Wayne Besen - Author, Activist, Columnist, Public Speaker

Monday, October 03, 2005

I was walking in Brooklyn today and stopped in a small knick-knack shop owned by Muslims. At the front desk were pamphlets from a group called the Center For The Propagation Of Islam In America. The group was sponsored by seventeen mosques or Islamic Centers in the New York area. The headline of this intolerant tract screamed: "Islam: The True Religion of God (The Only Religion Prescribed By GOD For Humanity). The uplifting text read:

"All of the other Holy Books, the Torah, the Gospel have been corrupted in the form of additions or subtractions or alterations in their original text....If humanity fails to accept the final message of God (Islam), after it has been clearly explained to them, on the day of Resurrection they will enter into the hell fire. After the coming of prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) no other religion except Islam will be accepted from anyone. Islam is the religion of mercy and peace, if accepted by all nations the entire world would achieve peace."

It is true that if we all believed the exact same thing we would get along and achieve peace. The problem is, we will never all believe the same thing. This hateful, unspiritual tract is a prescription for strife, violence and intolerance.

It is amazing how much our nutty radical Isalmists sound just like our nutty Christian fundamentalists with their, "My way or the highway, God." The bottom line is that fundamentalism in all of its guises leads to fanaticism, sectarian conflict, prejudice and bigotry. America would be much stronger if our religions promoted tolerance, diversity and respect for other people with differing points of view.

6 Comments:

Yeah, ask all those gay muslims who've been tortured and murdered, including the two teenaged boys in Iran who were recently hanged, how much 'peace and mercy' they received from islam! Not to mention all the humiliation and abuse that women have to endure under this religion. Too bad all fundos, muslim, christian, jewish et. al. cant all go live together on another planet and leave the rest of us in TRUE peace! Of course with all that LOVE they'd end up annihilating each other.
Gary (NJ)
posted by Anonymous, at 10/03/2005 9:29 AM

No one can ever convince me that Islam is a peaceful religion. What galls me are people like Bush et al who after 9/11, made a point of defending "the great religion of Islam" as a peaceful, coexistant religion, to dissuade harrassment of islamic communities in the U.S. If Islam is so great and so peaceful, how come their own kind don't condemn the atrocities in Iran? They are nothing but barbarians of the worst kind. Why don't they stay in their own countries if they hate the west so much? Tony Blair was right, boot them out if they preach violence against the west. We have enough of our own christian right wingers to contend with, if that's not enough.

Robert, NYC.
posted by Anonymous, at 10/03/2005 9:56 AM

In principle, religions aim to restore human beings to wholeness by live happy in the love of God (or gods, if politeist). The peoblem is that most fundamentalists don't understand that religion is a path, not a goal, and the principles of religions are sugestions, not laws.

In ancient times, religions dictated laws because there was a different understanding of the cosmos, but now a days, with the advancements of technology and science, religion has to be re-considered as an spiritual path to help achieve wholeness, unfortunately, when we have people who persue power and authority usinig religion as a chanel, the result is fundmentalism. To that, we can add ignorance, fear and laziness. No everyone is to blame for been ignorant, the system keep some people like that, so fundamentalism can florish and "balance" society advancement. THat makes people affraid of God, and keep people form seeking a more direct and personal relationship with Deity. I mention also lazyness, because there is yet another group that rather abide by the status Q, bacause it is eaasier to challenge it. Challenge takes work and no everyone is up to living with the consecuences, that is what I call Lazyness. I think that ex-gays fall in this particualr category.

I write often here, even thoou I don't always ID myself. I am a Christian, a progresive Christian that believe that it is important to have a voice, and show that not all of us are like the fundamentalists. A lot of us believe in the individual choice to live a life according with one's own standarts, and I think that religion should do that, but, then the VAtican wouldn't have all those palaces, and the so call Christians, or Fundies from all wolks of life would be challenged to live a life more according with the true teachings of religion as a concept, which take power from them. I am sure you have heard of Francis of Asisi, without fighting, he challenged the status Q and claimed the place of the poor at the table. The "poor" are not necessarily the ones that hav not money, but those that Society (or Religion) chooses to single out. you make the math...
posted by Anonymous, at 10/03/2005 11:10 AM

Thanks to the Anonymous person above for your work at re-claiming Christianity for the true Christians. No doubt in my mind who Jesus would be hangin' with, if he were around the US today, and it would be us, not the Pat Robertsons.

Robert - Although I am not well-educated on Islam, I have to say I am certain that it is much more mainstream a religion than you are making it out to be. As to why don't we see/hear mainstream Muslims speaking out loudly against the extremism and the hate, well - how much coverage do we see of Christians speaking out loudly against the extremist hate in our country? Until recently, I didn't even KNOW there were Christians who didn't hate people - I thought ALL Christians were all about hate. So, it's a matter of who is louder, who has more money and initiative for making a fuss, and lastly, about who gets the attention of the TV and other media. We ought to hear more Christian opposition to the 'Christian' right in our own country, too. . .or by your logic, how could anyone be convinced that Christianity is a peaceful religion? How come we don't hear more Christians condemning the hate we hear from James Dobson, et al, and why are so few Catholics being vocal about their disagreement with the Vatican's new witch hunt? We hardly hear from them. But I know such people are out there, and by that token I am sure their Muslim counterparts also exist.
posted by Anonymous, at 10/03/2005 8:20 PM

Anonymous, point taken and I agree, totally. Most of the mainstream religions can share the blame equally, but those who disagree are mighty silent. As far as Islam goes, I've not seen any reaction from one Islamic country about the horrific executions that took place in Iran in July, the executions in public of two young gay men, neither did I hear any Jewish or Christian groups denounce the barbarism, a deafening silence from the vatican too, or any of the world's leaders. Silence gives consent! If it had been two heterosexuals, you bet it would have garnered world media attention with a statement from the White House, especially if they had been Americans.

Robert, NYC.
posted by Anonymous, at 10/04/2005 12:35 PM

in the name of allah
i wanted to say that Isalm is the solution for all humanity problems not because it is a religoin but because it is a whole way of thinking and living . the quraan didn't leave any small or big think but explained it.that doesn't mean that all muslims are angels or something . ofcoarse there are lots of bad models but in fact, the goods are much much more.the base of islam is (you have religion, me too let's live peacefully).so please don't be offensive on islam just becuase you know some bad muslims . you can always search the net to know exactly what is islam . so learn it first, then say your opinion.
posted by Anonymous, at 3/21/2008 9:47 AM