Robert Reilly and the Closing of the Muslim Mind

Robert Reilly gets it. He understands that the civilizational crisis facing us today is rooted in theology. Here is a link to a terrific lecture he gave recently at the Heritage Foundation on his book: The Closing of the Muslim Mind.

Here is a synopsis of his lecture:

People today are shocked and frightened by the behavior coming out the Islamic world – not only because it is violent, but also because it is seemingly inexplicable. While many explanations have been offered as to “what went wrong” in the Muslim world, no one has decisively answered why it went wrong. In The Closing of the Muslim Mind, Robert R. Reilly locates the roots of contemporary troubles in a pivotal struggle that occurred within the Muslim world nearly a millennium ago. It was a battle over the role of reason – and the side of irrationality won. The theology that resulted, Reilly posits, produced a fertile field for Islamism, and now constitutes the chief obstacle to finding common ground with the Islamic world. In the view of former National Security Advisor John Poindexter, this book is “meticulously researched … must-read for today’s national security leaders.”

The lecture is well-worth the hour or so it takes to listen to. Reilly gives chapter and verse citations for some of the claims I lightly skated over in my last post.