Carrick Ryan

It has been suggested that one of the reasons that modern day Americans became such fanatical Christians compared to their European counterparts was the fact that in Europe religion was tightly controlled by the state. In fact, in most instances, the church was inextricably interlinked with the state.

This, therefore, enabled a centralised control of how the Christian faith was interpreted and taught in the old continent, as well as creating an institutional monopoly for the state religion that removed the need to win over new adherents with appeals to emotional vulnerabilities.

In the US, meanwhile, the constitutional separation of Church and state created a free market of ideas. Anyone was allowed to interpret the bible as they saw fit, anyone could establish their own church, or even their own religion, and it could be taught in whatever fashion they liked.

Additionally, the fierce competition for adherents within this overcrowded religious marketplace naturally favoured charismatic orators or radical clerics who could reasonably point to the manner in which ancient edicts within the bible had long been conveniently ignored by civilised society. Few things garner your complete attention like the revelation that you’ve misunderstood the conditions for salvation.

In Europe, the recognised hierarchy within the church had the ability to reject those tenets of the Christian faith which began to appear more backwards as society developed. The bible’s apparent endorsement of slavery, its failure to condemn sexual violence, and its limitations in providing moral clarity in a post-bronze age world was contextualised by state sanctioned religious leaders who recognised the utility of collective religious belief as well as the anachronisms that made it dangerous.

Much like the European monarchies of the 18th and 19th century, many modern Muslim nations intentionally merge their religion into the authority of the monarchy, thus allowing them to ensure the religious institutions preserve societal homogeneity and reinforce the existing political hierarchy.

It needs to be said, this is not some altruistic venture in honouring the true meaning of religious texts. Just like it was for European autocrats, its an endeavour aimed at preserving their power. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, and many other Islamic governments, tightly control what sermons are taught in mosques, heavily censor religious works that they feel are dangerous, and unapologetically detain or even execute anyone that promotes an interpretation of Islam that could destabilise the state.

In the West, meanwhile, our devotion to the values of free expression, especially those with religious tenets, enables anyone with a social media account to teach Islam in a way that would simply never be tolerated anywhere in the Middle-East. Just as the printing press allowed anyone to reinterpret religious orthodoxy in the 15th century, the internet has democratised religious “knowledge”, even for those ill-equipped to interpret that knowledge.

Again, just as a literal interpretation of Christianity appears to openly endorse slavery, it’s an uncomfortable fact that the theological argument against the violence perpetrated by groups like ISIS requires a lot of nuance and sympathetic interpretation to refute. It is an undisputed fact that Mohammad was a soldier who perpetrated acts of violence against civilians and openly encouraged his followers to do the same.

These are direct quotes from the Qur’an:

“Then, when the sacred months have passed, kill the polytheists wherever you find them, capture them, besiege them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush. But if they repent, establish prayer, and give zakat, then let them go their way.”
Qur’an 9:5

“Fight those who do not believe in Allah nor in the Last Day… among the People of the Book, until they give the jizya willingly while humbled.”
Qur’an 9:29

…and hadiths:

“Then the Prophet ordered that the men of Banu Qurayza be killed, their women and children be taken as slaves, and their properties be distributed among the Muslims.”
Sahih al-Bukhari 4121

“…the Messenger of Allah was asked about the killing of women and children during a night raid. He said: “They are from them.”
Sahih al-Bukhari 3012 / Sahih Muslim 1745.

Again, every religion I’ve ever explored has anachronistic values most people today find abhorrent. In many ways we have simply been absolved from the acute impacts of ancient Christian barbarity thanks to centralised control of its teaching and, to be blunt, the increasing irreligiosity of the West.

It’s also important to make absolutely clear that just as almost all Christians faithfully reject the elements of their faith they find to be immoral, so to do the overwhelming majority of Muslims lean into the many well studied theological teachings available which which address these seemingly violent aspects of the faith and provide a religious argument for their rejection.

I believe that what we are seeing in the West right now is the same online appeal to the emotional insecurities of young men that is being exploited by Andrew Tate, Charlie Kirk, or Nick Fuentes. This is the appeal of charismatic influencers offering self-worth in their inherent identity, a sense of historical grievance, and an alternate reality where they are revered merely for what they are.

Firebrand “Clerics” like Wissam Haddad have no more legitimacy than podcasters like Joe Rogan. His authority as a source of truth on Islamic teaching is based entirely on the fact that he offers an easy to understand version of an intensely complex subject… and because the establishment openly fear him.

The difficult conversation Australians need to have is whether any attempt to control the manner in which a religion is taught is possible, or even desirable, within a free society. Saudi Arabia may have no violent acts of terrorism, but they also classify atheists and feminists as “terrorists”, and brutally oppress any free expression that challenges existing power structures. There is very little we should be seeking to emulate from authoritarian states.

The solution is likely less dramatic, and perhaps more difficult to measure, but if we are concerned with the violent consequences of alienated young men, then we as a society need to consider why so many young men feel so consistently alienated in the first place… yet… remarkably, this conversation seems to make everyone even more uncomfortable than any other.