Enemies by nature?

'Man is a natural enemy of what he is ignorant of' Imam Ali, Karam Allahu wajhahu

I'm not highly amused by high rhetoric and volume as debate forms, and though I get a certain pleasure out of pushing back verbally at those who assault me or my beliefs, I really don't think discussion is being furthered by the abuse on the blogs that passes for 'debate'. Critical issues of our times, no less than at the time of the American revolution, are certainly valuable discussion material - and without Thomas Paine, the printing press, and reasonably high literacy, the American Revolution might never have kicked off... which all goes to say that "democracy and freedom" [as ideals, enshrined in the Constitution] depend on education and eliminating ignorance.

Islam also came into the world as revelation, descending amongst the most tribal, vindictive, and frankly ignorant people - the bedouin of the time of the Prophet Muhammed Sal Allahu alayhi wa Salaam. 200 years of Arab civilization followed, led by muslim scholars who increasingly were born from non-arab lands and spoke non-arabic tongues. The "Golden Era" of the Khulafaa ar-Rashidun led, despite bloody sectarian violence and political upheaval, towards the [in no particular order]: Ummayad, Abbasid, Seljuk, Mamluk, Mongol, Moghul, Ottoman, Andalusian, Mali, Timbuctu, Malay, Sokoto [et al.] muslim civilizations.

Muslim Heritage:
http://www.muslimheritage.com/
"Islam, a world civilization":
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/introduction/woi_history.html#22

Civilization obviously implies a lot more than [as it seems to be understood today] mere technological capacity, the ability to raise a standing army, and the means to develop new ways of killing other human beings. One would hope it implies a respect for knowledge, the pushing back of the boundaries of ignorance, and a development of humanity that gives the 'humanities' their name. Islam certainly did well at that before the current period of post-colonial & ethnic nationalism - and though muslims have unfortunately participated in spreading 'hatred for those who aren't like you' in the modern world; they have still, on the whole, managed to retain the virtues taught in the Qur'an and Sunnah, by the virtues of the scholars which Allah promises to maintain on the earth.

It's valuable to remember that one statement by the Salaf us-Salih on the discriminating factor of 'people of the Tradition' of the Prophet ahl us-Sunnah is that they "report that which is for them, as well as that which is against them, while the people of deviation report only that which is for them." Imam as-Suyuti spoke similarly of what the 'people of the Tradition and Community' ahl us-Sunnah wal-jama'at believe, in quoting the hadith of the Prophet that only those who "follow the Tradition of myself, my companions, and that which they are upon" [which surely includes virtues such as self-criticism, dignified bearing and nobility, humane character, etc - "this religion is good character"].

as abdul-Hakim Murad writes in contentions [http://masud.co.uk/ISLAM/ahm/contentions2.htm]
11. True religion invites us to become better people. False religion tells us that this has already occurred.

A story from Ottoman history illustrates ignorance well: a drunk Janissary, stumbling down an alleyway, confronts a Jewish man in the alleyway, saying: "Hey, why did your people kill Jesus?" [not a muslim belief] The Jewish man, despairing of arguing with a drunken soldier, pleads: "But that was so long ago." whereupon the Janisarry slurs "But I only learned about it last week."

Better to light a candle than curse the darkness, as Einstein said. God bless and guide humanity.