The more violence we see being done by Muslims, the more non-Muslims believe that Islam is not a religion of peace. The truth is that I don’t really blame the non-Muslims for believing this. I mean how on earth are they supposed to know the difference between extremist interpretations and true Islam? Does what I say really matter? I don’t know but at the end of the day, actions are louder than words and our actions/reactions sure are violent.
Raccoon commented on my previous post by saying.
I can see how a view of Islam as peaceful, progressive and loving can exist - but I am afraid it takes some theological gymnastics and a lot of creative interpretation.
Well dude, that thing you call “gymnastics” is how it’s supposed to be interpreted. Many verses in the Quran simply can’t be interpreted literally. 
Al Jazeera contains some interesting comments about this new crisis. (hat tip: E E)
“Could you all maybe do a story covering the irony that due to the Pope’s “regrettable” misunderstanding of Islam, churches in Palestine are fire bombed by Muslims? Isn’t it a little ironic that Muslims are in an uproar about people thinking they are violent and to answer that they cause violence? Where does it end?”
“How many Muslims have reacted to the sectarian violence in Iraq, where Shia and Sunnis kill each other? Why the silence and when someone issues a statement they find displeasing, they get angry?”
“How come when a cartoon is drawn or someone makes insulting comments the Ummah rallies and condemns these things; but daily slaughters of Muslims in Palestine, Kashmir, Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Iraq etc go unanswered?
A dead child is more insulting to me than ignorant words. Who cares what the pope says?”
So true 
I read the Pope’s speech and frankly I think the quote he brought up was very inappropriate. Islam and Muslims aren’t one. That’s how it is in our Muslims eyes. People should distinguish between Muslims and Islam.
Anyways back to my point, the response unsurprisingly is the ironic part. I mean now we have some angry loony ones doing this and others calling for the Pope’s execution. Great!
I’m going to repeat what I said to the Vatican again. Get the Pope better and bigger bodyguards. These are a joke!
As I said, the Pope’s quote was inappropriate but the response is just outrageous. Have we forgotten all the hate-filled sermons we hear many times during Friday prayers about Jews and Chrisitians? Have we? I mean it’s as if we want to say all the crap we want but when others just make a negative whisper about us we simply blow upand go out to perform the usual rituals i.e. burning stuff.
By the way, the Pope apparently apologized but it seems it isn’t enough for some.
“The Holy Father is very sorry that some passages of his speech may have sounded offensive to the sensibilities of Muslim believers,” the statement said.
Turkey said:
Our correspondent says the statement goes as far as it can towards an apology.
BUT:
But Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood said the statement did not go far enough and called on the pontiff to apologise in person.
I’m guessing this means al-Qaeda will accept it as an apology, only if the Pope kneels before Bin Laden.
I have a question. What will happen if we see Westerners burning the Saudi Arabian flag and stepping on it??
SudaneseThinker
SudaneseThinker
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s a game, no? Soon as one provocative thing is forgotten a bit, another thing is said, so the ‘good-ol’ “east-west” confrontation will stay focussed and sharply divided….
Tse.
Drima,
I am not going into details of the Pope-discussion here.
I just wanted you to know that your words are EXACTLY what matters.
To be honest, as an (official) catholic I was pretty much frustrated with all this fuss, because I am sure one of those, who are usually called apologetists or leftists or whatever. What I try to do is to work for differentiation in discussions. Meaning: when I hear “Islam is violent” I am protesting as well as when I hear “the West is evil”.. Of course leading to the result that I am usually on the less popular side of the argument ;).
But to be honest, my hopes (and probably my only REAL hopes) for a possible peaceful future and co-existtence lies in people like you. And also in the work you are doing here. THIS is what helps me to differentiate, and to make (or at least try to make) other people see it, too.
The only people who sure profit from all these violent actions are (in my eyes) those who commit them: They are supported by those, who think that this is true Islam. If we (speaking as a “westerner”) fall for this, we achieve, what we fear most: The clash which was described by Huntington.
