I want to talk about Islam for a moment
because i think we are wise to be
concerned about it as you know i'm
concerned about religion in general but
I think we're wise to differentiate
specific religious beliefs and we are I
think quite encumbered by political
correctness and just Frank confusion on
this front one problem is that we have
this one word religion which names this
truly diverse spectrum of fascinations
and ideological commitments and religion
is is a nearly useless term it's a term
like sports now there are sports like
badminton and there are sports like like
Thai boxing okay and they have almost
nothing in common apart from breathing
there are sports that are just
synonymous with the risk of physical
injury or even death I mean there's
sports that are just synonymous with
violence now if you get injured playing
badminton you're just embarrassed
we're we're facing a problem at this
moment ago there is there is I'm happy
to say a religion of peace in this world
but it's not Islam okay they call Islam a
religion of peace as we hear ceaselessly
reiterated is completely delusional now
Jainism actually is a religion of peace
if jainism is a that the core principle
of jainism is non-violence Ghandi God has
non-violence from the James the crazier
you get as a Jaines the less we have to
worry about you it is
this is Jaine extremists are actually
they are they are paralyzed by their
pacifism Jaine extremists just they can't
take their eyes off the ground when they
walk less they step on an ant they
filter every sip of water through
cheesecloth lest they swallow and
thereby kill a bug I mean needless to
say they're they're vegetarian so the
problem is notice the problem is not
religious extremism ok because extremism
is not a problem if your core beliefs
are truly nonviolent the problem isn't
fundamentalism we often hear
this said these are euphemisms the only problem with
Islamic fundamentalism are the
fundamentals of Islam now we have mullah
omar and osama bin laden and khalid
sheikh mohammed these guys agree about
the nature of reality and how to live
within it and the problem is they are
giving a very plausible version of the
faith these are Osama bin Laden is not
the Reverend Jim Jones of the Muslim
world it would be wonderful if he were
but the problem is he is giving an a
truly straightforward version of Islam
and you really have to be an acrobat to
figure out how he's distorting the faith
now if he were if these guys were Jaines
or Buddhists or Amish or Quakers he
would be it would be patently obvious
how they were distorting their religion
in that in fact their behavior would be
unintelligible it is not obvious by the
light of Islam and this is just a fact
we have to speak honestly about and no
one should be speaking more honestly
about this and more volubly about this
than moderate Muslims moderate Muslims
have to find some way to grapple with this fact
but but to say that Osama bin Laden is
David Koresh it's just a lie and it's
it's it's a dangerous lie at this point
now I just want to rehearse for you what
these core beliefs are and what they
entail the believe is that Muhammad got
the Quran directly from the Archangel
Gabriel in his cave in the seventh
century and it is the perfect word
therefore the creator of the universe I
apologize for the cartoonish nature of
this image of Mohammed but quality
images are difficult to come by at the
moment now the the consequences we have
the single book which is imagined to be
the best book on any subject ever
written never to be superseded by any
human effort at any point in the future
now this is a problem because this is a
profoundly mediocre book okay it is it
is dangerous to say this it is suicidal
to say this as a Muslim it is true and
we have to grapple with this fact and
and and the the idea that this is the
best book ever written on any subject
can only be maintained in a kind of
fantastical intellectual isolation and
this isolation has actually been
achieved in the Arab world to an
astonishing degree that some of you
probably have heard this fact but the
country of Spain translates more of the
world's literature and learning into
Spanish every year then the entire Arab
world has translated into Arabic since
the 9th century that's scary it's scary
given that this contents of this book
really offers precious little rationale
for living in a sane and pluralistic
global civilization
what it does give you a rationale for is
ceaselessly worshiping the perfect being
who has given you this mediocre book and
this is this is a photo of muslims in
kashmir worshiping at a shrine believed
to contain a single beard hair from the
Prophet Muhammad now in showing you this
image I don't actually mean to denigrate
the positive emotions that can be
associated with this kind of practice
and I think devotion is a positive
emotion that we want in our lives and I
certainly don't mean to make light of
how difficult life undoubtedly is for
Muslims in Kashmir but it seems to me
patently obvious given the challenges
that they face and that we all face in
creating a world worth living in these
people have something more important to
do than worship the beard hair of a man
who may well have been a schizophrenic
