Thanks again.
I get so tired of claims that Islam isn’t “really” a religion because it is also a political movement. As if a faith stops being a religion because it is more than “just a religion” by our lights.
Religion, as you say, isn’t always good.
BTW, a parallel just struck me.
The constant recent drumbeat about “rape culture” generally incorporates the notion that “rape has nothing to do with sex.” This is because the proponents assume sex is always Good, therefore rape, which is Bad, cannot have anything to do with sex.
Similar for the “Islam isn’t a religion.” Religion is Good. Islam has many Bad characteristics. Therefore it isn’t “really” a religion.
The fact, of course, is that both modes of both sexual and religion expression can be and often are Bad.
I bet we could apply that same mental exercise to other progressive issues.
We need to be critical, opinionated and judgmental.
It shouldn’t be, “Have you hugged your child today?”
It should be, “Have you corrected your child today?”
It shouldn’t matter whether Islam is a religion, a political system, or something else. It’s incompatible with western values. Additionally, Muslims who don’t practice the tenets of Islam are essentially heretics, aka infidels. ISIS is a fundamentalist Islamic organization.