What I find most amusing is the widespread belief among Muslims that this Sharia law is essential in order to preserve Islam. Don't they see that it is exactly this law that destroys Islam wherever it is enforced?
To the degree that the law demanding the death of anyone who converts away from Islam is actually enforced, to exactly that degree the nation that enforces it is not a Muslim nation. Indeed, there are no Muslims at all, wherever that law is enforced.
Because religion is absolutely not about mere outward compliance with the law. It is about belief -- it is about what a person believes in his heart. But in a nation where conversion away from Islam means death, then no believer can be sure that his own obedience is purely a matter of conscience . . .
There is no faith under compulsion. Any nation where Sharia is enforced is not a Muslim nation, and none of its people are Muslims. If they cannot choose not to be Muslim, then they have not chosen to be Muslim. Without freedom not to believe, faith is a sham even if you think you are sincere.
Stop bringing reason and logic into this, Card! You'll crush people's fondly held beliefs... and that's not nice.
Bah! Next thing you'll be saying that even if your God tells you to kill someone, it's still probably not a good idea to reach straight for that axe.
PS: On the other hand, Card's a Mormon...and they're nearly as batty....
Posted by Quentin George at April 6, 2006 07:03 PMThe Muslim state doesn't care whether or how many of its citizens have or fail to have a "heart faith" in Islam. They can tolerate that.
You just can't make an open or positive statement about it. How that is defined depends on the extent to which Islam controls the operation of the courts or the state.
Despite any protestations to the contrary that you might hear from the Faithful, Islam essentially boils down to a religion of externals, of rituals and of appearances.
Card, by asking the question he does and making the statements he does in his piece simply betrays a fundamental ignorance of what Islam really is and is about.
Posted by: Celal at April 7, 2006 12:14 AMin my country, the ratio of muslims converted to others religious is more than other religious converted to muslims. But until now not even one who's converted from muslims to others religious is being killed or murdered. But there have a fews cases of murdered or kill to whom converted from his religious to muslims. tq
Posted by: radzi at April 10, 2006 11:56 AM