It is actually both, but it is refreshing in any case to see someone in any position of influence or authority acknowledge the obvious but universally ignored truth about Islam’s political and supremacist aspect.
“Archbishop of Athens: Islam is not a religion but a political party,” Orthodox Times, January 15, 2021:
Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and all Greece gave an interview regarding the contribution of the Church to the Greek Revolution of 1821.
The interview was given by the Archbishop at the Monastery of Saint Loukas, where according to Archbishop Ieronymos, great figures “who gave everything for the Revolution” lived.
Archbishop Ieronymos also referred to the role of Patriarch Gregory V in the Greek Revolution.
As he stressed, “the actions of Gregory V have been misunderstood. Only those in positions of responsibility can understand what the role of the Patriarch was, as every small revolution meant the massacre of the Patriarch.”…
The Archbishop of Athens stressed that Islam was not a religion but a political party. “They are the people of war,” he said….
He underlined once again the important contribution of the clergy in the Greek Revolution of 1821, saying that every signal of revolution was initiated by a monastery and a clergyman.”
According to the Archbishop, “we were not talking about a nation but about Orthodoxy and faith. When the Christians revolted, it was a struggle against the conquerors.”
He even referred to Rigas Feraios, who had said that “what will unite us is the cross,” as well as the oath of the fighters of 1821 “for the faith of Christ, and the freedom of the homeland.”…
jirtu says
Maybe he meant that since Islam is acting more like a political party rather than a religion (true), then it is a political party. The mosques in Europe are political clubs with carpeting.
mortimer says
He overstated his case. Islam is a religious polity or a political religion. Islam is both.
gravenimage says
+1
barbaracvm1 says
There is a lot about Islam that reminds me of a cult.
jirtu says
The Koran is hearsay times two.
According to Islam, God gave the word to Archangel Gabriel who gave it to Mohammed. Then Mohammed told his friends and relatives what Archangel Gabriel had told him. Some years later, these acquaintance compiled what Mohammed had told them into a book which is now known as the Koran. Ergo, hearsay.
The New Testament is an account of what the four apostles saw and heard first-hand from Christ. No intermediaries. No hearsay.
Everyone knows how a sentence can change by word of mouth.
Lilith Wept says
David Woods just rips apart Islam’s claim that the Koran is the original unchanging word of God! I love to watch his videos!
Frank Anderson says
L.W., one of the best reasons to read Bill Warner’s Simple and Abridged Korans (2 books) is to see how many changes and complete reversals take place within the book. The standard koran is published in order of the longest chapter first, totally obscuring the changes from the early reader. Where the Judeo Christian Bible is more or less in chronological order, the koran is not. Warner shows many times that the “final, perfect, complete and unchangeable word” is not really “final, perfect, complete and unchangeable” because it has changed many times in the course of its compilation. Like our host’s, I find Warner’s work quite readable and well worth the effort.
barbaracvm1 says
Islam reminds me of a cult.
Del says
Islam is a theocracy, a form of Government that is completely based on religious beliefs and practices, it is NOT just a religion.
Do a simple search on Sections 318 and 319 of the Criminal Code of Canada to see how the Koran clearly meets the legal definition of hate literature. A Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruled that it was not hate literature, based on the point that it was a religious books. They hid behind that excuse, ignoring the theocracy fact.
I am an infidel, and any book that says “Death to infidels. Kill all Jews. Strike their necks” and on and on and on, is hate literature.
James Lincoln says
Del,
At least the IRS believes that islam is a religion.
Mosques enjoy section 501(c)(3) status…
https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/credits-and-deductions/help/what-is-a-qualified-charitable-organization/00/26938
toomanyhobbies says
one more time….. ISLAM IS A CERTIFIABLE CULT and CULTS are not protected under US law….
Frank Anderson says
t.m.h. please help me: I am not aware of any statute in the US which outlaws cults. Can you be more specific?
gravenimage says
A cult is not actually different from a religion–a cult is just smaller. By this definition, Islam is certainly no cult.
You are probably referring to the 1970s, when there were a plethora of malignant cults. But the definition of cult did not actually change.
mortimer says
Archbishop Ieronymos should stick to the statistical facts which are harder to dispute than his somewhat over-stated ‘opinion’.
While about 51% of the Islamic Trilogy (Koran, Bukhari and Sira) are political, only 18% is about Allah and the rest is about Mohammed. Politics and sociology obviously dominate religion in the ‘Trilogy’.