The only chance I see is, that people who are interested in a peaceful coexistance try to work together across all borders (like you do with Mideast Youth e.g.) and trust in each others possibility and willingness, to work for a more open and understanding culture within our own places..
So thanks a lot for your inspiration and your patience and please don’t stop your work. You probably change much more than you can imagine.
Drima - could you, perchance, elaborate on the “Islam and Muslims is not the same” thing?
Except for the obvious thing (Muslims are people and Islam is a religion)?
Man, you too sane for these times. Maybe _you_ should get a bodyguard or two.
I remember during the cartoon crisis, a photo from a demonstration: one poster saying “Islam is the religion of peace” and the one next to it saying “Kill those who insult the Prophet” if it wasn’t so frightening, it would be hilariously funny.
raccoon: I have learned a lot during the last 6 months… I don’t fear Islam anymore. But a good many Muslims still scare the living crap out of me.
No offence, Drima, but a lot of Muslims don’t deserve to belong to your religion.
Islam and Muslims are like communism and communists. In other words, it’s like theory and practice.
Go figure…
Halalhippie -
I fear religions in general, because after some research I have reached the conclusion that all too many of them want me dead. So, here’s my list of religions, arranged according to the intensity of my fear from them:
Really afraid of:
1)Islam
2)Judaism and Christianity (the former because of some midieval psukei halacha about killing apostates, the Sicarii and a history of violence; the latter because of history of violence)
Slightly afraid of:
3)Buddhism/Shinto-Buddhism, Rastafarianism, neo-Paganism, Sikhism (first has some bad history, second has too many black supremacists, third is mostly a bunch of morons, and the fourth is dangerous as hell but usually not to me).
4)Bahaii, Hinduism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, all the rest (for various reasons).
And I started being afraid of Islam after I read the Koran and bits of Siras. I don’t want to be a slave; I don’t want to die; I don’t want to be considered unclean by definition (even if I eat garbage); I don’t want to see women raped and/or owned as property (”that which your right hand posesses”), etc. These things are abhorrant to me, the ideology which promotes them is abominable, and people who consider these to be divine commands scare the living shit out of me and I want them dead or contained before they can impose their insane will on me.
S’the way it is. Drima’s Islam seems to be closer to Bahaii than anything. It’s not the Islam that I know, it’s not the Islam that I see, and it’s not the Islam that any cleric I have heard of preaches.
“No offence, Drima, but a lot of Muslims don’t deserve to belong to your religion. ” - could not agree more.
racoon, I hear ya: what I see are sets of ethics that are basically positive (albeit some of them are plain weird) what you see are people abusing same ethics for their own ends.
Come to think of it: everything can be used both ways. Like “all men are equal before God” could excuse putting everybody in uniforms like in China or in camps like in Cambodia.
Let’s make a new religion that has no followers: then it can’t go wrong
“Drima - could you, perchance, elaborate on the “Islam and Muslims is not the same” thing?”
Racoon, I’ll dedicate a whole post to this soon.
I will be very interested to hear your explanation of how Islam and Muslims are not one in the same.
As a Christian, this is quite mystifying. I was taught from the youngest age that the Church is not just a physical building but the people that call themselves Christians and come together to worship. In this context, its very difficult for me to understand how you can separate the people from the religion. I mean without the people there is no religion. its a non-entity.
I have noted that when a muslim does something bad, other muslims say they are not Muslims. Christians dont generally do this, (GENERALLY), we call them fallen people but we dont Kick them out of the faith even informally. For us a person “grows” into the faith meaning being a Christian is a journey, not the destination. We realize that you will lose your way from time to time and a human and make mistakes. But if we are truly following the TRUE teachings of Jesus you pray that they return to the fold and accept them back into the fold when they find thier way again as was taught in the Prodigal Son. I cant wait to read your report, it will be intersting to see what you say.
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