Islam is not more radical than any other religion. Here’s why.

I will make another political statement here that may upset some people. But on this blog, we encourage controversial thoughts because I believe that some of the most interesting conversations lie in controversy. This article is a response to Ben Shapiro, who repeatedly speaks about radical Islam on his podcast. He is far more critical of Islam than of Christianity and, of course, Judaism. Many people agree with him that Islam is more radical and more misogynistic than other religions. I cannot let that slide. I am an agnostic. I do not believe in any religion, and I live a secular life. And there lies the crux. I make two premises that I aim to elaborate on in this essay.

1. Judeo-Christian traditionalists often claim credit for progress that actually came with secularism
2. Every religion contains structural features that can, under certain conditions, increase the risk of radicalism and misogyny

Right at the beginning, I want to say that I love Christians, Muslims, and Jews. Some of the best people I have ever met in my life were people of faith, any faith. And sure, if you believe you have to justify your actions to a higher power, you may become more aware of your individual choices. You may choose not to lie because it is a sin, not to gossip, and to give to charity. But at the same time, every religion operates to some extent on authority, claims a universal truth, and often centers a male perspective, where women are treated as secondary.

I recently watched a documentary about Warren Jeffs on Netflix, and I was surprised because I did not know that Mormon fundamentalists were also polygynists, meaning societies where a man marries multiple wives. In Islam, a man can have up to four wives. I was also surprised to learn that in a developed country like the United States, underage arranged marriages have happened and may still happen. I asked my friends about it, and they did not know either, even though they are very educated people. I can think of two main reasons for this.

1. We put less focus on Mormons than on Muslims because they are not perceived as a broad national threat like radical Islamist terrorism, which has directly endangered lives on a large scale
2. We tend to assume that countries with Judeo-Christian traditions are more developed than Muslim countries

Point one is fair. While radical Muslims and radical Mormon groups may both practice polygamy and justify underage marriages, Mormon communities are not perceived as a national threat. However, the second point, which is often made by people like Ben Shapiro, is not convincing. It assumes that religion itself is the main driver of societal progress. A more plausible explanation is secularism. Societies tend to progress when religious authority is separated from political power. The key factor is not whether a country is Christian or Muslim, but whether it allows institutions to operate independently of religious doctrine. Many Muslim-majority countries have not undergone this form of secular development, which helps explain differences in political stability and development.

Every major religion contains structural features that can enable radicalism and misogyny under certain conditions. The Bible, the Quran, and the Torah all formalize ethical frameworks that are presented as universally binding. They rely on authority-based truth. From a rational perspective, beliefs should update when new evidence arises, as described by Bayes’ theorem. However, when beliefs are tied to an infallible authority, people are less likely to revise them. Instead, they reinterpret or dismiss conflicting evidence. This is a well-known pattern of authority bias and confirmation bias. This does not mean these beliefs are false, but it does mean that the openness to being wrong is limited, especially since most religious people are born into their religion rather than choosing it.

Still, it is quite telling that my friends and I all knew about radical Islam and its misogynistic practices, such as polygamy, which I personally consider sexist, but did not know about similar practices and abuses in Mormon communities. Christians are usually not portrayed in the same way. Part of this is cultural familiarity, and part of it may be a bias toward viewing certain groups as more threatening or foreign. This leads to two further claims.
3) Judaism, Christianity, and Islam differ less in structure than they do in cultural expression
4) Islam is subjected to stronger scrutiny partly because of fear of other cultures and, in some cases, underlying bias

Do not get me wrong. Terrorism is a serious threat. But terrorism is primarily a political problem rather than a purely religious one. When religion is combined with unstable political systems, radicalism becomes more likely. When Muslims live in secular countries, their behavior is very different. I do not know a single Muslim man in Germany who has multiple wives. In fact, it is likely that in the United States, more men in fundamentalist Mormon communities practice polygamy than Muslim men do.

If we judge Islam as more radical than other religions, we miss the underlying issue. The real problem is the combination of religion and political power, along with the cognitive biases that come with authority-based belief systems. This does not mean we should get rid of religion. Religious communities often do a lot of good. But they also can harm when authority figures claim to act in the name of God, and followers feel compelled to obey without question.