The clash of civilizations.

It takes some reading to understand the source of friction between Islam and the Western world. This is not to say that the friction we witness today is limited to Christian thought and Islam; in fact Islam is at war with every other tradition and wars even within itself.


The Christian tradition holds (at least as expressed in the Bible) that Man is a sinful creature, unable to remedy his condition. Sin is defined as disobedience of God's commands. Man can only be saved through Faith: accepting Christ as a Savior and it is His work on the cross that counts as the price for being saved (i.e. reconciled to God). Jesus told us that Man can come to God only through Him (Jesus) and can come to Jesus only if God is willing. The Christian tradition is summarized in the second Chapter of Paul's letter to the Ephesians: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." In short, Man is saved FOR good works, and NOT because of them.

Islam is different. There are 5 things you need to do: 1. Believe that Allah is God, 2. Pray five times a day, 3. Support Islamic charity, 4. Participate in a pilgrimage to Mecca (the Hajj), and 5. support Jihad.

Thus, Islam is based totally on works. A young Muslim may start out as a peaceful individual but as soon as he reads the Koran, he knows that he is supposed to kill and terrorize non-Muslims. In an earlier post there were citations from the Koran as to how the Prophet Mohammed admitted using terror to convert people.

Thus, Islam can not be reformed, nor is it possible to live in peace with it.