Secular militancy affects Muslims in short term, but if people are happy without God, liberal empire will eliminate traditional culture forever. In a world where people worry about extinction of animals, no one seems to care about traditional human languages becoming extinct. We do not deserve that.
Nick Elam Religion certainly has cultural value, but if Islam really is the true religion it shouldn’t need human suffering to prosper. We’re talking about tolerant secularism here so if Islam was eliminated or diminished it would be because it’s followers chose to, not because of liberal empire.
Ishmael Abraham Chomsky talks about manufacturing consent. Children are more likely to become victims of status anxiety than understand its cognitive roots. Atheists have higher suicide rate than theists so suffering is universal. But secular state offers many distractions in daily life to make people not experience existential anxieties.
Nick Elam True, but I’m saying suffering directly benefits religion. I would argue the focus on the afterlife is part of what slows us from improving daily life.
Ishmael Abraham You can say that about Catholicism, Sufism and even Buddhism. But orthodox Islam is against monasticism. But when orthodox Muslims like Morsi and Erdogan participate in social and political reform, they are accused of fascism. But among 1.5 billion believers there is a lot of diversity of spectrum between psychosis and fascism. Suffering causing fight or flight is basic biology. Some Muslims enter flight mode of sufi psychosis. Some Muslims enter fight mode of militancy. Stephen Covey talks about third alternative of wisdom, humble narcissism and tempered radicalism.
A spiritual Ishmaelite 