The Brother Many Ignore

In Like a slave, is an unborn child not a brother?, published in the Daily Telegraph, Charles Moore reflects on the opening of a museum exhibition on the history of slavery and asks how curators will see abortion in 200 years.

It is not hard to imagine how a future Museum of London exhibition about abortion could go. It could buy up a 20th-century hospital building as its space, and take visitors round, showing them how, in one ward, staff were trying to save the lives of premature babies while, in the next, they were killing them.

It could compare the procedure by which the corpse of a baby who had died after or during premature birth was presented by the hospital to the mother to assist with grieving, with the way a similar corpse, if aborted, was thrown away.

It could display the various instruments that were used to remove and kill the foetus, rather as the manacles and collars of slaves can be seen today.

He ends with an argument that "with the passage of time, abortion, especially late abortion, is slowly coming to be seen as a "solution" dating from an era that is passing. It will therefore be discredited." I hope he is right, but the drive (need/desire/addiction) for sexual license is so strong, and therefore the need for abortion so great, that abortion's coming to be seen as outdated strikes me as unlikely.

What may happen is that the social disorder and chaos created by a society consumed by sexual license will encourage a harsh reaction, and continence will be socially and perhaps legally required and as a result abortion made illegal, but that it is not the same thing as Moore's hope. He hopes the baby will be kept when the bathwater is thrown out, I suspect that the baby will go out with the bathwater.

Mankind has only a limited tolerance for disorder, and the pain of chaos can only be anesthecized so long by the drug of consumption. At some point, most people will say, "Just give me some rules." Look, for example, at the attraction of Islam for so many of its converts from Western Christianity: they almost always mention the contrast between the order given by its rule of life and the chaos of modern Western life, particularly sexual.

Comments

[W.E.D. Godbold]

Mankind has only a limited tolerance for disorder, and the pain of chaos can only be anesthetized so long by the drug of consumption. At some point, most people will say, "Just give me some rules." Look, for example, at the attraction of Islam for so many of its converts from Western Christianity: they almost always mention the contrast between the order given by its rule of life and the chaos of modern Western life, particularly sexual.

Don't get me wrong: I don't think rules are bad things, but mature Christians are called to walk "in the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus". This isn't less than rules, but more. It strikes me as a sort of abandonment of the responsibility we're called to by God himself to say: "I really can't deal with the situations of life appropriately--I just want some rules to follow."

Then again, maybe this is the stage one needs to go through before one realizes that the rules aren't going to be a real solution, either. Or perhaps this is the solace that unbelievers seek in Islam: some rules from a distant god who might not even accept you *if* you follow them perfectly but probably isn't going to "bother" you otherwise. Actually having to deal with a Person is perceived as too much work (or too scary).

[craig]

One of the things that distinguishes Islam from Christianity is that nowhere does Islamic doctrine posit that Allah cares about your beliefs or even your soul, only your submission to Islam. One can be a good Moslem and not believe any of it.

[Geoffrey]

As much as I disagree with Islam, I'm going to say that your impression of it is highly inacurrate. The God of Islam is a merciful Father. He's not distant...have you even read the Quran?

Before I begin, let me make it clear that I am not Muslim. I am a traditionalist Catholic.

(3) Then Adam received from his Lord Words . And his Lord pardoned him (accepted his repentance). Verily, He is the One Who forgives (accepts repentance), the Most merciful.
( سورة البقرة , Al-Baqara, Chapter #2, Verse #37)

(5) "Our Lord! And make us submissive unto You and of our offspring a nation submissive unto You, and show us our Manasik (all the ceremonies of pilgrimage - Hajj and Umrah, etc.), and accept our repentance. Truly, You are the One Who accepts repentance, the Most merciful.
( سورة البقرة , Al-Baqara, Chapter #2, Verse #128)

(7) Except those who repent and do righteous deeds, and openly declare (the truth which they concealed). These, I will accept their repentance. And I am the One Who accepts repentance, the Most merciful.
( سورة البقرة , Al-Baqara, Chapter #2, Verse #160)

(9) He has forbidden you only the Maytatah (dead animals), and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that which is slaughtered as a scrifice for others than Allah (or has been slaughtered for idols, etc., on which Allahs Name has not been mentioned while slaughtering). But if one is forced by necessity without wilful disobedience nor transgressing due limits, then there is no sin on him. Truly, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most merciful.
( سورة البقرة , Al-Baqara, Chapter #2, Verse #173)

(62) And if you would count the graces of Allah, never could you be able to count them. Truly! Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most merciful.
( سورة النحل , An-Nahl, Chapter #16, Verse #18)

(66) Then, verily! Your Lord for those who do evil (commit sins and are disobedient to Allah) in ignorance and afterward repent and do righteous deeds, verily, your Lord thereafter, (to such) is Oft-Forgiving, Most merciful.
( سورة النحل , An-Nahl, Chapter #16, Verse #119)

You get the point. Look guys, the God of Islam is our God as well, and they don't believe He's distant at all. My only problem with them is their rejection of Jesus as God. They still regard Him as the Christ though, and think He will return at the end of time to do battle with the AntiChrist.

