Noting the rise in anti-Arab racism and bigotry against Muslims in the US, Juan Cole dug deep in the Quran on Thursday to bust up the “clash of civilizations” meme. The Muslims are pretty much like us Christians and Jews, don’t you see?
One commenter does see, and doesn’t like what he sees:
Give me a break.
The reason why the Romans were opposed to the Christians, and the kafir to the early Muslims, is that both those groups are against pluralism. The infidels did not declare war on the early Muslims, the early Muslims declared war on them.
Every anti-pluralist impulse in the world today can be traced to the eradication of traditional religion in favor of monotheism. [link added]
Be that as it may, recent events in Missouri expose what can only be described as a monotheistic agenda and resistance to it—by monotheists! That would seem to indicate the level of fundamental pluralism in the United States today, leaving aside the question of monotheistic pluralism, which is where we began (above). Here’s the text of the proposed legislation in Missouri, here is an explanation of how Muslims view polytheism and atheism, and here’s an American atheist’s cri du coeur.
Once again, the internet has let us down. Of the eight links in this short post, five are dead (counting the one that is technically alive but actually devoid of the content originally cited). Who is left standing? The formidable Juan Cole, the invaluable Wikipedia, and some atheist. Bravo, guys! May you live forever in our hearts and on a server somewhere.