Islam and conflict

Israel is far more like the U.S. than anywhere in the Arab world. Much of the Arab world would rather be penniless than adopt some of what makes the Israeli system so productive. Change of this type must be a shock to Arab culture, as the constant warfare would indicate. Defending way of life is one of the most common reasons for organized warfare. Islamic ideology has great difficulty adapting to other cultures, as can be seen with its constant violent conflict with other cultures throughout the world. This demonstrates that the problem is NOT the U.S., nor is the problem the West. Islam can’t get along with anyone else. And the problem does not stop there. Islam can’t get along with itself. Most, if not all of the internal conflict is a direct result of one of the ‘authentic’ laws that has been enforced routinely for 1400 years. The penalty for leaving Islam is death. So if you disagree with another Muslim on any basic, ‘authentic’ law, you are an Apostate. Islamic law can be very rigid. It is very difficult to moderate the law that being an Apostate is punishable by death. It is either enforced, or it is not.

These issues make it imperative that Islam undergoes some type of modern reformation. These issues must be put to rest before the constant violence is reduced to a level that is more common in most of the rest of the world. These are issues that make warfare necessary and inevitable.

1) Loyalty to clan or other organization as opposed to the government. Robert E. Lee resigned his commission in the U.S. army because his state of Virginia left the Union. One issue the U.S. Civil war decided was that our loyalty is to the Federal government, not the state.

2) Separation of church and state. The Islamic world needs to adopt the idea that Islam can’t determine if you can kill. Nor can you take any of the violent action that is specified within the Koran.

3) Moral obligation to kill occupiers of Muslim lands. This ‘law’ is a contributing reason for the constant Arab-Israeli conflict.

4) Penalty for leaving Islam is death. (An Apostate) All a Muslim has to do is disagree with any of the ‘authentic’ laws and the penalty is death. This is another ‘law’ that must change.

5) Jihad has to go.
"The presumption is that the duty of Jihad will continue (Interrupted only by truces) until the world adopts Islam or submits to Muslim rule." "Those who fight in the Jihad qualify for rewards in both worlds. Booty in this one, paradise in the next." (Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam, Page 31, copyright 2003.)
This is another reason for the constant Arab-Israeli wars. "The most common interpretation of jihad is armed struggle for the advancement or defense of Muslim power".

6) "In Muslim tradition, the world is divided into two houses: The house of Islam and the house of war". (Page 31. Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam, Copyright 2003. ) Another contribution to the constant Arab-Israeli wars.

7) Honor killings. Even if you had proper justification, nobody should be able to take the law into his or her own hands. Many of these ‘authentic’ laws allow you to be judge, jury and executioner. This is part of the separation of church and state issue.

8) Islamic electoral policy has been classically summarized as "One man, (men only) one vote, once."

These are not issues that can be negotiated. These issues are similar to the issue of slavery in that people will fight organized warfare to prevent change. On the other side, these issues are worth waging war to change.