IS ISLAM
A PEACEFUL RELIGION?(C) 2015
People who believe in Islam are called Muslims. Without qualification, most Muslims will tell you Islam is a peaceful religion. That may be true, for the most part. However, in the lifetime of most people now living, no other religion has been so connected to violence and terrorism as has Islam.
Neither Hindus, Buddhists, Christians nor Jews have, in modern times, committed as many violent and terrorist acts in the name of their religion as have Muslims.
Of course, Muslims will counter and cite the Christian crusades as a violent Christian period. And there’s some truth there. The Crusades, particularly the first, were a violent time when Christians, in reclaiming Holy Land earlier seized by Muslims, were quite violent.
But the Crusades (there were four) took place during the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. Those were times when mankind supposedly was more backwards than now. In the United States, in modern times, Islam’s apparent intolerance and penchant for violence first surfaced in 1965.
That was the year Malcolm X was assassinated by Muslims. Muslims so objected to comments Malcolm X made about Elijah Muhammad, they thought he should be killed. In 1968, more intolerance led to violence. That’s when Sirhan Sirhan, a Muslim, murdered Robert F. Kennedy. Sirhan didn’t like Kennedy’s pro-Israel leanings.
IN YEARS SINCE, ISLAMIC TERRORISTS HAVE:
* Murdered Jewish athletes at the Munich Olympics.
* Taken American hostages in Iran.
* Bombed Marine barracks in Lebanon.
* Assassinated Anwar Sadat.
* Attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul ll.
*Made death threats against writer Salman Rushdie.
* Attacked the U.S.S. Cole, killing American sailors.
* Bombed American embassies in Africa.
* Carried out the Sept. 11 attacks.
* Kidnapped and murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
* Bombed a train carrying innocent civilians in Spain.
* Kidnapped and beheaded innocent civilians in Iraq.
* Killed a Dutch filmmaker and threatened to kill two Dutch politicians.
* Carried out terrorist attacks in Paris.
*Carried out terrorist attacks in San Bernardino.
Each of those violent acts were committed by people in different parts of the world. The common link among them all was Islam. Yet another common link was intolerance. The essence of intolerance is the notion that your beliefs and your way of life are right and the beliefs of others are wrong. Mix intolerance with fanaticism and you have an irrational mind.
Timothy McVeigh and other homegrown terrorists bombed the Oklahoma federal building. That was a terrorist act as well. But McVeigh did not use religion as a fig leaf to cover up his evil actions. And he didn’t think he was committing an act that would somehow please God.
Terrorists, however, commit evil acts and, incredibly, shout out during the act, “God is Great.” Isn’t it peculiar for someone to believe God would sanction the murder of innocent people?
To be fair, since time immemorial, evil men have been using religion to hide their true intentions. Contemporary Islam is no different. No doubt, fuzzy, unclear bible passages have made it easy for evil men to hide their intentions behind vague religious verses.
In the Christian world, the Bible has frequently been updated to make its meaning plain and clear. But the Koran, Islam's bible, has not been updated.
The Koran retains its original translation. Is the Koran’s original language so archaic, confusing, unclear, and misleading it can be easily misinterpreted? After all, too many Muslims have committed too many terrorist acts in the name of Islam. And, they actually believed they were doing God’s work.
At best, religion civilizes mankind and restrains his and her evil tendencies. At worse, it fosters narrow-mindedness and intolerance. If the world sees Islam as a violence-prone and intolerant religion, it is because they only see the zealots, terrorists and their apologists in the forefront.
If Islam truly is a peaceful religion, it is up to Muslims to take back their religion from the fanatics and terrorists. If Islam truly is a peaceful religion, it is up to Muslims to demonstrate tolerance rather than intolerance.
When peaceful Muslims have distinguished themselves from those who have hijacked their religion, the world will then see a difference. Is Islam a peaceful religion?
As long as Muslims remain silent while their religion is being hijacked and atrocities are committed in the name of that religion, the world will not see Islam as a peaceful religion.
