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How to Win a Cosmic War: Confronting Radical Religion Free FREE HOW TO WIN A COSMIC WAR: CONFRONTING RADICAL RELIGION PDF Reza Aslan | 240 pages | 06 Apr 2010 | Cornerstone | 9780099538899 | English | London, United Kingdom How to Win a Cosmic War: God, Globalization, and the End of the War on Terror by Reza Aslan Though its title suggests something out of science fiction. Because he believes the battle must be fought with words and ideas instead of weapons, Aslan scrupulously defines terms. Aslan distinguishes between "Islamism," a brand of religious nationalism, and "Global Jihadism," which he considers an ideological social movement not confined by national boundaries. In the era of globalization, as nationality and other traditional markers of individuals' identities become less meaningful, people increasingly turn to religion for their How to Win a Cosmic War: Confronting Radical Religion, Aslan says. He contends that opponents of jihadism made a catastrophic mistake by adopting similar inflammatory religious rhetoric. In cosmic war, soldiers fight for God's sake. Thinking of the war on terror as a struggle between the forces of good and evil not only results in similar sinister rhetoric on both sides. It also encourages ongoing religious warfare. Aslan argues that greater understanding of those who stake their identity on militant faith will foster peace. To that end, he supplies short primers on what attracts potential terrorists to jihadism. He devotes a How to Win a Cosmic War: Confronting Radical Religion to the foundation of Israel and Palestinians' ensuing grievances. He explores Old Testament justifications for violence to explain the furor surrounding George W. Bush's use of the word "crusade" in connection with fighting terrorists. Aslan describes modern-day Jewish and Christian groups subscribing to bloody expression of faith to illustrate that Islam is not alone among major religions with fanatical fringes. But religions do not kill people, Aslan contends, people do. He insists that Muslim advocates of cosmic war, no matter what they say, are not really religious anyway. The author of "No god but God" sees religion as wholly blameless, even if terrorists invoke it to justify their deeds. As Aslan understands it, global jihadism actually constitutes a social movement akin to Christian evangelicalism through which members attempt both to change society and to forge collective identity. Aslan thinks the unwinnable cosmic war with militant Islam needs to be transformed into an effort to solve real political problems. He recognizes that specific grievances sometimes cited by terrorists have only symbolic value for them. Nevertheless, he believes some, such as the Palestinian situation, have legitimacy and must be addressed in order to diminish jihadists' appeal to disaffected Muslims. Despite the "how to" in his title, Aslan dispenses little concrete advice. He provides no solution for the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Viewing Islamism as preferable to the more extreme transnational militancy of global jihadism, he favors the participation of Islamist parties in elections. He says this should occur within certain unspecified parameters. He declines to discuss the implications of such parties imposing fundamentally undemocratic religious strictures and denying the very freedoms he encourages. Aslan's sketchy proposals ultimately rely on faith. He simply trusts that murderous Islamist groups operating in electoral politics eventually will develop commitment to democratic ideals. The United States has taken a giant step toward rehabilitating its image by electing Barack Obama, according to Aslan. He believes America's basic values, including high regard for religion, can somehow counterbalance the pull of jihadism. Burnside St. Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission. All rights reserved About Us. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, How to Win a Cosmic War: Confronting Radical Religion or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Ad Choices. Read exclusive stories only found here. Subscribe to OregonLive. How to Win a Cosmic War: Confronting Radical Religion Share. Twitter Share. By Fred Vulin, The Oregonian. Though its title suggests something out of science fiction, "How to Win a Cosmic War" is Reza Aslan's attempt to solve the contemporary earthly problem of radical Islamic militancy. How to Win a Cosmic War: Confronting Radical Religion: Aslan, Reza: : Books An entire cottage industry has arisen to answer this question. But what no one has really figured out is, who exactly are they? Is it al-Qaeda? Islamic nationalists? The whole Muslim world? Aslan's answer is- Nothing. The Jihadists have no earthly agenda; they are fighting a metaphysical conflict, a theological war. By refusing to fight in one. And in this stunning new work, Aslan reveals surprising conclusions about how we can deal with this predicament. Read more Read less. Pre- order Books. Order now from our extensive selection of books coming soon with Pre-order Price Guarantee. If the Amazon. Shop now. Frequently bought together. Add all three to Cart. These items are shipped from and sold by different sellers. Show details. Ships from and sold by Amazon AU. Ships from and sold by RarewavesUSA. Customers who bought this item also bought. Page How to Win a Cosmic War: Confronting Radical Religion of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1. Previous page. God: A Human History. Reza Aslan. Only 1 left in stock. Only 2 left in stock. Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence. Karen Armstrong. Usually dispatched within 3 to 4 days. Next page. Don't have a Kindle? Review Compelling, penetrative and timely. If more of us in the West grasp Aslan's arguments, we will begin to win the war of ideas against Jihadists and extremists. Few writers are as well qualified to tackle the terrain How to Win a Cosmic War: Confronting Radical Religion book represents nothing less than a call to arms, a clear-eyed and impassioned remidner that the most effective way to win a cosmic war is to triumph in the battle for hearts and minds at home. Acclaimed author Reza Aslan dissects two of the most devastating ideologies of our times - Jihadism and the 'War on Terror'. Read more. Customers who viewed this item also viewed. Martin Lings. Usually dispatched within 6 to 10 days. Customer reviews. How are ratings calculated? Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyses reviews to verify trustworthiness. Review this product Share your thoughts with other customers. Write a customer review. Top reviews Most recent Top reviews. Top reviews from Australia. There are 0 reviews and 0 ratings from Australia. Top reviews from other countries. Verified Purchase. If you are beginning to learn about How to Win a Cosmic War: Confronting Radical Religion violence and the role religion plays within it, then this book is the place to start. The reason why it fantastic for beginners is simply because it is easy to read. It places heavy focus on contemporary violence in all three religions and touches upon historical background. In Judaism, Aslan sketches the Zealots and the destruction of the first temple in 70AD all the way to the Zionism and the formation of Israel on the first of May Aslan looks at the crusades an contrasts modern day Cosmic Dualism the main thesis of his work, the clash of civilisations, good vs evil Global Jihadism and the Bush Administration. My favourite part of the book is when Aslan focuses upon islamism How to Win a Cosmic War: Confronting Radical Religion democracy. Normally, people, particularly in the west, would look at disgust with Islamist organisation who hold ideas which seem the anti-thesis to Liberalism. People may say that Islamist ideas are what underpin the Global Jihadist movement, and to tackle the latter we need to tackle the former. However, Aslan presents a convincing case whereby allowing Islamist parties to partake in democratic elections may be a way to repel people from turning to Global Jihadism. Aslan also gives a balanced perspective. Some reviews here say that Aslan never criticised the Muslim community yet criticised a lot of American institutions. However, Aslan points out a fundamental and dangerous concept that is widespread in the Muslim world -- takfeerism. Takfir is a widespread doctrine practiced by a number of Muslims, simply put, it is the action of calling some one a Kafir disbeliever or a group of people Kuffar. Both the Ulema and Global Jihadists practice this concept. Aslan takes time sketching the history of takfeerism by recalling Ibn Taymiyah, he then takes time to How to Win a Cosmic War: Confronting Radical Religion how dangerous such concept really is for Muslims to practice today. One negative about this book is that it only talks about everything up to which means that it misses everything from then on to today. Therefore, the rise of ISIL is not talked about. An evaluation of Obamas presidency is not talked about which if Aslan reviewed again would come to a different conclusion in his book and the Syrian civil war is not talked about. Therefore, this book is only good for a good background to the events today. Most of the ideas presented in the book still stand though. In conclusion, if you are going to buy a book that deals with issues of religion and violence, then do not hesitate to start here! Report abuse. This writer has a thorough understanding of his subject and is able to put very opposite and entrenched positions into a proper perspective. Excellent book and was delivered rather quickly. I recommend for anyone that is interested in religions and the current situations in the world.
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