It's in the religion

John Lloyd has written a piece for The Guardian's Comment is Free site that states the bleeding obvious. Mind you, it needs stating and restating. That Islamism, or Islamic Jihad, is not a result of the actions of the evil West, but rather derives from elements within Islam itself. He mentions the Pakistani Abu Ala Mawdudi, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, as does one of the commenters. I did a quick search and found this:

Islam is a revolutionary doctrine and system that overturns governments. It seeks to overturn the whole universal social order...and establish its structure anew...Islam seeks the world. It is not satisfied by a piece of land but demands the whole universe...Islamic Jihad is at the same time offensive and defensive...The Islamic party does not hesitate to utilize the means of war to implement its goal.

As Lloyd also points out, this Islamist philosophy can be directly relating to the totalitarianisms of the 20th Century both of the Left and the Right. He doesn't say, but could, that it is also indicative of the essentially religious nature of all totalitarian systems - they are a distorted application of religious ideas to areas in which they do not belong. Of one idea in particular: salvation, which for an individual is harmless, but for a society, fatal.

I would add that it not enough to say that this is in Islam. You must also take into account the disproportionately small part Islamic cultures play in the world. They contribute so little to science, art or anything else. Of course they're resentful. Those who feel unneeded generally are.

Tagged: Islam, Revolution, The West