The recent Muslim reactions to the Pope's comments last week have me thinking again about this religion known as Islam. I still stand by my previous thoughts during the whole Muhammed cartoon kerfuffle, that Islam by it's very nature is a religion of violence and agression.
To be sure, the Pope's comments may have been ambiguous as to whether he was stating personal opinion, vatican views or just quoting medieval leaders. "‘Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."
Regardless, it is again the Muslim reaction that is more telling. And, as my now beloved James Taranto suggests, if the Pope (and myself) was wrong in suggesting that Islam is violent, perhaps torching churches and threatening war against "worshippers of the cross" is not the best way to make your point.
Or maybe it's my point (and the Pope's/medieval dude's) that's being made.
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And further illustrating the attack nature of Islam, it is interesting that its temple in Jerusalem is built on top of the Jewish temple grounds, thus attacking Judaism as its foundation. Furthermore, on the top of its structure, written beneath the gold dome in Aramaic is the phrase "god has no son," making its highest purpose to attack Christianity. It would seem that Islam is a religion with the purpose of attacking other religions.
But really, it's a religion of peace. Huh. I’ve got a bridge on an iceberg with a worm farm I want to sell you through my new pyramid scheme, and please sign up to sell the same to others. Their god cares nothing about its followers loving it, so why would that god care if its followers loved their fellow men?
i don't particularly buy into the claims that islam is a violent religion or that it's a religion of peace, mainly because i don't know much about its theology. there are violent muslims and peaceful muslims, just as a various times there have been violent christians and peaceful christians. but i think that many muslims are on the short end of current geo-political-economic-cultural trends, and feel threatened whenever the one thing they can really be proud of - their religion - is attacked, or even perceived to be attacked. the reactions to the pope's rather tactless comment/quotation mainly indicate to me some very desperate people.
There have been violent "Christians." Under Hildebrand (Pope Gregory VII), the "Christian Crusades" began. At that point, this christianity was more about political control and less about religious practice. Many of the events that conspired in that day and time were undoubtedly in contradiction to the Scripture. It is, after all, the Bible that determines whether or not Christianity is a peaceful or violent religion.
The Koran is not exactly a source of peace.
I would not necessarily call it a violent religion, simply because I don't think that the term violent is broad or strong enough. Perhaps "attacking religion" is more appropriate. After all, not all of their attacks are violent. This goes all the way back to Ishmael. Ishmael is the one that Islam professes to be the chosen son and not Isaac. “He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.” - Genesis 16:12
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