A PEACEFUL RELIGION?(C) 2015
People who believe in Islam are called Muslims. Without qualification, most Muslims will tell you Islam is a peaceful religion. That may be true, for the most part. However, in the lifetime of most people now living, no other religion has been so connected to violence and terrorism as has Islam.
Neither Hindus, Buddhists, Christians nor Jews have, in modern times, committed as many violent and terrorist acts in the name of their religion as have Muslims.
Of course, Muslims will counter and cite the Christian crusades as a violent Christian period. And there’s some truth there. The Crusades, particularly the first, were a violent time when Christians, in reclaiming Holy Land earlier seized by Muslims, were quite violent.
But the Crusades (there were four) took place during the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. Those were times when mankind supposedly was more backwards than now. In the United States, in modern times, Islam’s apparent intolerance and penchant for violence first surfaced in 1965.
That was the year Malcolm X was assassinated by Muslims. Muslims so objected to comments Malcolm X made about Elijah Muhammad, they thought he should be killed. In 1968, more intolerance led to violence. That’s when Sirhan Sirhan, a Muslim, murdered Robert F. Kennedy. Sirhan didn’t like Kennedy’s pro-Israel leanings.
IN YEARS SINCE, ISLAMIC TERRORISTS HAVE:
* Murdered Jewish athletes at the Munich Olympics.
* Taken American hostages in Iran.
* Bombed Marine barracks in Lebanon.
* Assassinated Anwar Sadat.
* Attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul ll.
*Made death threats against writer Salman Rushdie.
* Attacked the U.S.S. Cole, killing American sailors.
* Bombed American embassies in Africa.
* Carried out the Sept. 11 attacks.
* Kidnapped and murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
* Bombed a train carrying innocent civilians in Spain.
* Kidnapped and beheaded innocent civilians in Iraq.
* Killed a Dutch filmmaker and threatened to kill two Dutch politicians.
* Carried out terrorist attacks in Paris.
*Carried out terrorist attacks in San Bernardino.
Each of those violent acts were committed by people in different parts of the world. The common link among them all was Islam. Yet another common link was intolerance. The essence of intolerance is the notion that your beliefs and your way of life are right and the beliefs of others are wrong. Mix intolerance with fanaticism and you have an irrational mind.
Timothy McVeigh and other homegrown terrorists bombed the Oklahoma federal building. That was a terrorist act as well. But McVeigh did not use religion as a fig leaf to cover up his evil actions. And he didn’t think he was committing an act that would somehow please God.
Terrorists, however, commit evil acts and, incredibly, shout out during the act, “God is Great.” Isn’t it peculiar for someone to believe God would sanction the murder of innocent people?
To be fair, since time immemorial, evil men have been using religion to hide their true intentions. Contemporary Islam is no different. No doubt, fuzzy, unclear bible passages have made it easy for evil men to hide their intentions behind vague religious verses.
In the Christian world, the Bible has frequently been updated to make its meaning plain and clear. But the Koran, Islam's bible, has not been updated.
The Koran retains its original translation. Is the Koran’s original language so archaic, confusing, unclear, and misleading it can be easily misinterpreted? After all, too many Muslims have committed too many terrorist acts in the name of Islam. And, they actually believed they were doing God’s work.
At best, religion civilizes mankind and restrains his and her evil tendencies. At worse, it fosters narrow-mindedness and intolerance. If the world sees Islam as a violence-prone and intolerant religion, it is because they only see the zealots, terrorists and their apologists in the forefront.
If Islam truly is a peaceful religion, it is up to Muslims to take back their religion from the fanatics and terrorists. If Islam truly is a peaceful religion, it is up to Muslims to demonstrate tolerance rather than intolerance.
When peaceful Muslims have distinguished themselves from those who have hijacked their religion, the world will then see a difference. Is Islam a peaceful religion?
As long as Muslims remain silent while their religion is being hijacked and atrocities are committed in the name of that religion, the world will not see Islam as a peaceful religion.