Archbishop Ieronymos should therefore be more carefully circumspect and nuanced in his phraseology. I would agree with him, if he had said that Islam is a political IDEOLOGY. It most certainly is, but Islamist ideology is only a part of Islam.
Father Henri Boulad (a lifelong student of Islam) concluded that Islam is both a state (dawla) and a religious teaching (dawa).
Author Rebecca Bynum confronted the idea that Islam is ‘just’ a religion in “Allah Is Dead: Why Islam is not a Religion”. She shows that Islam is like a platypus which is dualistic. In fact, a platypus is both a mammal and a bird at the same time, having DNA from both sides.
This DUALISM of Islam (politics blended with religion) has been noted by many scholars, such as Dutch Islamologist Dr. Hans Jansen (book: “The Dual Nature of Islamic Fundamentalism”).
Prof. Jansen stated that Islamic fundamentalism rejects a CORE BELIEF of modernity … the SEPARATION of religion and politics … and so, according to Jansen, Islam has always had an anti-modern or REACTIONARY basis. Jansen showed how “fundamentalist Islam is religion narrowed down to an ideology, but is still a religion, albeit one concerned with earthly power and which cannot reform itself, and so Islam must remain backward and medieval.”
I conclude by saying: ‘Islam is dualistic like the duck-billed platypus. Political Islamism is a HUGE PART of Islam. The rest is the religious justification of Islam’s polity.’
Johnny B says
There’s a lot to learn about Islam if you study the history and fate of the Byzantine empire which effectively seized to exist after the loss of Constantinople (present day Istanbul) in 1453. For those who don’t know, the Eastern Orthodox Church has its origin in the Byzantine Church, which was basically a split-off from the Catholic Church some 400 years earlier. That’s why history is so important, because those who don’t learn from it are destined to repeat it. It’s not an empty phrase.
Stephen O'mara says
Islam trod on the Greeks for centuries, so they should know how it works.
mortimer says
Islam through conquest imposed its own emperor in place of the Roman emperor of Byzantium. Christians in the former Roman Empire then became ‘dhimmis’ under Sharia law.
Dhimmitude is never beneficial for non-Muslims. It is designed to prevent non-Muslims from competing with Muslim males.
mortimer says
Reply to S.O. ‘they should know’ … in my conversations with Orthodox Christians and even Coptic Christians, I have been disappointed to discover how little they know about political Islam. They anecdotally know the erratic behaviors of Muslims, but they do not theoretically know the ideological bases that produce them. This is very problematic. They ‘should’ but generally DO NOT KNOW much about Islamic doctrines.
Frank Anderson says
Islam claims to be a religion in order to fool those who follow real religions that it is just like theirs. Where others have teachings of tolerance and mercy, islam teaches and practices conquest, death and slavery.
Labels are not helpful if all they do is promote indecision and confusion. The labels of religion or political party have no value or consequence when motivating our understanding or the actions we should take. I have been writing for a long time that whatever else islam is, may be or is not, it IS a criminal conspiracy. That label is actually important and useful, because it makes every member part of an ongoing crime that has lasted 1400 years and killed, depending on who is estimating and what lands they cover, between 250 and 1000 million people.
A conspiracy is 1) An agreement 2) Between 2 or more persons [legal entities or natural humans] 3) For an unlawful purpose or to use unlawful means for an otherwise lawful purpose [global conquest and extermination of all who resist] 4) ANY overt act by ANY participant in furtherance of the goal. It is not required that a member must know all details to be responsible for the acts of another member. It is not required that all members do an unlawful act. “The acts of one are the acts of all. The knowledge of one is the knowledge of all.” There is no time limit or upper limit on the number of “persons” who can participate and be held responsible for the acts of any one participant. US Federal law is clear on this subject of conspiracy. Many states have similar law. The Constitution makes state law comply with federal law if the prosecutors will enforce the law.
Why do we continue to live in a state of denial and delusion? Could it be because of many suffering from refusal to face the reality that islam declared war on the world, including all it regards as reformers or apostates, 1400 years ago and is still killing people every day? Viktor Frankl discussed his discovery in the Nazi death camps where he was a surviving inmate. His profound book, Man’s Search for Meaning, is an excellent book by every measure I consider. When circumstances are too awful to be faced, the delusion of a reprieve will help last another day. We are not in a death camp unless we allow it to be done.
gravenimage says
Frank, Islam is a religion by all definitions. It is just an *evil* religion. Most religions teach the moral good–but this has not always been the case. Look at the horrors of the worship of Baal and of the Aztec gods–both involved human sacrifice.
