I have problems with Islam. I have problems with Muhammad. But I find Muslims who all too often, do not follow the tenets of their religion, or follow the tenets of their religion too well, more troublesome than the religion itself. Let me give an example.
Muslims are called upon to help the poor:
Muslims are enjoined not to convert others by force:
I have a whole heap of complaints about Muslims, definitely longer than the list I have against Islam. Slavery is sanctioned in Islam, I find that despicable. But the good treatment of slaves and the freeing of slaves is one of the most prominent ideals established in the Qur'an. So what happened when Muslim slave-traders traded and treated humans like chattel, only a few hundred years ago?
I find the overly defensive nature of Muslims to be frankly, tiring. Yes, I understand that there are disgusting attacks made on you, sometimes daily and in real life. But there are a whole lot of non-Muslims who do not do that. In fact, some of your best defenders are people whom some among your community would consider to be enemies: B'Tselem or millions of Americans, or even the member of the American armed forces who deliver humanitarian aid.
Sometimes, when a suicide bomber blows himself up in front of the Danish Embassy, it just may not be his poverty or ignorance that motivates him to kill fellow Muslims. It's a warped view of Islam, promoted by Muslims. No better example of why some Muslims fail Islam exists than suicide bombers. Suicide is outright forbidden:
That doesn't mean every Muslim in the world thinks so. Some Muslims have said that suicide bombing is okay when it's used against military targets, namely Israel. I wouldn't mind suicide bombing so much if it was used only against the military. Checkpoints for instance. Instead, terrorists use this most un-Islamic of methods in cafes. And some people sanction this sort of murder, because Israelis, children and all, are cogs in the Israeli machine and hence valid targets. This sort of thinking is repulsive, because if these children might one day grow up to be soldiers, then Israel has the same justification to kill Palestinian children - it is madness of the worst kind, and I can't believe that some people are actually taking this route.
So yeah, I seem to have run out of steam. If only every Muslim was a 'model Muslim', perhaps Islam could be held in higher esteem among many Westerners. I have heard Muslims say that we should not judge Islam by its adherents, but it still surely reflects badly on their religion. Maybe those terrorists, or those fundamentalists who think it's okay to cut off people's heads, need to take their religion seriously.
Muslims are called upon to help the poor:
What do you see the Arabian states doing? Building higher and higher skyscrapers, spending more and more money on horse and camel racing.
Muslims are enjoined not to convert others by force:
That has not stopped various Islamic empires throughout history enforcing Islam upon others by the sword, even when their very own religion tells them not to do it!
I have a whole heap of complaints about Muslims, definitely longer than the list I have against Islam. Slavery is sanctioned in Islam, I find that despicable. But the good treatment of slaves and the freeing of slaves is one of the most prominent ideals established in the Qur'an. So what happened when Muslim slave-traders traded and treated humans like chattel, only a few hundred years ago?
I find the overly defensive nature of Muslims to be frankly, tiring. Yes, I understand that there are disgusting attacks made on you, sometimes daily and in real life. But there are a whole lot of non-Muslims who do not do that. In fact, some of your best defenders are people whom some among your community would consider to be enemies: B'Tselem or millions of Americans, or even the member of the American armed forces who deliver humanitarian aid.
Sometimes, when a suicide bomber blows himself up in front of the Danish Embassy, it just may not be his poverty or ignorance that motivates him to kill fellow Muslims. It's a warped view of Islam, promoted by Muslims. No better example of why some Muslims fail Islam exists than suicide bombers. Suicide is outright forbidden:
And so is murder. Martyrdom is upheld as virtuous by Islam, but not when you kill innocents along the way. Every Muslim I have met have told me that whether it is used against military targets or a packed nightclub, suicide bombing is un-Islamic.
That doesn't mean every Muslim in the world thinks so. Some Muslims have said that suicide bombing is okay when it's used against military targets, namely Israel. I wouldn't mind suicide bombing so much if it was used only against the military. Checkpoints for instance. Instead, terrorists use this most un-Islamic of methods in cafes. And some people sanction this sort of murder, because Israelis, children and all, are cogs in the Israeli machine and hence valid targets. This sort of thinking is repulsive, because if these children might one day grow up to be soldiers, then Israel has the same justification to kill Palestinian children - it is madness of the worst kind, and I can't believe that some people are actually taking this route.
So yeah, I seem to have run out of steam. If only every Muslim was a 'model Muslim', perhaps Islam could be held in higher esteem among many Westerners. I have heard Muslims say that we should not judge Islam by its adherents, but it still surely reflects badly on their religion. Maybe those terrorists, or those fundamentalists who think it's okay to cut off people's heads, need to take their religion seriously.
