Why It’s Islam vs Rest of the World (TROP™ says it's OUR fault.)

The Sunday Indian Express [Bombay] ^ | February 1, 2004 | Tavleen Singh

[quidnunc]

In Davos this year there was much talk of Islam and its differences with the West. The emphasis was on trying to understand why rather than on dismissing the whole issue as that clash of civilisations Samuel Huntington wrote so prophetically about nearly ten years before 9/11. A whole gamut of Muslim intellectuals were invited to address sessions with subjects as diverse as religion and globalisation, modernity and Islam and the shared roots of Western and Islamic culture. Arab princes spoke, as did professors and scholars from the Islamic world and women in hijab who argued that the West try and understand that democracy and gender issues had different meanings in different cultures. The Grand Mufti of Bosnia was there alongside the former American Archbishop of Canterbury and representing the Indian subcontinent was, ironically, General Pervez Musharraf.

As I watched him expound on his theory that Islam was a peaceful religion that sought only friendship and peace with the world, I found myself wondering why then it had been necessary to break India up for reasons of Islam. But, that is the sort of politically incorrect question nobody asks these days just as we do not ask why the Kashmir Valley’s struggle for autonomy has ended up becoming part of the international jehad against Americans, Jews and Hindus. Political correctness was very much the mood of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting so many of those who spoke for Islam got away with blaming the West for their woes.

You must understand, they said, that terrorism was not Islamic or Christian but just terrorism. And, you must understand that at the root of what was going on lay unresolved political problems like Palestine and Kashmir. Our friendly, neighbourhood military dictator went so far as to say that because of these unresolved political issues young Muslims had developed a sense of persecution and had begun to believe that the world was against Islam. It was the duty of the West to not just help resolve these political issues fairly but also help solve some of the socio-economic problems of the Islamic world. Then, the world would be at peace once more and we could live without the threat of suicide bombers.

-snip-

[JimSEA]

You are correct. Plus, look at how well the Islamic nations handle "diversity". Try being anything other than Muslim in Indonesia, Pakistan, Iran, Eygpt, etc.

[quidnunc]

ItisaReligionofPeace wrote: Really? What would you call the Inquisition? The Inquisition was not Christianity. It was a political body. Interestingly, it looked like a pocket version of todays Saudi Justice system... It is laughable that in your eyes the Christian version was the result of the system, but in the Muslim version it is the religion. The problem is/was a theocracy. The religion is not the most important part. I am not ignorant about the OT or the NT, but I am able to look at things in an objective manner, something that you certainly are not capable of doing.

Rank casuistry!

Invi=oking the Inquisition in order to absolve Muslim of their jihad against us kuffir is nothing but sophistry.

Christians have not engaged in the organized killing of non-believers in the name of religion for several centuries.

Muslims are right now today killing Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Zoroastrians and animists — and they are doing it in the name of their religion, Islam.

[helives]

yes and then came the New Testament and Jesus. If your going to present an anti Christian arguement please present all the facts. The media use the same bias in reporting that you have just adopted. You can make people take any opinion you want by careful manipulation or omission of some of the facts.

[oilfieldtrash]

love that comic. what did CAIR have to say about it?

[ovrtaxt]

If you carry that sign, you might as well wear that bullseye!

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Anti-Christian? I am just pointing out that Christianity has had its share of murder and mayhem in the name of Christ. I'm sure that this is difficult for you to accept.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

We actually agree! I know they are doing it in the name of religion. My whole point was that many Christians try to make it sound as if Islam itself is some horrible religion, while Christianity is a peaceful faith. This may be the case now, but not 600 years ago. BTW, how much older is Christianity than Islam?

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

The bible commands homosexuals to death in a couple of sections. In fact, there are some Christians who believe that this should happen. Does this mean that all Christians take the bible literally?

Show us your compassion what?, pray for America, pray for democracyDemocracy is mob rule. We were not founded as a Democracy, it is simply the path we are taking to socialism, go out in the open and condemn the Islamist killers. I do condemn the friggin animals. Do you realize that my screen name is based on the load of crap that we heard after 9/11 that Islam is a peaceful religion, blah, blah, blah. My only point is that fanatical religous believers of any religion can be dangerous. It is not necessarily the religion, but the general culture and the where the followers are in the evolution of their societies. Do that often and hard and all we'll find a common language. Stay here and weasel and nobody will trust you. No one will trust who, me? I could care less. This is the Christian way.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Sad, isn't it.

[knighthawk]

Since this column has never had pretensions of political correctness let me spit it out. It would, in my view, be a terrible mistake to try and understand the causes of Islamic terrorism. And, please let us call it Islamic since nearly every terrorist act in recent years has been committed by Muslims in the name of their so-called jehad. These terrible acts of violence cannot be excused on political grounds.

Islam-list

If people want on or off this list, please let me know.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

My friend, you are blinded by your faith. There is not much of that going on right now in the world, thankfully, but it most certainly has occurred in the past, and probably will in the future. I understand that your mind Christianity = good, and Islam = bad. How could you live with yourself if you didn't see things that way?

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

But they do kill people who they believe are witches. But they do conquer and enslave in the name of God. But they do torture heretics. Theocracies are the problem. Some cannot see before understand the past or imagine the future...

[jocon307]

"Historical accounts of violence are not the same as scriptural exhortations to violence.'

Exactly, well said.

This is a good article, this woman pulls no punches. She should be picked up by some American papers.

[Alouette]

But they do kill people who they believe are witches. But they do conquer and enslave in the name of God. But they do torture heretics.

Who does this stuff today, other than Muslims? "Do" is present tense, ongoing. "Did" and "used to" are used for actions performed in the past.

[freebilly]

but I can tell you where I am there are large numbers of Christians who fit your exact description of the Koran. They take every part of it literally.

Oh, you mean they're still stoning adulterers and homosexuals.

Wise up.

[freebilly]

But they do kill people who they believe are witches. But they do conquer and enslave in the name of God. But they do torture heretics.

Yeah, every Saturday in America a witch is getting burned at the stake somewhere by a Christian fundie. Why, I just can't wait for my church to launch the "Enslave a Jew for Jesus" campaign....

Go troll elsewhere.

[Let's Roll]

The Christian Inquisition and sword point conversions that happened hundreds of years ago were performed by over zealous or politically ambitious men.

But as has been pointed out previously, the NT doesn't exhort Christians to kill in the name of religion as the Koran commands muslims to do.

[Paul_B]

Christians understand the old testament spiritually, or at least should (1 Cor 10). We have a new and better covenant in Christ.

The errors of the church in history (and today) were committed in contradiction to the teachings of the Founder of the religion and the scriptures He left behind. Christ, you will remember, died passively on a cross rather than defend himself.

None of that cannot be said of the adherents of Islam, including it founder. Islam explicitly teaches the violence and aggression we are witnessing. Moderate Islam is for the uncommitted. Islam is an anomaly, in that it is, so to speak, an "old testament" type of religion, derived from the new testament. It is a heretical degenerative offshoot of Christianity. Simply put, it's a step backwards, and a major one.

This is no small distinction among religions to miss.