The Muslim Brotherhood

The link addresses the Muslim Brotherhood by Dr. Alvin Schmidt of Illinois College.

Dr. Schmidt authored “The Great Divide: the Failure of Islam and the Triumph of the West.” We pull this from www.amazon.com at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1928653197?ie=UTF8&tag=issetc-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1928653197

Alvin J. Schmidt PhD., (University of Nebraska) retired in 1999 as a professor of sociology at Illinois College. He has contributed to many journals and is the author of several best selling books including: Under The Influence - How Christianity Transformed Civilization and The Menace of Multiculturalism - Trojan Horse In America.

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Product Description
These days, the hills are alive with the sound of musings about Islam. Publisher's Weekly reported this spring that a spate of new books on the religion are hitting the bookstores, and they're unlike the critical books that came out after September 11; the new tomes assure readers that Islam is a religion of peace. That, as Alvin Schmidt points out Thre Great Divide, is wishful thinking. Muslims are right to point out that the Bible has its parts (such as the book of Joshua) that sound bloodthirsty to modern readers, but the Quran is Joshua all the way through, without its contextualization in the peace-emphasizing prophetic and New Testament books. Professor Schmidt does not hack away at Islam, nor does he attack Christianity because of headlined absues that arise in it. He doesn't hyperventilate about the Abu Ghraibs of Christianity - the misogyny of some church fathers, the bloody entry of the Crusaders into Jerusalem, the pro-slavery rhetoric of some antebellum fire-eaters. Instead, he compares the normal practice of Christianity and Islam. He shows how Christianity grew by the blood of its martyrs, but Islam grew by killing those who opposed it. He compares the view of women in the New Testament and the Quran, showing how Christ's teaching eventually led to the development of complementary roles for men and women but Muhammad's teaching eventually led to the development of complementary roles for men and women but Muhammad's teaching led to subservience. He shows how Christians looked at slavery critically over the centuries and how many fought for its abolition; Islam, though, has no intrinsic anti-slavery position, so it's no surprise that some Islamic countries today still allow it. Christians who understand these specific differences, delineated in Schmidt's book, will strengthen their own faith and be ready to enter into discussions with Muslims without offering either appeasement or shotgun-blast aggression.

Here's one review:

There is a story that both the Democrats and the Republicans won't tell. It is the story of a failed foreign policy based on political correctness rather than facts. Supposedly we are in a "war on terrorism" and/or fighting a few "evil men." Why they are evil and why they are terrorists is never explained by our leaders. What our eventual goal in our war with these "evil men" is, is not explained. It can't be articulated because there is an elephant in the room that few have the political courage to mention.

The unmentionable elephant is Islam. It is unmentionable because according to the currently acceptable rules of political correctness, we are never, ever, EVER allowed to say anything unkind about any one's religion. In fact we can't even mention "Islam" in the same breath as "terrorism" unless we preface our remarks with words like "fundamentalist" or "extremist" or "radical" or "Islamist" to prove we don't mean to disparage the "vast majority of Muslims" who are said to be peace loving and misunderstood Jeffersonian democrats as harmless as the Amish and of sweet disposition, something like the late Mother Theresa. We are told again and again that if we only would take the time to "understand Islam" we'll come to love it.

Now at last there is a book that gives us the facts. Islam is a failure measurable by every standard from science, to economic development to human rights. In "The Great Divide" Alvin Schmidt has done a great service to his readers. The first chapter begins by comparing the life of Jesus Christ with Muhammad. A lot of the information revealed in this chapter cites highly unfavorable, but corroborated facts about Muhammad, facts that Muslims are not permitted to hear, read, or talk about in Islamic countries.

The second chapter focuses on how early Christianity grew and expanded during its first 300 years without resorting to any form of violence, even when countless numbers of Christians were severely persecuted, as opposed to Islam, which from the time of its inception in 622 frequently and widely employed the sword to expand and grow.

The third chapter surveys the role of women in the West versus the role of women in Islamic countries. Chapter 4 concentrates on the moral issue of slavery. It shows that slavery was first outlawed in the West, where Christianity had its greatest presence. Unknown to many, this chapter documents and shows that slavery still exists today in some Islamic countries in Africa.

In the fifth chapter the Christian concept of charity is compared with the Islamic practice of Zakat. The latter is often loosely translated as "charity." But the chapter shows that the two are not the same, especially not in terms of what charity originally meant. The sixth chapter, "The Crusades and the Rest of the Story," provides evidence that the Crusades began as defensive just war as a result of the West having experienced numerous military attacks and invasions from Islamic forces.

Chapter 7 shows the differences regarding liberty and justice between the West and Islamic countries are significant and prominent. Chapter 8 explores the question of which religion, Christianity or Islam, has provided the most favorable conditions to the growth and development of modern science.

The ninth chapter discusses the differences between Islam and the West in regard to the relationship between religion and the state. The tenth chapter examines the question of whether Islam is a "peaceful religion," as is often heard today. To answer this question, the chapter looks at Islam's 1,400-year history, including what the Koran and the Hadith reveal on this matter.

The last chapter discusses the effects Islam's apologists (Muslims and non-Muslims) are having in the West today. It notes that apologists in the West's current environment of political correctness not only are disallowing discussion regarding anything unfavorable to Islam, regardless of the facts, but also, are posing a major threat to the Judeo-Christian culture of the Western world.

This is the best book on the subject and should be read by everyone. "The Great Divide" is a masterpiece.