Observation of Sir WInston Churchill

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries!
Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities - but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome."

-Sir Winston Churchill (The River War, first edition, Vol. II, pages 248-50 (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899)

I'm completely expecting to get flamed for this.  It seems to me that Churchill had a fairly accurate assessment.  Think about it, is Islam as a dominant religion holding back certain nations?  It seems to me that many nations, primarily in the Middle East and Africa, are still living in the "stone age" and many of those are majority Islamic.  Is this caused by a strong conservative view?  Not allowing women rights, and not granting citizens basic rights?

Not taking a shot at the religion, just passing on the words of a wise man.

lol

The issue isn't Islam as a religion but rather the leaders who use Islam to validate their despotic rule and oppression. The same can be said of Christianity in the dark ages. Not even men were allowed to be free, but rather the property of the feudal lord for whom they worked in endless debt. All of this was done with the supposed blessing of God Almighty. Leaders of nations will be able to continue using Islam as a choke-hold on individual freedoms until it undergoes a division of the proportions of the reformation movement in Christianity. Only when the idea of the individual interpretation of Islam as the correct interpretation is allowed will the religion truly be the "religion of peace" it is so often called. While despots continue to use it as the Inquisition used Christianity to further their own goals, and interpretation of the "word of allah" is moot, then it will only be a religion of oppression and indentured servitude.
Until Islam undergoes it's own reformation and it is no longer up to the mullahs to interpret Mohammed's teachings, the only way that an Islamic people will be able to operate efficiently and of modern ability is to separate the church and state. Turkey has done this, as have Dubai and the UAE to lesser extents and all three have only gained from the action. The change is in the wind and when those who would live in poverty and despair under Shaira law will not want to live that way when their neighbors live better, longer, more comfortable lives when radicalism is kept from their governments. Buddhists are correct when they say that "change must come from within" as it applies to everything in this world that is a change for the better.