Frank Anderson says
GI, what is to say that a religion cannot be a criminal conspiracy at the same time. Do you think that being an religion excludes also being a criminal enterprise or conspiracy? Being a religion does not shield a criminal activity.
SKA says
Yes Frank: the Thuggees were a religious cult within Hinduism. But their main act of worship included the kidnapping and human sacrifice of unwary strangers. Both a reljgious group and an organized criminal conspiracy.
Infidel says
SKA, it was a pretty weird cult, given that 1/3rd of its practitioners were actually muslim
gravenimage says
True, Frank.
Walter Sieruk says
Islam is a religion as well as a political party combined into one .To elaborate in a more clear way, it may be actually said that “Islam is a religion and a political party all rolled into one tyrannical mind control system of religious / sharia law /politically powerful insidious effect on the belief of ideas ,values that has awful stealth jihad influence over people ,countries cities, towns traditions customs that it has changed the course of history and impact on the lives of many human beings throughout history and the world ,most always for the worst.”
In addition, the term used by many in the West in current times is “political Islam” That term is, in reality redundant. This is because Islam is in essence, a religious /political Sharia law based system. As so well explained in brief way, by the Muslim tyrant who and ruled Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini when he stated that “All Islam is politics.” [1]
[1] THE ISLAM IN ISLAMIC TERRORISM by Ibn Warraq , page 332.
A Gnostic Agnostic says
Islam is NOT a “religion” – it is a “division”: believer vs. unbeliever.
A “religion” is meant to unite. A “division” is meant to divide.
Islam divides humanity in 2, thus is the “opposite” of a “religion”.
The only thing one needs to know about Islam is: it is 180-degrees upside-down.
If you take what comes out of the mouth of a “believer” and turn it upside-down, you have the truth.
Because “believers” in/of Islam are 180-degrees upside-down, what comes out of their mouths is also.
mortimer says
GA is wrong. Islam is dawla and dawa (state governance and religious teaching).
You ‘need’ to do a deep study of the religious basis of Islam. Muslims do not use taqiyya 100% of the time, only when they feel there is a threat to Islamic supremacism.
Most Muslims are easy-going and try to blend in with modern society for the sake of their careers. 15% are more fanatical. Less than 1% are jihadists.
katherine says
15 million jihadists and 225 million fanatics all in – very comforting numbers indeed.
Frank Anderson says
With respect to both of you. Just because it takes one person to pull a trigger, slash a throat with a knife or set off a bomb, does not mean that all the others who support the actions should get away. They all teach, practice and believe or they would be killed for apostasy. “The knowledge of one is the knowledge of all. The Acts of one are the Acts of all.” Islam teaches all its followers murder, conquest and slavery, not only those who do the killing, but everybody, even 3 year old’s who the dress up as suicide bombers. If you don’t believe that find some way to watch E.D. Hill’s last Fox News show Terror in its Own Words. Take no comfort in surveys of people for whom lying is a basic teaching and common way of life. Do you really think they would tell the truth to a worthless, sub-human infidel?
gravenimage says
True, Frank. All practicing Muslims support Jihad terror, either actively or passively, unless they are actually working against it–which are *very* few.
Frank Anderson says
GI, we certainly agree on that statement. To be a faithful muslim one must support all its teachings and goals. However passive at one or another moment there is always close at hand activity of many forms available to show compliance with the requirements to avoid a death sentence.
gravenimage says
Agree, Frank.
Frank Anderson says
GI, then the true count is 4 non-exclusive labels, 3 of which have no legal consequence or value, cult, religion, political party, and the 4th actually has a legal ramification, criminal conspiracy. Thank God my message may be finding a home. Islam can have 4 labels, none of which exclude the others.
gravenimage says
Islam is a religiion by all definitions. Not all religions are benignant.
Crusades Were Right says
It’s a DANGER to the God-given rights of others, such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Who cares if it is a “religion”, a “political party”, or whatever?
