Quote:
|
To clarify on this, it doesn't advocate harmony with all other religions, just "religions of the Book"- read here Judaism and Christianity.
|
Can I take it then that you, largely at any rate, agree with me on this point? Certainly, as far as I am aware, welcoming of peoples of other religious persuasions was a central tenet in the teachings of Mahomed.
Quote:
|
Not quite- their religion binds them together and gets followers for the extremists they would otherwise not have.
|
Certainly something is binding them together, but I am not at all convinced it is specifically the teachings of their religion. A tribal instinct is a very strong motivating force in our species. People can be bound together for very many reasons such as being from the same country, working for the same enterprise or followers of the same sports team.
I am more inclined to believe that the cultural traits associated with their religion is the real binding force rather than the proclamations of the religion itself.
A similar situation exists (or at least existed) in Northern Ireland. The conflicts there had virtually nothing to do with religion per se, but rather with the fact that two separate cultures who just happened to follow different religions had been locking horns for over three hundred years.