(2) Say (O Muslims), "We believe in Allah and that which has been sent down to us and that which has been sent down to Ibrahim (Abraham), Ismail (Ishmael), Ishaque (Isaac), Yaqoob (Jacob), and to Al-Asbat (the twelve sons of Yaqoob (Jacob)), and that which has been given to Moosa (Moses) and Iesa (jesus), and that which has been given to the Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we have submitted (in Islam)."
( سورة البقرة , Al-Baqara, Chapter #2, Verse #136)

(16) And because of their saying (in boast), "We killed Messiah Iesa (jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), the Messenger of Allah," - but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but the resemblance of Iesa (jesus) was put over another man (and they killed that man), and those who differ therein are full of doubts. They have no (certain) knowledge, they follow nothing but conjecture. For surely; they killed him not (i.e. Iesa (jesus), son of Maryam (Mary) ):
( سورة النساء , An-Nisa, Chapter #4, Verse #157)

(17) But Allah raised him (Iesa (jesus)) up (with his body and soul) unto Himself (and he is in the heavens). And Allah is Ever AllPowerful, AllWise.
( سورة النساء , An-Nisa, Chapter #4, Verse #158)

(1) (Remember) when the angels said: "O Maryam (Mary)! Verily, Allah gives you the glad tidings of a Word ("Be!" - and he was! i.e. Iesa (Jesus) the son of Maryam (Mary)) from Him, his name will be the messiah Iesa (Jesus), the son of Maryam (Mary), held in honour in this world and in the Hereafter, and will be one of those who are near to Allah."
( سورة آل عمران , Aal-e-Imran, Chapter #3, Verse #45)

(8) And the Jews say: Uzair (Ezra) is the son of Allah, and the Christians say: messiah is the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouths. They imitate the saying of the disbelievers of old. Allahs Curse be on them, how they are deluded away from the truth!
( سورة التوبة , At-Taubah, Chapter #9, Verse #30)

Essentially, Islam is a Christian heresy, based on a misunderstanding of how Jesus is the Son of God. It seems Muhammed took it in a biological sense. Ooops. That's pretty much it. All the other errors in Islam follow from that misunderstanding. For the most part though, they got the divine aspects of God right (i.e. omnipotent, omniscient, benevolent, eternal, merciful, forgiving, personal, etc...)

Please do your research rather than parroting hearsay.

[DGP]

Geoffrey: >>Islam is a Christian heresy, based on a misunderstanding of how Jesus is the Son of God.

That's putting it rather mildly. There are other *crucial* (pun intended!) differences, most especially "they killed him not, nor crucified him."

[Geoffrey]

True, true. Also rooted in misunderstanding. I still fail to see how Islam is not just another form of Arianism. By no means do I see that Muslims believe God is distant and indifferent.

[Peter Gardner]

There's some Nestorianism in Islam too, and a touch of Gnosticism -- it's basically Heresy's Greatest Hits.

[Judy Warner]

Do you think there's a connection between the theology of a religion and its consequences in the real world? Islam's fruit has been conquest, backwardness (after a period of achievement) and the oppression of women. Christianity's fruit has been western civilization. There's something about the Islam view of submission to Allah that doesn't come out well for Muslims.

[Stuart Koehl]

>>> backwardness (after a period of achievement) <<<

The achievements of Islam were really not achieved by Muslims for the most part, but by the Dhimmis in their service. The true genius of Islam was not demanding conversion (at least of monotheists) but settling for subjugation and tribute. They took over the Byzatine and Persian administrative systems wholesale, and left the highly competent managers of those empires in place to continue doing their thing. They allowed the highly competent Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian scientists, physicians, artists and architects to continue doing their thing--in the service of the Umma, of course.

The problem being that the legal and social disabilities put upon the Dhimmis encouraged conversion to Islam, and by the second or third generation, the children of the converted Dhimmis adopted the Muslim ethos wholsale--meaning that some new Dhimmis would have to be found to keep things running. Thus, the continued prosperity and governance of any Islamic empire depended upon continual conquests of more civilized people. When conquest stopped, or the Muslims ran out of civilized opponents, their empire began to decay from within.

Islam is essentially parasitic in nature, which explains the collapse of Islam since it was finally repulsed from the gates of Vienna some 430 years ago.

[Rob G]

"You get the point. Look guys, the God of Islam is our God as well...My only problem with them is their rejection of Jesus as God."

This, with all due respect, is a dazzling non-sequitur. Jesus IS our God. How then can you say that the God of Islam is our God if they reject Jesus as God? "He who does not have the Son does not have the Father also."

The only way this would make any sense is if you were to qualify it in some way, like Peter Kreeft has done: Muslims claim to worship the God of Abraham, but to them he is improperly understood. Consequently, when you say 'the God of Islam is our God as well,' this can be true only in a very limited and subjective sense.

[craig]

Geoffrey, I hold to my original post. It is dangerous to map the Christian understanding of words onto the Islamic appropriations and uses thereof (cf. "martyr"). Notice that even in the Koran quotes you cite to make your point, "repentance" equals "submission to Islam". Allah's mercy is reserved for Moslems alone, which reinforces my point.