Summary
Islam’s exponential growth in the West in the last fifty
years has brought with it an alien morality.
Coming to terms with this will force major changes in Western ethics in
order to accommodate Islam’s rules which it considers to be Allah’s mandate. It seems very few people understand Islam enough
to recognise the threat it poses to Western systems of thought, behaviour, and
above all, its freedoms.
Islam, as its history shows, is a religion of conquest,
bringing the rule of Allah to lands formerly under the rule of man. Islam is bound by the words of Allah as written
in the Koran and the more reliable reports on the life and sayings of its
prophet Mohammad. The foundation of
Islamic morality is thus that of the 7th century desert-dwelling tribes
of Arabia. The rules set in place then apply today. Since Allah is reported to have said, “This
day I have perfected for you your religion…,” reform of the rules or their basis
is not possible.
In contrast, the West has adopted continuous moral change at
a legal level through the electoral process.
Subjecting parliamentary representatives to popular will brought about
changes to slavery, suffrage, rights and freedoms that are now universally adopted,
at least at state level. However, the
extreme religiosity, rule-adherence, and unwillingness of Muslims to compromise
or adapt to Western standards has required major adaptations in social, civil, healthcare,
educational and employment environments.
These changes will be permanent and represent a moral change for the
West as it adapts to Islam’s hegemonic conquest. The risk of revolt is being managed by a
process of alienation, marginalisation and disparagement, but it’s clear that
the extremes of conservatism are beginning to rebel. The Christchurch mosque massacre was one of
the first shots in a potential civil war.
Too big a subject of one essay, I will outline moral
differences between the Islamic and the non-Islamic world focussing on the
following topics:
- Islam’s foundational narrative and beliefs, theological determinism, essentialism, and its rules-based ethical system.
- Supersessionism and moral supremacism, and the divine mandate to bring the world to the path of Islam.
- Methods of conquest of the non-Islamic world –
- Violence and retributive subsidiarity
- Preaching, deception.
- Migration and vicinal arrogation.
- Co-optation of friendly forces.
- Vilification of opposition.
- Monoculture, ummah, identity, religiosity, spirituality, eternal life, paradise and entry to it.
- Opposition to secularism and freedom.
- Public sphere attitudes, the Islamic imaginary.
- Moral differences - marital arrangements, slavery, ingroup/outgroup separation.
Foreword
An essay on Islam’s incompatible morality without an
ethicist’s input is fraught with risk. A
brief inquiry on Google Scholar shows no documentation of moral comparison between
the Islamic and non-Islamic worlds, and my fairly compendious awareness of broadcast
and written media provides only elliptical references. This essay, then, depends on my own observations
and the collection of commentaries, principally those of public intellectuals
and academics, who also recognise the problem. I will not make a judgment on
whether the Islam’s moral differences are good or bad, only on how they affect
the moral practice of the West. The term
‘West’ or ‘Western’ used in this essay can be described as the moral praxis
that emanates from the Judeo-Christian Greco-Roman secular liberal democracies
common in Europe, The United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other
countries that share their common background.
Many other non-Islamic countries have moral systems which are compatible
with those of the West. The difference
between right and wrong crosses those national boundaries with relative ease
and without requiring change within the dominant culture. In contrast, Islam demands change, compromise
and concessions
Introduction
A recent discussion with someone with a doctorate in international
law made me realise just how out of touch with the reality of Islam’s hegemonic
conquest people can be when they are immersed in a humanitarian cause. It seems that when the focus is on helping others,
the perception of threat is suppressed for the greater good.
I raised the subject of moral incompatibility between Islam
and the West. That there was an issue in
those terms was met with incredulity.
Arguments against the idea tended towards denial, with evidence of moral
foundations rebutted with simple disbelief and comparison with Christian morality,
often in its breach. This was of no
surprise, since it was clear it had not occurred to my interlocutor that asymmetry
was even a possibility. I hope that I
will hear a coherent argument supporting the denial, but it’s unlikely since
hard evidence favours incompatibility. However,
the hypothesis ‘that Islamic morality is incompatible with the non-Islamic
world’ is viable and falsifiable, and simply lacks evidence to the contrary.
Given that my interlocutor belongs to the clerisy –
influential, educated, cosmopolitan, articulate – it is clear that Islam is
unlikely to meet opposition to its Western growth in the foreseeable future. I stand by my 2015 opinion that Islam’s hegemonic
conquest of west Europe is a fait accompli.
This issue, the failure to understand the foundational differences
between Islamic and non-Islamic morality, is of such great importance that I
will continue this and other essays with evidence and examples.
Moral Factors
Morality can be defined as the collection of principles
concerning the distinction between right and wrong, or good and bad behaviour. The collective voice given to those factors
shape the acceptable mores of any given society. The basis for morality is frequently
understood to be the society’s dominant religion, especially by its believers. As such, religion acts as an anchor, resisting
changes brought about by the forces of popular influence, and acts as one of societies
most conservative agencies. Sometimes these
forces are sufficient to shift religion’s position, as with the acceptance of
homosexuality or the role of women in religious practice, and this leads to
both moral progress and schisms formed as a reaction.
To be continued...
