually, despite all the problems fundamentalists of all religions cause (and have), you’ve got to respect them, if only because they’re not hypocrites. They don’t just talk the talk, they walk the walk. The real question is whether the talk itself should be relegated to the scrap heap of history. There may be cause for optimism. After all, Marxism was nothing but a secular religion, and today nobody but acknowledged morons, and some college professors, ever admit to having been believers.
The future of Islam
Should Islam be considered a threat to civilization as we know it? That question requires two, equally valid, answers.
One answer is a definite yes: Islam is a huge threat. That’s because there’s every reason to believe any number of groups in the Islamic world will attempt to defend themselves from the medieval Crusaders disguised as modern Americans. They’ll fight back not with planes, missile cruisers and tanks, but with weapons they can afford – which are, ironically, not just vastly cheaper, but vastly more effective. We won’t call their warriors “soldiers,” but “terrorists” – while forgetting that “I’m a freedom fighter, you’re a rebel, he’s a terrorist.”
Some, especially those in National Security circles, discreetly ask what should be done about the Muslim threat. My answer is: Absolutely nothing. I don’t see the Muslims as any more of a threat than the Christians, the Jews, the Hindus or any other religious group. The ones I know are every bit as nice and decent as anyone else. Once, however, you start looking for an answer to the “Muslim question,” you’re looking for trouble of the worst kind, as did the Germans when they sought an answer to the “Juden frage.” Unfortunately, that’s the direction America is moving. I don’t doubt that, before this decade is out, those of us with Muslim friends may be watched as potential terrorists for that reason.
A second answer is a categorical no. Islam is not a threat at all. Paradoxically, one of Islam’s greatest strengths is also one of its greatest weaknesses: namely, the fact it’s more than just another religion – it’s a complete world view. It doesn’t just prescribe how one deals with the supernatural, or even just morality, but dictates one’s approach to finance, science, art, politics and life in general. This has a certain utility in uniting primitive people for the purpose of military conquest, using simple technology. If you can get a horde to think alike in most ways, even convincing them they’re going to go to Paradise if they die on a jihad against the enemy, you’ve got a formidable low-tech military force. In warfare, as Napoleon said, the psychological is to the physical as two is to one. But groupthink doesn’t much help in any other area of civilization.
To the degree Muslims take their religion seriously, they will necessarily fall behind in every other area of human endeavor. That’s because their religion takes absolute precedence over everything else and regulates everything they do. One consequence of that is poverty – at least if you value things like capitalism, freedom, science, and technology (and their consequence, prosperity). With no disrespect intended, slavish belief in a book that came to an illiterate Arab merchant in his dreams in the 7th century is less likely to lead to success in a wealthy high-tech world than one where people lived in tents, and counted their wealth in terms of camels.
For that reason, I’ve got to say the economic future of countries with Islamic traditions is not going to be what it could, or should, be. And that’s a pity. But, as most people will acknowledge, there are more important things in life than money. Everyone has to make their choice. As for me, it means that, everything else being equal, stocks traded in these countries have to be cheap indeed before I’d consider buying them. But more on that, in the pages of International Speculator, in the near future.
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