November 3, 2023
Misunderstanding Islamism and the Gaza War
By Joel Gilbert
Why did Hamas terrorists gleefully mass murder civilians in Israel? Why did the murders include atrocities such as burning people alive and chopping off their heads, even after they were dead? And, why did the crowds of “civilians” cheer and beat the dead bodies of Israelis paraded in the backs of pickup trucks in Gaza? Further, why do governments and Muslims throughout the world claim to support Hamas and/or the Palestinians? To comprehend all of this, Westerners need to gain an understanding of the religio-political movement called “Islamism.” Islamism is an entirely different phenomenon than Western political parties, and its goals and values are vastly different. Islamism is the 100-year-old movement for Islamic revival, and has been led by Iran since its Islamic revolution in 1979.
Islamic revival can best be understood by comparing it to medieval “Christian revival.” The 17th-century wars of religion between Catholics and Protestants threatened to destroy Christian society. Christianity saved itself with the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, which separated Church and State and introduced the concept of “nationalism,” with nation-states based on geographic boundaries, ethnicity, and language to determine personal identity and political loyalty.
For Christianity, nationalism and the separation of church from government in Europe was a success, resurrecting Christian Europe from decline. Three hundred years of world domination followed, marked by the Enlightenment, European colonization of the Americas, and the industrial revolution, as Europe led the world into the era of Modernity. Europe also exported its Western culture and concept of “nationalism” to the entire world. However, nationalism, which evolved from Christianity’s historic trials, would never integrate successfully into the world of Islam where loyalty could only be to God, the sovereign of the world and all mankind.
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https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/11/misunderstanding_islamism_and_the_gaza_war.html
