Posted on 10/08/2001 6:24:57 AM PDT by 2banana
Dear Editor,
I keep hearing on the news about how "tolerant" the Islamic religion is. A few examples of this tolerance:
Saudia Arabia - Conversion by a Muslim to another religion is punishable by death. Bibles are illegal.
Yemen - Bans proselytizing by non-Muslims and forbids conversions. The Government does not allow the building of new non-Muslim places of worship
Kuwait - Registration and licensing of religious groups. Members of religions not sanctioned in the Koran may not build places of worship. Prohibits organized religious education for religions other than Islam
Egypt -Islam is the official state religion and primary source of legislation. Accordingly, religious practices that conflict with Islamic law are prohibited. Muslims may face legal problems if they convert to another faith. Requires non-Muslims to obtain what is now a presidential decree to build a place of worship
Alergia - The law prohibits public assembly for purposes of practicing a faith other than Islam. Non-Islamic proselytizing is illegal, and the Government restricts the importation of non-Islamic literature for widespread distribution.
(All information is from US State Department Human Rights Reports)
I could go on with more examples.
Excellent examples of this faith. Americans should be warned that these people are not as accommodating nor as forgiving as Christians.
However, suggest that you rephrase your questions another way. The issue is not the lack of intolerance in Islam..rather, it is curious that no predominanly Islam countries are truly democratic......thewrefore, ask if Islam, as a religion, is innately hostile to democracy. It is....
You couldn't be more wrong. More people have been killed in the name of the dictatorship of the proletariat than for any other reason.
All the wars in world history before 1900 didn't number as many casualties as the wars of the 20th century. And the vast majority of war victims in the 20th century died at the hands of soldiers fighting for areligious ideologies like Nazism and Communism. The largest religious conflict in history - the Crusades - claimed 250,000 lives in 172 years of warfare. The battle of Stalingrad claimed 1,000,000 lives in six months.
I think Stalin & Mao killed more in the "name of the State " than any religion close to 100 Million of their "own people"
How tolerant is a hungry tiger?
They know that if they let their own homegrown jihadists take control the parliament will be replaced with shariat executioners.
Center of Peace and Hope in Christ for Afghanistan
Issues Challenge to Moderate Muslims
Recent threats and acts of hatred against American Muslims, Asian Muslims, and non-Muslim Asian Americans across the United States is wrong. The horrible acts of war committed against the United States on September 11 are a fertile ground for wrong headed Americans to demonstrate their ignorance toward people of various ethnic and religious backgrounds.
The Center of Peace and Hope in Christ for Afghanistan condemns this hatred. The United States Constitution allows all Americans to freely worship in the religion of their own choosing. Also, Americans who choose not to worship or adhere to any religion are free to do so.
It is clear that all genuine seekers of truth would not engage in ethnic hatred, bigotry, or acts of violence. Recent statements of Muslim leaders in America that not all Muslims should be blamed for the September 11 are correct. A small percentage of people who called themselves Muslims are responsible for their own actions. When one who calls himself a Christian commits a crime, not all Christians are responsible for the crime. So too, all Muslims are not responsible for what happened in New York and Washington.
While the government of the United States takes action against these acts of war, people of faith have a great opportunity to assert tolerance toward one another. Now is the time for Christians to demonstrate the love of Christ to our Muslim friends. Christians should pray for God’s greatest blessing on Muslims living as a minority in America.
And now is the time for moderate Muslims to demonstrate their acceptance of Christians and the ideals of tolerance and freedom in our republic. It is exactly this point which is the great need of the hour for Muslim leaders in America to address.
Moderate Muslim leaders need to clearly make the case that as Americans they support the freedom of all people to choose their own religion. Do these moderates tolerate the idea of individual Muslims deciding for themselves what religion to follow?
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of former Muslims in the United States who live under the threat of death because of their own personal decision to no longer follow the Islamic religion. Freedom of religion is a cornerstone of the American republic. Former Muslims do not always experience this aspect of freedom because of the hatred and intolerance of others.
Moderate American Muslims need to clearly denounce those misguided people who, in the name of Islam, call for the death of those who leave the Muslim religion. To do otherwise is to promote intolerance toward our fellow Americans who choose to no longer adhere to the Muslim religion. And to do otherwise will demonstrate that even the most moderate form of Islam is incompatible with the United States Constitution.
Now is the time for “moderate” Muslim leaders in America to clearly define the limits of their tolerance.
John Marion, Jr. is the director of the Center of Peace and Hope in Christ for Afghanistan in Fairfax County. His email is: afghanjohn@afghanbibles.com. Additional copies of this can be downloaded at: www.AfghanBibles.com .
JIHAD in the West
Muslim Conquests From The 7th To The 21st Centuries
By Paul Fregosi
Prometheus Books, 1998
ISBN 1-57392-247-1
My only criticism is that it should have been 5 volumes. Events are telescoped so much that it leaves you hungry for answers to the obvious questions generated.
But it is the most enjoyable non-fiction book I have read in months.
The discussion of Jannissaries is particularly of interest.
Not tolerant at all, not even slightly.
Yes, one. Turkey. A member of NATO.
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