Religious Ignorance, This Time With Feeling!
Posted on June 17th, 2009
by Daniel Larison |
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They [the Iranians] have said this plan is rooted in their fundamental religious beliefs and doctrines regarding the return of their God to Earth. ~Peter Ferrara
Um, the Mahdi is not “their God,” because Twelver Shi’ites don’t believe that God was ever on earth, and indeed they take a dim view of people who do believe this. If Ferrara cannot get even this much right about the fundamental religious beliefs of Iran’s government, why would we trust anything else he has to say on this?
Filed under: Islam, foreign policy, politics
4 Responses to “Religious Ignorance, This Time With Feeling!”
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Ferrara’s article is an embarrassing, hysterical, fear mongering rant. American Spectator remains a mixed bag.
The fearmongering and alarmism are all as I expected, and there was nothing all that remarkable about this part of the article, but I really have to draw the line when someone presuming to lecture on the fundamental beliefs of another religion gets one of their most basic beliefs absolutely wrong. I mean, it’s not even close. Ferrara might as well have tried to criticize the actions of the Catholic Church by referring to their belief in the world-tree Yggdrasil or railed against Hindu fundamentalists for their excessive devotion to Muhammad. So-called ghulat groups might veer off in the direction of a theology of incarnation, but the Twelvers are very different.
Eh who can understand their misguided religion? But he knows Evil when he sees it and he knows it needs Defeating. Using miitary force, of course; it’s the only language Evil understands.
You just need some moral clarity Daniel and all will become plain.
I think an opening sentence like “On its current course, the Middle East is headed for nuclear war,” is over the top even by neocon standards. The article reads like something written by a hysterical war crazed Freeper, not a Harvard Law School grad at AmSpec.
Many neocon columns have the same basic theme – we need to bomb Iran if they don’t give up their nuclear technology – but they usually aren’t quite so heavy handed about it. Also leading with your chin that it’s all about Israel’s security just confirms stereotypes. The article almost read like a spoof.