Do you have a higher opinion of Evangelical Christianity or Islam?

[All Along The Watchtower]

If you're asking if I have a higher opinion of the largely white conservative/fundamentalist Protestants who are disproportionately American vs. Muslims in general, well I know which ones are far more powerful, numerous, and malignant in my country.

I'll grant that Salafism and Khomeneism are Bad. Though it should be noted that both of those are modern developments (in the latter case very much so, obviously) and simplistic, politicized interpretations of an utterly massive Abrahamic religion with well over a millennium of history, explicitly calling for a "return" to the imagined early golden period of the religion. The fundamentals, if you will.

[All Along The Watchtower]

If you're asking if I have a higher opinion of the largely white conservative/fundamentalist Protestants who are disproportionately American vs. Muslims in general, well I know which ones are far more powerful, numerous, and malignant in my country.

I'll grant that Salafism and Khomeneism are Bad. Though it should be noted that both of those are modern developments (in the latter case very much so, obviously) and simplistic, politicized interpretations of an utterly massive Abrahamic religion with well over a millennium of history, explicitly calling for a "return" to the imagined early golden period of the religion. The fundamentals, if you will.

Both of those are far less awful than historical Islam, ISIS may seem horrible but they’re far more in line with the historical practice of Islam than the former two. I think Evangelical Christianity represent corrupted Christian values, but they’re still better than generic Islam.

european.txt

[All Along The Watchtower]

And maybe evangelicalism and Islam aren’t that different anyway

I have observed many times that Sunni Islam, at least the way it exists in the West, resembles from an organizational standpoint nothing more than non-denominational Protestantism.

Are there also a fair number of Sunni imams, scholars, and other authority figures of dubious credibility but nevertheless, a significant following?

While on the subject of this comparison, the American mainstream media seemed to have discovered so-called cultural Christianity—specifically in the form of white evangelical Protestants, the most interesting religious community to media and political pollsters—during the 2016 Republican presidential primaries. Members of this forum have long had spirited conversations with BRTD re: “cultural” religion in general, and cultural Catholicism in particular—perhaps BRTD’s least favorite subject. Regardless, this is not a novel subject for us.

My impression is that it’s even harder to define Islam (and by implication, Muslims) narrowly as a religion in the individualistic/personal way that most Americans, maybe Protestants and secular Americans in particular, conceptualize religion; but I’m not certain of this.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Breitbart has invaded the forum. 

[All Along The Watchtower]

Imagine comparing an entire world religion, one of the greatest wellsprings of culture in human history, with a minor and uniquely culturally sterile branch of a different world religion. I don't like bandying this term around, but what a comically Western-centric framing.

How is Evangelicalism a “minor” branch of Christianity?  It is a tricky term to have a precise definition for, but by most definitions it has a huge presence in Latin America, the USA, sub Saharain Africa, etc.

Fair enough. It was fairly minor until a few decades ago, but I guess the ravages of US cultural imperialism means it's spreading rapidly. Not too different from how Saudi Arabia worked to spread the most fanatical and obscurantist forms of Islam across the world, to continue the metaphor.

It also depends on how you define "Evangelicalism", as RFayette sort of alluded to.