Lewis argued Islam inherently tends toward fundamentalist violence.

Evidence

Lewis argued at the conference that the term “Islamic terrorism” was apt because “Islam is a political religion” and Muhammad, in contrast to other religious leaders, had “founded a state and governed it.” In other words, although terrorism carried out by Christians or Jews is not typically referred to as “Christian terrorism” or “Jewish terrorism,” linking Islam to the violence of Muslims was deemed appropriate. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 398 (#expands, via linked claim)

The Pope’s speech is deeply rooted in Orientalist myths; it presents a particular vision of a rational and enlightened “West” while obscuring Christianity’s own history of violence. He quotes the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus, who said, “Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.” It is ironic that Joseph Ratzinger—who was elected Pope Benedict XVI after serving as head of the Vatican office of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly known as the Inquisition)—could denounce the spreading of religion through violence and face little or no criticism. This is in no small part due to another deeply entrenched myth: that Islam is at its core a violent religion. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 190 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Lewis located Muslim hostility in Islam rather than Western conduct — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 217; Lewis dates the Islam-West rivalry to the seventh century and its reversal to 1683 — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 216; Lewis attributed Muslim animosity to jealousy over Western dominance — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 218 (+5 more)

Related

• Bernard Lewis justified the essentialist category of Islamic terrorism (similarity 0.86)
• The Pope endorsed a myth of Islam’s inherent violence. (similarity 0.84)
• Lewis attributed Muslim animosity to jealousy over Western dominance (similarity 0.84)
• Lewis located Muslim hostility in Islam rather than Western conduct (similarity 0.84)
• Bernard Lewis reduced fourteen centuries of East-West to unchanging conflict. (similarity 0.83)
• Lewis’s Orientalist framework reduces Muslims to a monolithic, irrational, enraged mass (similarity 0.82)
• Lewis dates the Islam-West rivalry to the seventh century and its reversal to 1683 (similarity 0.82)
• Orientalist scholars supplied the transhistorical ‘Islamic terrorism’ narrative at the 1984 conference (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Bernard Lewis justified the essentialist category of Islamic terrorism #expands (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 398
• The Pope endorsed a myth of Islam’s inherent violence. #corroborates (0.70) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 190