Infidel says
Islam is actually a geopolitical cult, as Ali Sina once pointed out
http://www.faithfreedom.org/islam-cult-or-religion/
As he pointed out, islam satisfies all the criteria of a cult, but beyond that, it has geopolitical ambitions like Communism did. There’s a reason Islam succeeded communism as the main threat to human freedom after 1991
Like RS noted, it’s refreshing to see a leader of the flock in any country speak out against islam, particularly when islam poses such a threat in Greece itself, courtesy Sultan Erdogan. Archbishop Ieronymos is a refreshing change from Pope Francis, the various Archbishops of Canterbury and Archbishop Kirill in Moscow in calling out islam for what it really is
GreekEmpress says
Yes! An Archbishop that gets it!
Boycott Turkey says
True Islam is more cult but his right when he says it’s not a religion I would say it’s not a political party just a evil dangerous cult that needs to be banned
tim gallagher says
The best thing he says is “They are the people of war”. Spot on. He sees islam clearly in that regard. None of this bullshit we get so often about how Islam is basically peaceful. It is good to see a religious leader who gets this basic point right. Looking at its history, Islam has never been anything but a vicious, totally violent and murderous religious ideology. Islam is an evil totalitarian ideology, which is an evil type of religion (with an evil, hate filled version of what god is supposed to be like) and also an all controlling attitude to every aspect of life (like other all controlling political movements).
gravenimage says
Greece: Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens says Islam is not a religion but a political party
…………….
As noted, Islam is both.
But good that he mentions this aspect of Islam.
European pagan says
A human-made political religion.
don vito says
The Archbishop has my complete and total agreement on this issue. God bless him.
Joe Wiesner says
Islam is a Theocracy.
James Lincoln says
As I’ve stated numerous times, islam is a totalitarian religious/political ideology
and
The goal of its followers, muslims, is to establish sharia law throughout the world.
Jihad Watch readers: Is this a correct analysis?
Infidel says
More or less. As I noted above, it’s a unique intersection of a cult, such as Branch Davidian or Heavensgate, and a geopolitical ideology such as Communism (particularly today’s Maoism of President Xi). It satisfies all the attributes of a cult, and possesses all the powers and threats of a mainstream ideology like Maoism
James Lincoln says
Thanks for your reply and valuable feedback, Infidel.
I think that we’re on the same page…
jirtu says
While the archbishop is correct, it was unwise of him to say so. There are many Greeks, Arabs who belong to the Greek Church, and many Greek churches, cathedrals, and monasteries in Islamic (especially Arab countries and Turkey) that could become victims of Muslim attacks.
Infidel says
jirtu, I get your point; however, one of the real issues w/ the various churches is that many, if not most, of them have bent backwards to appease islam, including the major demoninations churches – the Vatican, the Church of England, the Russian Orthodox church, which are the big 3. All that has only served to embolden muslims when it comes to dealing w/ Christians. Note that they don’t do it in Burma, much less China
The Arab countries, threatened as they are by Iran and Turkey, will have to determine whether they’re gonna hang together and stop persecuting Arab Christians and shi’a. B’cos non-Arab muslims are no longer on their side
jirtu says
I see your point about churches surrendering to the Muslim will.
gravenimage says
Jirtu, I take your point–Christian churches and their parishioners *are* in great danger. But pretending that Islam is benign has *not* made things safe from ravening Muslims. Generally, voluntary dhimmitude just emboldens Islam.
OLD GUY says
Ieronymos has hit the nail dead center on the head. Islam is nothing short of a DICTATORSHIP using (religion) as its method of controlling and legitimizing its form of rule. What better way to control the masses than to use a god. Those who don’t follow will be violently dealt with according to Allah’s will. Islamic leaders want nothing short of world domination. Islam equals power over the people by its leaders, at all cost.
Shakeb says
You all starting from archipishop are ignorant you know nothing about the only true religion in this world I may suggest you to read more about Islam ☪️and follow peace TV so as to acknowledge the fact
gravenimage says
Note that Shakeb here doesn’t cite a single point that the Archbiship has supposedlhy gotten wrong.
Then he cites Peace TV, founded by the appalling Zakir Naik.
Naik has urged “all Muslims to be terrorists” saying “if he is terrorizing a terrorist, he is following Islam” Jihadists in the Dhaka terror attack cited Zakir Naik as having inspired their attack.
The channel has also urged violence against homosexuals.
Britain, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka have all banned this station for preaching Jihad terrorsim.
So how exactly would our watching the absurdly named Peace TV disabuse anyone of the point that Islam teaches violence?
And many of us, including myself, have read the Qur’an, Hadith, and SIra, and know that this Jihad violence stems from the orthodox texts of Islam itself, and the model of the vicious “Prophet” Muhammed.