There are several viral e-mail messages being circulated related to Muslims. In particular, there is one indicating that Japan is Islamophobic. In some ways, it's how you look at an issue. I stumbled across a blog site, Bare Naked Islam, which provides an opposing point of view. For example, it's not true that no leader of an Islamic country has visited Japan. Watch a clip of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono being welcomed in Tokyo. The largest Muslim countries are:
- Indonesia (205 million) *
- Pakistan (178 million)
- India (177 million)
- Bangladesh (149 million)
- Egypt (80 million)
- Turkey (78 million)
- Nigeria (76 million)
- Iran (75 million)
- Turkey (75 million)
- USA (2.6 million)
- Japan (0.185 million)
* Around a thousand years ago traders from India came to trade, and many stayed.
Historically, the ancient city of Mesopotamia in the Fertile Crescent is most cited as the cradle of civilization. This could have been as far back as 8000 BC. Mesopotamia, the region of the Tigris-Eupharates river system, is today part of Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey. However, then came Islam around 600 AD. Is there something about this religion that limits potential and progress?
For example, a viral Jew versus Muslim message shows that with a world-wide population of 14 million (around 0.02% of the global population), Jews have won 129 Nobel Prizes, while Muslims (1.2 billion, or 17%) have only won 4 Nobel Prizes (related postings show up to 7). Can religious belief stagnate science? While a small minority of extremists reject science as immoral and materialistic, the problem is broader. The biggest worry today is that the Islam-Judaism conflict today could well trigger the next great war.
What is the solution? This clash of civilizations, popularized by Samuel Huntington twenty years ago, is more and more dominating world politics. To solve this problem, the basic nature of religion will need to adjust to a maturing world. In my SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Humanity, I write on the Golden Evolution. There will be no Golden Revolution, so World Peace could well take centuries and longer.
Usagi is a Super Typhoon no more, but at 125 MPH remains dangerous, and still headed for Hong Kong. This could be the strongest storm to hit the city in a third of a century:
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