I have done my share of radio shows and writing about Muslims vs. Christians (see DCBULL archives), and recent reports suggest that the game is evening up as it pertains to population balance between the two religious forces.
A new study released this past Thursday offers concrete data to support the ongoing growth of the Muslim population.
Less than twenty years ago, the world had about 1.1 billion Muslims. Twenty years from now, this new report suggests it will more than double – to represent more than a quarter of the population of the earth.
This is a huge increase from 20 percent in 1990.
Pakistan is blowing by Indonesia as the hot spot for the largest number of Muslims, as its population pushes over 256 million.
And the U.S. is no slouch in this boom either, as the number of Muslims in the United States will more than double, to 6.2 million in coming years – can we hear an Amen for Allah?
The Afghan population will also come close to doubling, to about 50.5 million, making it a war torn nation, with lots of dirt, and the ninth largest Muslim population in the world – you go Afghanistan!
The Jews have serious competition – “Oy Vey” (that means “oh woe is me” in Yiddish)! Israel is on its way to becoming one quarter Muslim. The Palestinian territories alone have one of the highest growth rates in the world. First the Jews had to contend with Jesus and now this – is nothing sacred?
Then we have little Nigeria, where violence between Christians and Muslims has been a VIP party of its own in recent years, where thousands have died in the name of God. Nigeria too, will become a Muslim-majority country in the years to come.
Let us not forget the good people of France and Belgium – these grumpy wine drinking regions will boast more than 10 percent Muslim, while the happy land of Sweden will hover just under 10 percent.
The loser of the Muslim growth game in the next few years will be Iran – that's right Iran, I am sorry Iran, you did not win the new car, but you will get some lovely parting gifts. Iran will see very slow Muslim growth. Iranian women have the fewest children of any population in the Muslim world. Come on now, we have all seen the men from Iran – would you have sex with them? I mean they don’t bathe and they are grumpy as hell. This is not a recipe for a roll in the hay with the old lady after a game of “kill the infidel”. They use birth control at an astounding rate of 73 percent – just another example of the "we are a miserable nation" credo, so the ladies of the nation just say, lets stop populating until we cease to exist.
The global population of the Muslim faith will rise because the Muslim men like to have sex (this actually applies to all men) and have an extremely high birth rate. Not to mention the large number of Muslims of childbearing age, and an increase in life expectancy in Muslim-majority countries.
The sheer boom in the population in Pakistan will lead to an additional 70 million people in the next 20 years – this could create "a potentially lethal cocktail," said Ghaffar Hussain of the Quilliam Foundation, which calls itself an anti-extremism think tank and does work in Pakistan.
"Pakistan is an unstable country, there are literally hundreds of jihadist groups," he said.
The Pakistan government is not doing much to slow population growth, unlike in nearby Bangladesh, he said.
"In Bangladesh they have tax incentives not to have large families. Pakistan doesn't have that strategy - they're not even talking about it," said Hussein.
"More effort should be made to finding some solutions, especially in the border region with Afghanistan," he advised. NO SHIT and I agree, my DCBULL columns have preached this from day one of our war efforts in Afghanistan.
The Pew report, where much of this source data originated from, is more than a year in the making, and part of a major effort by the Think Tank to manage the number of members to the world's religions. The Islam report comes first, and a Christian project is in the works.
Putting aside the growth of the Muslim population, Christianity will remain the biggest religion in the world for years to come. There are more than 2 billion Christians – almost 35 percent of the world population.
The architects are aware that their report has policy implications, but maintain that the purpose of the Pew Forum is simply to provide unbiased data.
"It's not our role to say what should be done," Cooperman said.
What they're aiming to do, one of the project's leader said, is to make sure there's reliable information available.
"There has been a lot of speculation about the growth of the Muslim population around the world, and many of those who speculate don't have good data," said Brian Grim, a senior researcher at the Pew Forum.
"The Muslim population is growing and slowing. Instead of a runaway train, it's trending with the general global population," he said.
CONCLUSION FROM ARTHUR L. EKREM
In other words, as the balance of Christians and Muslims head toward a 50/50 population split in years to come, it is high time we find meaningful ways to coexist together and accept our differences and spiritual beliefs.
Both sides need to agree that terrorists need to be identified, punished, and stopped at all cost.
I firmly believe that most (a majority) of all Muslims want the BRAND they have been given as to their terrorist leanings, to be removed.
Most Muslims feel the same way that Christians do with regard to terrorist activity and support - there is no place for it.
Only in working together on this issue can we maintain a world where Christians and Muslims can live with an expectation of peace and religious freedom.
Final score in the match between Christian and Muslim – a draw – in other words, we are all winners on Gods green earth!
