Challenging Ignorance on Islam: A Ten-Point Primer for Americans (Islam is cool Alert)

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[chance33_98]

oops Link to article is here

[dts32041]

Wonder how many trees where killed to write this garbage.

[Ronin]

I don't mean to suggest that the academic cognoscenti, as a "class," habitually counter this ignorance and protest the imperialist interventions that Washington routinely undertakes...

I started gagging here. I didn't stop reading until he confused WW-1 with WW-2. Ugh...

[rovenstinez]

Conveniently you have left out the 6th tenet of faith of Islamic people, and that is the jihad. (holy war) House of Islam and the House of War. Come on, let's be academically honest. We can find 'some' Christians who wouldn't believe in the Virgen Birth of Jesus at Bethlehem, but it is in the ROOT belief of Early Christian believers. Many may have strayed from the teachings of basic Islamic faith, but let's keep the 6 tenets in faith intact, including JIHAD. Thanks

[chance33_98]

The American people are, I submit, far more threatened by Christian fundamentalism than its Islamic counterpart.

A Hmmmmmm Ping.

[yevgenie]

My favorite line is:

But such ignorance, in action, in a world where religious prejudice generates idiotic action from Belfast, to the Balkans, to Gujarat, to the Moluccas, is perilous ignorance indeed.

What a moron . . . his own grasp of history is quite distorted and he has quite proved his own "ignorance"

[Russell Scott]

Islam, more than anything else, was designed to allow ambitious people to use religion to enslave and manipulate people, for their own self-serving goals. That's why Muhammad invented it, and nothing has changed. Its kind of like Amway, but involves conquering lands with violence, instead of conquering dirt with soap.

Matthew 11:12
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

[ThinkDifferent]

"We should invade [Muslim] countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity." Columnist Ann Coulter

Of course Ann was referring to countries which support terrorism, not all "Muslim" countries, but why bother with facts and logic when you can just splice words into what your opponents say? Let me try:

As an educator, in Asian Studies, at a fairly elite university, I am painfully aware of [my] ignorance.

Hey, that works pretty well. Not perfectly though, since the rest of the article proves that he is not in any way aware of his profound ignorance.

The Qu'ran does NOT call upon Muslims to KILL all non-Muslims. It calls for the destruction of "infidels," meaning principally Arabs who, during the time of Muhammad, practiced idolatry and polytheism.

"Principally"? Great, I feel much better knowing that I'm just a secondary target.

The American people are, I submit, far more threatened by Christian fundamentalism than its Islamic counterpart.

Religious fundamentalist A supports laws against abortion; religious fundamentalist B slaughters thousands of innocent civilians. Sure, that's about the same. I'm no fan of much of the fundamentalist Christian political agenda, but that was the most idiotic sentence I've read in quite a while.

[Adrastus]

I'm shocked. I'm astounded. I'm appalled. I'm certian beyond doubt that Gary Leupp, Associate Professor of History at Tufts University and coordinator of the Asian Studies Program would not write such an article.It's obvious to even the most casual observer that the author of this article is completely divorced from reality. The person who wrote this clearly had in mind to destroy the reputation of an academic of impeccable credentials.The author is clearly an intellectual pygmy of the first order who has not been out of his attic for the past several years.(Sarcasm Off)

Tufts University needs to see this idiot off to the home as soon as possible. He's decidedly certifiable.They should be incensed that he takes their money under false pretenses.

[freebilly]

For religious and secular scholars alike, it is absolutely clear that Islam stems from the Judeo-Christian tradition. Indeed, we should think in terms of the "Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition."

He means kill Judeo-Christians by Islamic tradition....

[Arthur McGowan]

They believe of it precisely what Jews and Christians believe of their scriptures: that is, it's the Word of God.

I haven't seen any Jews, Christians, or Muslims having their hands cut off, or being stoned to death, in the U.S., for having a copy of the Q'uran.

[Sally II]

"Islamic "fundamentalism" is not a species apart from other fundamentalisms, including the Christian, Jewish, and Hindu varieties."

. . . and let's not forget the pernicious (and least openly discussed) humanist and athiestic fundamentalism. Or how about Communist fundamentalism? One could argue that some aspects of humanist fundamentalism shares more common goals with islamic fundamentalists than with any other religion. That would explain why they are far more willing to embrace and understand Islam, and why they continue to perpetuate false stereotypes of Christians.

[chance33_98]

And we should not forget too that christian fundamentalism if truly biblical based does not state we should by legal means implement our beliefs - the goal is to share the gospel and change the heart, not to do things by force. If the goevernment allows abortions it does mean we should partake of them (as an example) - and if we do not like the law in our society we would (should) go about peaceful means to change the hearts and minds through prayer and revival.

The islamic method of conversion is a bit more violent at the core. We can easily go back in history and point out the mistakes of leaders who said they were christians and then point to the bible to show they were wrong in their actions - in islam we would point to the koran to show them they were not vicious enough. The CORE is different, and that is where I am looking. Thanks for the post!

[Vinnie]

Ok, Islam is a religion of peace.

I don't need or want to be 'educated' concerning its peaceful intent. I can only judge it on how it is being practiced

Teach the Muslims IT'S A RELIGION OF PEACE. They need the education.