Maturing Religions: When Faith No Longer Needs the Sword
A Meditation on the 1,400–1,500 Year Maturation of Religions - and Whether Islam May Now Be Approaching the Moment When Faith No Longer Travels with the Sword
From the essay
Some transformations in human history unfold so slowly that they become visible only across centuries. Religions are among the institutions that evolve along such long civilizational arcs. Might religions follow long cycles of maturation measured not in decades but in centuries? Could the present moment represent the early stages of such a transformation within the Islamic world? No one can know with certainty. Civilizational change unfolds slowly, unevenly, and often through periods of turbulence. The hope—perhaps even the prayer—of the present generation is that the transition will ultimately allow faith to stand on conviction rather than coercion.