Modern Islam and Christianity are at a glance, highly polarized within the framework of an Islamic East and a Christian West. Both religions are rich in commonalities, while maintaining extensive diversity. Over the last fourteen centuries Orient and Occident have exchanged a multitude of positive  and negative human capital ranging from ideas, culture, and scientific progress, to wars and bloodshed. In periods of war, the spirit of negation and incitement reigned supreme, while in better periods of quiet the spirit of tolerance and mutual understanding was predominant. Both scenarios created opportunities for exchange and this interaction created new avenues for human progress.

In today’s antagonistic environment, warmongers mount the stage and incite their camps towards clash and confrontation in an attempt to heat up the situation and swell their ranks. They talk about the clash of civilizations as if such a clash is inevitable and necessary. Wiser elements, such as scholars and philosophers give priority to cultural interaction and tolerance without negating the distinguished foundations and cultural contributions of both civilizations. Nonetheless, many forget that the dichotomy of East and West was deeply engraved in human history, well prior to the advent of Islam and Christianity or Judaism, which is now an inseparable part of Western civilization.

In recent years, East and West have passed through a state of antagonism and to some extent a state of confrontation. In the West, Cold War protagonists, interest groups and religious extremists disseminate “Islam-o-phobia” around the World. In the East, new states in the formerly colonized nations of Africa and Asia are asking for their freedom and independence from Western Dominance. Ironically, the post WWII period saw these newer states wanting to implement international values conceived by the West through international agencies created by the West which were based in Western Capitals, such as New York, Paris, London, Geneva etc…But unfortunately, the double standard policies practiced by the Western countries impeded the implementation of human principles in a fair and balanced way. Still a great majority of third world countries and many Moslem nations in Africa and Asia are suffering from discrimination and deprivation. 

EARLY CONTRADICTIONS 

Christianity and Islam originate from the same source and the same geographic region. They both belong to the family of monotheistic faiths, or the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. All three faiths pray for the same God, the

God of Abraham,  Moses, Jesus and Mohamed. Yet, contradictions between Islam and Christianity emerged in the dark ages when both antecedent religions came short of recognizing Islam as a true faith emanating from an authentic prophecy. Islam was considered by its predecessors as a kind of heresy and the prophet Mohamed, the prophet of Islam, was attacked as a devil, a liar, a magician, the Anti-Christ, and so on.

On the other hand Islam provoked the West with absolute monotheism and its preaching for the unity of God. Islam refused the trinity of God and the joint corporal and divine nature of Jesus Christ. Islam refused to admit the crucifixion of Jesus while Christianity believed in the crucifixion and the death of Jesus on the cross before his elevation to his “Father” in Heavens. In the Sura of Unity (Al Ikhlas) of the Koran, it is written, “In the Name of Allah the Compassionate and the Merciful – Say: Allah is one, the eternal God. He begot none, nor was he begotten. None is equal to him”.

With such a clear cut position Islam touched the basic foundation of Christianity based on the trinity of God. Such a position provoked a large scale campaign against Islam on an ideological level and prompted military confrontations in the battle fields. 

In the middle Ages, a negative narrative dominated the European consciousness about Islam and created large scale hostilities culminating in the Crusades which lasted for almost two and a half centuries. Conversely, the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment in Europe opened a channel to Muslim civilization and a period of scientific exchange between East and West took place through the translation of scientific books written by Moslem scholars and philosophers in (Andalusia) Spain like Avicenna and Aver roes and other Moslem thinkers and physicists in the Eastern part of the Islamic world.      

ACTUAL PHASE 

In this phase of antagonism and confrontation, Islam is largely portrayed in the West in a negative light. Mass media and tabloids present Islam and Muslims in a discriminatory manner and Islam is nowadays portrayed as equivalent to terrorism, violence and aggression against the West. Thus, fighting terrorism is a declared policy of the Western Governments which have found in the so called “extremist” Islam a new enemy, necessitated by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Islam has replaced Communism as an ideological enemy and has become the number one target of smearing propaganda, especially after September 11^th 2001. In reality, the Islamic East poses no qualitative military threat to the West since it is scattered amongst 45-50 nations, mostly poor and underdeveloped countries in Africa and Asia.

Islamic nations are not in a position to threaten Western superiority with regard to armaments, weapons arsenals, nuclear power or star war capabilities as was the case with the Soviet Union. The Strength of Islam is not in its military force but in its human values which by and large, are synonymous to those of the Christian West.