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Entry: Libertarians in Heaven Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/blessed_libertarian#13417 Post contents: Dear Mr. Ball, Perhaps Providentially, I have just finished reading a short, fascinating book by my friend, Robert Spencer, "The Truth About Mohammed." One central point it establishes: the attitude of Mohammed towards Jews and Christians changed as he gained more military power--by conducting raids, personally leading battles, ordering assassinations, and destroying the crops of his neighbors (many of them monotheists). His statements and actions moved from the conciliatory evangelism of an isolated preacher to the harsh intolerance of a theocrat. Now, Christians certainly have displayed such attitudes, but Jesus never did. The example of Jesus was always available to the likes of Las Casas, Francis of Assisi, Vincent de Paul, William Wilberforce, and Bonhoeffer to CRITIQUE the un-Christian actions of Christian rulers. The example of Mohammed, on the other hand, REINFORCES the violence and intolerance of the worst Islamists today. That is why the Christians of the Sudan had to ALLY with the animist pagans. Such alliances are tricky, and always risk a betrayal of our principles. It's very dangerous to get into bed with the likes of Pym Fortyn, Christopher Hitchens, Norman Podhoretz... particularly if it means you'll lay aside your own ethical concerns (just war, prohibitions against torture). Also, you're probably just going to get screwed--to give your "ally" what he wants (a war in Iraq) while getting nothing of what you want (restrictions on abortion, a heterosexual definition of marriage, etc). Resisting the warmongering of the neocons does NOT mean fooling oneself about the intolerance inherent in Islam--as the writings of the estimable Scott Richert on this site and elsewhere make clear. Sent at: 2008 08 30