J. Hector St. John de Crèvecœur Quotes
All sects are mixed as are all nations thereby producing religious indifference even of the first generation.
J. Hector St. John
Michel Guillaume Jean de Crevecouer, 1735-1813, French Consul to New York, Colonial Writer & Agriculturist, Letters from an American Farmer, 1782
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This quotation illustrates that a narrow orthodox view of Islam is not the only one in Arab nations. Khaled is not an obscure cleric, but a popular television personality. While his views are considered heresy by many orthodox Muslims, the narrow view is by no means universal. Orthodox Islamists believe that God has commanded that all mankind be Muslims and the ones who are not are either ignorant so need to be “educated”, or evil and therefore should be killed. However, Muhammad ordained that an exception should be made for “Children of the Book”—Jews and Christians who revere the Old Testament. This was at a time when Christians would not allow any other form of worship but Christianity. Christianity, Judaism and most other religions have become tolerant of other religions and allow open alternative worship. Islam which early on led the way to tolerance, has in many countries gone back to the intolerance that existed amongst many Christians at the time of Muhammad.
Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York
The re-conquest had just taken place where the Christians defeated the Islamic troops and the King found himself ruling extensive Muslim dominated areas like Toledo as well as large Christian areas. While atypical for a Christian Catholic King, Alfonso VI went out of his way to avoid a crisis with either religious group. He told the Muslims that they could follow Islamic practices and let it be known by statements like this that he had two religions in his kingdom.
His protest was focused on Middle East policies which he believed did not value the lives of Muslims as highly as Christians and Jews. The irony of this protest is that United States policy claims to value all life equally as do virtually all industrialized democracies. Omeish however is unusual among world Islamic leaders and politicians in that he values Christian and Jewish life as much as Muslim. Most, typically value Muslims almost exclusively and many advocate the killing of Christians and Jews.
The people of the Book refers to Jews and Muslims. This passage of the Koran is used to justify ecumenism with Muslims integrated with Jews and Christians. The Koran consists of Muhammed’s sayings, and he himself had opinions about Jews and Christians that differed from time to time. So although this passage signals a tolerant religion, in other places Muhammed preached violence against the people of the Book. At first Muhammed and his followers expected to see the people of the Book adopt Islam as their religion. When they did not, relations deteriorated somewhat.
Many, if not most, non-Muslim scholars and thinkers very much disagree with Hamid on this point. The great exceptions of Islam are almost 1,000 years in the past. Current Islam, they argue, is not more exceptional than the beliefs of modern Mongolia which dominated most of the known world centuries ago, but has little that deserves special respect in the 21st country beyond the general respect which is owed to all religions and nationalities. With the exception of Turkey, Islamic nations are for the most part, backward, and virtually no other non-Muslim nations try to emulate them in any way.
Michel Guillaume Jean de Crèvecœur (French pronunciation: ; December 31, 1735 – November 12, 1813), naturalized in New York as John Hector St. John, was a French-American author, diplomat, and farmer.
