Why Islam So Viciously Hates the West

[jordan179]

(the following originated as a response to a post of polaris93 (http://polaris93.livejournal.com/1385947.html?view=832987#t832987) which was in return a response to one of my posts. How intellectually incestuous of me

Comments

[marmoe]

I do not think, that you have to look that far and speculate about hate being founded in an inferiority complex. Depending on the country you query, 25% to 60% of Muslims do not believe that 9/11 was carried out by teams of Arabs. If you don't believe, that Muslims carried out 9/11 in the first place, and have the US "invading a country near you", it's not that difficult to hate the West for its supposedly "arbitrary" actions. I think a lot of it comes down to major parts of the population being severely misinformed, the blame of which is to be put squarely with the Muslims themselves and their societies.

BTW, there used to be a time, when you (rightfully, IMO) distinguished between Islam and Jihadism, IIRC. Am I misremembering or have you changed your mind?

[jordan179]

Yes, but the question then becomes as to why the Muslims are so willing to believe nonsense about 9-11. One of the reasons for embracing conspiracy theories about 9-11 is to avoid the less pleasant implications of the actual cause of the event: namely, that there is something very damaged in Muslim culture.

BTW, there used to be a time, when you (rightfully, IMO) distinguished between Islam and Jihadism, IIRC. Am I misremembering or have you changed your mind?

I'm talking here about a problem which exists throughout Muslim culture. Even the moderate Muslims know that Islam is "supposed to" rule the world and infidels submit personally to them, and hence feel a sense of wrongness living in a world dominated by America and in which they are not treated with exaggerated respect by non-Muslims.

Not all Muslims respond to this sense of wrongness by taking to arms, though.

[the_brad]

One should not criticize the "city on the hill" mentality of another culture/religion without also critically examining the prevalence of the same attitude in one's own native country.

[jordan179]

One should not criticize the "city on the hill" mentality of another culture/religion without also critically examining the prevalence of the same attitude in one's own native country.

(*examines it*)

Well, for one thing, I notice that we are far less intolerant of other cultures than are the Muslim, especially the Islamist Muslim, countries. We, for instance, protect the right of all people to believe and worship as they deem fit within our borders.

I also note that our own triumphalism is far more based on reality than is the Muslim triumphalism. America is the dominant world Power, and of the other Powers, they are disproportionately Christian. In fact the only Great Powers which are not Christian are China and India

[the_brad]

"We" as individual Americans are indeed a tolerant people, but that is not what I am talking about. It is the collective "we" as the country of the United States of America which is not tolerant. Particularly in the Latin American and Asian provinces, there have been numerous instances where we have violently destabilized soverign governments, resulting in much lost life, for selfish or corporate interests. Iran, 1953 comes immediately to mind.

There may be an element of truth to what you say. I am simply suggesting that they dislike our bombs more than our god. If the Muslim world weren't facing our bombs, their opinion on our god may be different.

[jordan179]

Particularly in the Latin American and Asian provinces, there have been numerous instances where we have violently destabilized soverign governments, resulting in much lost life for selfish or corporate interests. Iran, 1953 comes immediately to mind.

Our attitude toward Micheletti of Honduras, right now, being an obvious current example.

However, the same is true of all other Great Powers, including non-Western ones. Your reasoning would explain a resentment of Great Powers in general, not a resentment of the West in particular.

There may be an element of truth to what you say. I am simply suggesting that they dislike our bombs more than our god. If the Muslim world weren't facing our bombs, their opinion on our god may be different.

You are ignoring the historical evidence, both in general and in particular. In general, a stronger nation or civilization is less likely to be violently attacked, due to deterrence, a fact which has proven itself in every era. And in particular, the Muslim world was not more peaceful toward the