Our 'friend' Islam?

Let us stay in the present, please, instead of dragging boring Koran or Bible quotes into your prose.

Do not automatically assume that everyone who criticize Islam is a right-wing Christian.

Theo van Gogh was an atheïst.
He made a film about the [mis]treatment of women in Islam.
When he bicycled to his work, he was shot 7 times in his leg, then his throat was cut - nearly decapitated him - and finally a knife with a letter attached to it, was stuck in his stomach.

This was done by Mohammed Bouyeri, a Dutch/Morrocan Muslim, who butchered van Gogh in the name of Allah.
The letter in van Gogh's stomach said so.
It also threatened Ayaan Hirsi Ali and several politicians, who since then have been in hiding, or have emigrated.

This all happened on November 2 2004 in Amsterdam, in broad daylight.



Then we had the Danish cartoon rows that killed dozens of people.
Murdered by muslims.

Then we had the pope, who quoted an article that said that Islam was violent.
Which promptly was proven when a nun was killed and two priests were stabbed.

etc. etc. etc.

I suggest that the author of this piece reads some papers, instead of looking for innocent Koran verses.

Islam is a xenofobic, homofobic, anti-semitic and female hostile religion/doctrine.
The sooner you'll admit this, the healthier for your posterity. It will also give you more credibility as a writer.

GJ Klaver,
Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
[Left-wing atheïst]

by GJ Klaver (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Thursday, October 19, 2006 at 2:16:17 PM
 

The Fallacy

I do not presume that the past is irrelevant, nor do I presume that the scriptures of the religions in question are so, and therefore I reject Mr. Klaver's assertion that the past and the scriptures should be left out of the discourse.

That's nonsense, of course.

Nor have I presumed that "everyone who criticize[s] Islam is a right-wing Christian." I merely made particular note of Christians amongst those who "criticize Islam", as Mr. Klaver has put it.

As evidenced by his argument, he missed one of the major points of the article. I'll quote it, since it was so conveniently overlooked: "Let us accept, therefore, that the actions of some who call themselves by some title or another do not necessarily reflect the true beliefs and teachings of one religion or another."

Mr. Klaver also missed this part: "Were the actions of the Crusaders, the Conquistadors, or the Inquisitors representative of the Christian religion? Do we point to the slaughter of Jews and Muslims in Jerusalem, the slaughter of indigenous people in the Americas, or the torture and execution of dissenters in Europe and say, "see, Christianity is a religion of violence"?"

But sticking to the present, as Mr. Klaver so desires, he conveniently failed to address this part: "And the historical pattern hasn't necessarily discontinued. To cite just one contemporary example, very many Christians today virtually rejoice in certain actions of Israel, including its illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories and numerous instances of aggression."

I would suggest to Mr. Klaver that he read the Quran and see what it actually teaches, instead of relying on what he reads in the papers about what the Quran teaches. I would suggest to Mr. Klaver not to repeat the same fallacy as addressed in the article, to take the actions of an individual or the few and ascribe them to the beliefs of the many. For if this is the standard, then we must conclude that Christianity is an extremely violent religion (I'm sure Mr. Klaver would agree).

To close, I'd like to share another response I received to this article:

"Islam means total surrender to Allah, abandoning your own desires and adhering to the will of Allah, the only God, the God of love and peace.

Love for all creatures and peace with all creations, starts with oneself, as God is within all of us, the soul that gives us life is part of his universal soul, each of us has a share of it. May God place your soul with the righteous souls and continue to lead you in the right path.

Many thanks for an excellent and truthful article at a time when falsifications and fabrications are rife."

by Jeremy R. Hammond (37 articles, 0 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 85 comments) on Thursday, October 19, 2006 at 11:14:26 PM
 

The real enemy

Thanks for this article. I think Islam is an interesting religion, that has more principles in common with Christianity than differences. It's sad that a small, fundamentalist segment of Muslims give the entire religion a bad name (sort of like the way Bush's neo-con fascist "Christian" supporter base reflects badly on all of Christianity).
Violence, fascism, hatred, endless war, torture, etc have no place in true Christianity or Islam. Those who advocate or participate in such things are not truly living their religions.
In my opinion, poverty in the Middle East (and everywhere else) is the real enemy. If children grow up in poverty, without access to education, it's that much easier for some fundamentalist preaching his own brand of violent (non)Islam to recruit them as suicide bombers. I'd imagine that to someone who's spent most of their life hungry, watching thier country be destroyed by "the great Satan," the prospect of going to "paradise" by blowing somthing up doesn't sound too bad. The poor, and especially children, are easy prey for bad people who are preaching violent, fundamentalist ideals. (Just watch a clip of "Jesus Camp").
A government that is serious about stopping terrorism would provide humanitarian aid to the poverty stricken people in the ME, and work with them to make living conditions better for the general population in the region. If families there had a better standard of living, including education, perhaps terrorist organizations would have a harder time recruiting.
A military occupation of the area, along with decimation of the civillian population does just the opposite.

by Amanda Butler (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 21 comments) on Friday, October 20, 2006 at 5:37:50 PM
 

Just a few cases of Islamic violence

1675-- In India, Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur along with his disciples was burned to death by the Moghul ruler Aurangzeb in 1675. Another Sikh, Bhai Mati Das was sawn into right and left halves while he was still alive.

1843 to 1846-- From 1843 to 1846 10,000 Assyrian Christians including women and children were massacred by the Muslims

1894 to 1896 -- From 1894 to 1896 Abdul Hamid, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, killed 150,000 Armenian Christians.

1915 to 1918 -- From 1915 to 1918 750,000 Assyrians were killed in the name of Islamic Jihad.

1933--In 1933 thousands of Assyrian villagers were murdered by the Iraqi soldiers in Northern Iraq.

1960-- Over 30,000 Mauritanians have been killed by the Islamic dictators since 1960.

1971-- Genocide committed in the name of Allah: 3,000,000 Bangladeshi Hindus Killed during the Pakistan-Bangladesh war in 1971.

1971 to 1979-- Over 280,000 Ugandans killed during the reign of Idi Amin from 1971 to 1979.

1974-- In July 1974, 4,000 Christians living in Cyprus were killed by Fahri Koroturk, president of Turkey and his Islamic army.

1980-- In 1980, 20,000 Syrians were murdered under the rule of Hafez Al-Assad, President of Syria.

1990-- Since 1990 more than 10,000 Kashmiri Hindus have been brutally murdered by Islamic fundamentalists.

Since 1992 120,000 Algerians have been murdered by the Islamic fundamentalist army.

July 17, 2004-- As of July 17, 2004, over 30,000 non-Arabs have been murdered and over one million have been displaced mainly by the Janjaweed Arab Militia (JEM) supported by the Sudan Muslim government.

This past case was just for one month in 2004, it is estmated that over 400,000 Christians and animists have been murdered in the most cruel ways by Muslims. James Mitchner was correct when he said, "People reflect the gods/god they worship."

by pratliff94 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 969 comments) on Saturday, November 4, 2006 at 11:14:58 AM
 

Re: Just a Few Cases of Islamic Violence

Shall we list cases of "Christian" Violence throughout history?

If you're trying to suggest that Islam is a violent religion based on incidents of what you call "Islamic" violence, I suggest you read the article, which addresses the fundamental fallacy of this logic.

by Jeremy R. Hammond (37 articles, 0 quicklinks, 12 diaries, 85 comments) on Saturday, November 11, 2006 at 4:50:51 AM