- back in this post i asked for input from anyone who cared to throw in and my good friend Travis answered my call readily. this here be my response to his comments:
Thank you for responding on this T, I really appreciate it and I can see how my post was unclear. I’d like to say that I did it intentionally to help spark debate on the subject but in honesty, it was just sloppy writing on my part. …However it does bring up a extraordinary point: In the past 25 years there have been no other groups implicitly tied to a single religion that have been responsible for so much hate and misery. And I’m not just talking about suicide bombers and death-threats to publishing houses. I’m talking about women who get stoned in the street if her husband accuses her of adultery. I’m talking about little girls getting beat to death by a roving religious police (called “muttaween” - sort of a murderous neighborhood watch) for not averting her eyes at the right time or allowing too much skin to be seen, even if she has just had the misfortune of being raped and her clothing is torn. And, if I can be allowed to more firmly snug the ass-hat onto my own head, if bloody, reactionary violence isn’t at least more acceptable to Islam, where is the public outcry against this behavior?
You are right though, I don’t think that the Protestant or the Catholic religions are directly responsible for the ass-hattery in Ireland nor do I honestly believe Buddhism was responsible for the ‘killing fields’ in Cambodia. I say to myself, “It must be the same with Islam.” But, what do you call it when the radical sub-groups are the only ones doin’ the talking? To me, it’s analogous to Christian fundamentalist groups blowing up abortion clinics all over the world, continuously, and the Christian Coalition issuing a press statement saying that ‘while they deplore the violence, its God’s work being done.’ Sadly, the only differences here are the scale of the acts and the fact that other Christian groups from all across the world spoke out against the violence. Where is the outcry from the Islamic world?
Also, in the case of the Crusades, if there were at that time a worldwide organization capable of stopping the violence, wouldn’t it be their responsibility to do so?
In any case, intellectually, I believe Islam to be a religion of peace and tolerance and a focus for spirituality.
Monday, February 20, 2006
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3 comments:
Well, there is an outcry from Islamic groups. We just have a hard time hearing it because it doesn't make good news footage. NPR occasionally has commentary or interviews with Islamic leaders who are denouncing the violence and explaining how the religious "reasoning" the terrorists are using is a perversion of their beliefs.
Here is an article about the cartoon violence.
And one about Iraq sectarian violence.
(Warning: I only skimmed these articles. So if they are way off topic, that's why.)
Oh and as for other types of violence (i.e. against women) that's harder. There are heavily Muslim countries where that sort of thing doesn't happen and in fact women live lives under similar circumstances as their male counterparts. I can only come to the conclusion that the religion alone isn't the reason for the violence in other areas. Perhaps in the countries where there isn't a problem it is because of a more "modern" sensibility. I don't know.
i say we nuke them from a high orbit and be done with it.
it's the only way to be sure.
Rigly~ Aliens
Stan
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