Muslims Are Good Folks

lrc ^ | 13-Nov-2003 | C. Reese

[stainlessbanner]

I wish more Americans had an opportunity to get to know Muslims. Then they would not be susceptible to the silly anti-Muslim propaganda that is floated by some right-wing Christians.

Muslims are good folks. One fellow e-mailed me quite convinced that Muslims lop off the heads of every infidel they meet. I've been a guest in the homes of many Muslim friends, and the only thing they lopped off were extra servings of lamb.

People believe such nonsense because they are ignorant of the facts. The oldest Christian communities in the world are in Muslim countries. Some of the oldest Jewish communities in the world are in Muslim countries. The deputy foreign minister of Iraq is a Christian. Saddam Hussein donated $1 million to help build a Christian church in the United States. There are Christians in prACactically all Muslim countries, and there have been for centuries. I've said all this before, but when lies blow strong, truth bears repeating.

Islam, like other religions, has different groups. Some are strict in their observances, and they might be likened to the Christian Pilgrims who settled Massachusetts. But even the most strict -- commonly called fundamentalists these days -- know that a Muslim is commanded to treat Jews and Christians "as I would treat myself," in the words of a Hamas leader.

In my travels in Muslim countries, sometimes among the poorest of the poor, I was never panhandled or attacked. As far as crime goes, you'll find cities like Beirut or Damascus or Amman or Ramallah much safer than most American cities.

Islam is not a religion with a hierarchy such as the Roman Catholic Church. In that respect, Muslims are much like Southern Baptists, only more so. Any group of Muslims can build a mosque and hire themselves an imam, or teacher. They are independent. There is no Muslim pope or College of Cardinals. There are no bishops. When an imam somewhere issues a fatwa, which is a sort of formal opinion on a subject, it is not binding. Like Protestant Christians, Muslims interpret their holy writings themselves and consider themselves answerable directly to God -- or, to use the Arabic word, Allah.

Most of the disputes in the Middle East are secular and political. Hamas' quarrel with Israelis is not about the fact that they are Jews but about the fact that they occupy Palestine. The objections some Muslims have to Western culture are the same as those some Christians have. They don't like the violence, the immorality, the pornography and the greed. The conflict one sees between the religious and the secular in some Muslim countries is similar to the conflict in this country between religious and secular folks.

There are 6 million or 7 million American citizens who are Muslims. Muslims have been in this country since the late 19th century. If you don't already, you should make an effort to get to know Muslims. You'll find that they don't fit the stereotypes created by mean-spirited propaganda or superficial news coverage.

Racism is a monstrous injustice because it imposes a stereotype on millions of innocent individuals. The only real solution is education and broad experience. It seems to me that God creates individuals one at a time, and it is the human mind that insists on grouping and classifying them. We should resist that temptation.

[Mark17]

Religion of peace alert.

[quadrant]

No one doubts that individual Muslims can be honest and congenial people.
Yet Islam is a community of believers, and as a religious community, Muslims can do nasty things to non-Muslims (especially if they were once Muslims) and to Muslims who do not wish to live according to the rules set down for the ordering of the "community."
The lack of a clerical hierarchy in Islam is in no way comparable to the lack of bishops in the Baptist Church. First, one segment of Islam, the Shities, have a clerical
hierarchy. Second, Baptist believe in a strict separation of church and state, a belief that is antithetical to the Islamic idea of community.
Muslims cannot be compared to Pilgrims. The Pilgrims fled what they considered reilgious tyranny. Muslims are not fleeing religious persecution; Islam is the established faith in all a few countries in the Middle East. If you wish to compare the Pilgrims to any group, I suggest Middle East Christians who have fled Muslim oppression.
The fact that Saddam Hussein gave money to establish a few churches means nothing. The man was a murderer and giving a few bucks meant nothing to him. The fact that Saddam put Tariq Aziz in office says more for Aziz'a loyalty and pliability than it does for Saddam's tolerance.
I'll agree that Islam is a religion of peace, when I see
Christian churches opening and missionaries working in Saudia Arabia.

