The Ecology of Islam
OP - February 19, 2012, 09:12 PM
Would someone kindly delineate the various groupings that make up Islam? In Biology, this would be a cladogram, in xianity the various churches and sects.
For example Irish Catholics and Protestants have very different accents, probably attend religious schools of their sect, if Scottish will support Glasgow Celtic or Glasgow Rangers. Xians are very diverse, including wee frees, Plymouth Brethren, and depending on who you are, Jehovahs Witnesses and Mormons.
I was brought up to believe for example that all catholics go to hell because they are not "born again".
I see these statistics that there are 1.5 billion muslims, but are they really that unified? How many true believers do each grouping think there are?
I met an Eastern Orthodox guy who believed that protestants were heretics of heretics!! Anglicans might be actually be Eastern Orthodox because of a link via Harold to Whitby....
How does it work in Islam?
What are the main distinguishing features and why do they seem to lead to war - like the concept of sunni and shia nuclear weapons?
When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.
A.A. Milne,
"We cannot slaughter each other out of the human impasse"