[Charles Martel]

Islam is not a religion with a hierarchy such as the Roman Catholic Church.

Except for those nifty theocratic governments with that delightful sharia law.

Check out the history of the Arab world before Islam... there was little, if any political organization. What exists there now is *all* derived from Islam - even in countries where religious fundamentalists do not rule.

[hardhead]

One of the problems with Islam is that the more devout tend to become more violent or anti-social...

One of the best summations of mu-slime that I have ever read.

[headsonpikes]

...much like Southern Baptists, only more so.

'I once was blind, but now I see'. LOL!

[thepainster]

This guy has not studied much about Ilsamic history.

Here is my two cents:

You can divide Muslims in 4 categories:

1) Muslims by birth only. These are Muslims who were born into the religion, but do not practice it's tennants. I know a lot of these Muslims and many are my friends.

2) Muslims who believe the good parts of Islam. These are practicing Muslims but they do not believe in the bad parts. For instance, they think Jihad is simply and internal struggle.

3) True Muslims. These guys believe in all the tennants of the Koran. They believe Jihad is a Holy war but the do not have the courage to give up thier good lives to go to war. They will however, willingly donate money toward Jihad.

4) Radical Muslims. They will blow themselves up for the chance to get to heaven. Muslims say radicals are only 1% of Muslims worldwide. There are 1.3 billion Muslims in the world. So how many are of the radical type? You do the math....

[per loin]

More and more it sounds like Reese is on the Islamic payroll.

[Red Boots]

I think the arguement that there are a few wackos in every religion loses a lot of it's power when you take a look at the scriptures underlying each. The Old and New Testaments stress living truthfully and honestly before God. Jesus said the greatest commandment was Love the Lord with all your heart mind and soul, and your neighbor as yourself. Although a a few Christians and Jews may commit violence in the Lord's name, they clearly are NOT following the teachings of Jesus. The violence of Muslims toward the infidel, however, IS justified, and in fact, demanded in the Koran.

[RLK]

I wish more Americans had an opportunity to get to know Muslims. Then they would not be susceptible to the silly anti-Muslim propaganda that is floated by some right-wing Christians.

------------------------

So...make a list of what parts of the Koran they disbelieve in or reject. Do they look at a madman from 1,400 years ago as the messenger from God?

[mark502inf]

and how did they become "Muslim countries"? By killing Christians and making them 2nd class citizens, perhaps?

You got it. The majority of people living in the areas of what are now called Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and northern Egypt were Christian in the 7th Century. When the armies of Mohammedism conquered them, the Christians were killed, driven out, or forced to live as second class citizens while mosques were built on churches and Christian pilgrims from Europe were murdered and robbed. Contrary to the modern revisionist history depicting the Crusades as an early manifestation of imperialism, they were a counter-attack.

[CaptainK]

Western dunces are a Muslim favorite.

[ArrogantBustard]

I'm sure there are whacko Jews

Schumer. Foxman. Feinstein. Lieberman.

No, I haven't met them personally either. But they're major league whack-jobs. And they claim to be Jewish.

Some men rob you with a six-gun
Others with a fountain pen.

[Not A Snowbird]

You have a very good point!

[Roughneck]

Does that mean the Iranian at the local convenience store is just waiting his chance to cut your throat for Allah? Obviously not.

Maybe not "obviously not". I don't trust ANY of them, cause I wouldn't put it past them.

Sleeper cells - you dont know who they are. When the terror ends, my vigilance may let up, until then, muslimes in the USA better try and keep their collective noses clean.

[veronica]

Charlie Reese is obviously an idiot.

Some of us have know that for a loooooong time.

[Et in Arcadia Ego]

http://www.riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

[nuconvert]

"Muslims are nice to your face, and the minute you turn your back,....."

WoW. Really? How many muslims do you know? And they all wanted to kill you when you turned your back?
Must be your winning personality and charm.

[Destructor]

Bull-shit!

[Mr. Mojo]

Don't hold your breath waiting a Reese "Jews are good folks" article.

[nuconvert]

Nice try, Mr Reese.

You on the Hamas payroll?