This is why people think every Muslim is crazy…
Of course, not every Muslim is crazy - but stereotypes are often true… If I am walking through the city of Chicago and see someone who looks like a bum ahead of me, I make a judgment based on how they look - and I’m very rarely wrong (that person will usually ask for money - while wearing clothing often a lot better than I can afford).
If I am hearing, reading, seeing story after story about ‘ordinary Muslims’ crowding the streets, burning effigies, burning flags, shouting and screaming, trashing buildings, attacking people and doing things like putting bounties on the head of cartoonists (sigh), I of course think something along the lines of: “They’re crazy.” Not every Muslim is the same - but it seems as though it was ‘ordinary Muslims’ out in the streets attacking, destroying, burning and baiting on those cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed!
Islam is not a bad religion, like Judaism and Christianity it follows a shared deity and each of the three religions is an extension of the same story. Although Christianity has been the bringer of awful things in the past and some of the Pope’s in history could be compared to Osama bin Laden - it has changed… Whenever people wanted to praise God in a different way, Christianity split to form a new Church and Christianity has evolved with the ages. The Bible is also written largely as a story, the reader is for the most part never given any commands, but the characters within the book are, so over the ages interpretation has allowed people to choose which character they wish society to follow, what virtues of good they wish to pull from the book and what acts they wish to replicate. From what little I have read of the Quran (I have a relative who is a Muslim), it seems to be written more as a list of commands on how to live your life. It is written by the writer, for the reader - totally different to the Bible. To take the most extreme example: This means that unless you choose to place the commands telling you not to kill above those telling you to kill, the Quran is telling you, the reader, to kill (in it’s most extreme).
I do remember being told by someone as a child that saying “God” was bad, but it didn’t stop me. If I hit my thumb with a hammer, damn-right I’m going to say something and I was sure that a strong, powerful God would deal with me however he sees fit when my life ends, hmm? Do the people of any faith really believe that God is so weak that he needs mere humans to defend him? I’m sure God can defend himself.
The cartoons were offensive to Muslims and indeed they should have been, but the culprit is not the cartoonist…
Al Qaeda are the ones who hi-jacked Islam and used it. They are the ones who look at the Quran and find passages to justify their way of being without showing you the passages that most ordinary Muslims see saying that what Al Qaeda do is wrong… They are the ones who associated your Phophet, your religion, your countries, your men, women and even your children with death and bombs… They drew that cartoon.
Tags: Al Qaeda, Faith, Islam, Islamophobia, Muslims, Osama Bin Laden, Religion, The Pope
September 15th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Every ‘religion’ has extremists. Labels don’t tell much about an individual.
September 15th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
“Of course, not every Muslim is crazy - but stereotypes are often true…”
!?? are you kidding me? okay then you’re a cracker so this should be expected from you…
“If I am hearing, reading, seeing story after story about ‘ordinary Muslims’ crowding the streets, burning effigies, burning flags, shouting and screaming, trashing buildings, attacking people and doing things like putting bounties on the head of cartoonists”
that’s not your fault… that’s the fault of the media around you.
the internet’s huge. reach out, check out muslim blogs geared towards reforming islam and befriending non-muslims… you’ll soon see the “crazy muslim” image disappear from your mind in an instance.
September 15th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
“a cracker”?
There is nowhere near enough positive media on Islam, perhaps that’s the problem. I’m just amazed Muslims have not recognised their enemy at the moment (other than the media).
September 15th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
they have… muslims just aren’t rich enough to be out there in the mainstream.
i’m an ex-muslim… agnostic atheist actually… and i have no love for islam (nor any hate either), so let me tell you on whatever credibility that affords me: there are countless independent media that ARE portraying a positive image of islam… they are on the internet as well…
eteraz.wordpress.com is one such.
September 15th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Thanks for the link, I’ll add that to my bookmarks.
Don’t get me wrong - I hate how I feel about Islam as I know it’s not true. I just don’t understand why Muslims haven’t turned on Al Qaeda in mass for hi-jacking their faith and instead choose to protest people like George Bush - who won’t care if you protest him. George Bush is a reactionary, not an instigator.
September 15th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
Tell me Tim. What do people like myself, who feel that the Cross would be less defiled if it was defecated on than used in the fashion of Bush - do about it ?
September 16th, 2007 at 10:36 am
I’ve missed stuff posting - so this is the second try.
Tim : I’m not going to be subtle here. As far as I’m concerned “Christianity” has been hijacked by televangelism, Mormons, CIA funding of Bible Translation ( Old History - told well in biography of Nelson Rockefeller )… in other words…Satanism and Hatemongering. What do you seriously propose we can do to clean up our own yard ?
September 16th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
opit - I don’t know, perhaps you could stop voting for the man.
I absolutely agree that Christianity has been hi-jacked in the same way and at this stage, it’s hard to say. Just yesterday I had a religious speaker (wearing a board) near deafen me when he used a megaphone to say that we all need to be seeking salvation. I think it’s about speaking up rather than saying “oh look, it’s a crazy person”. I had no problem telling that idiot to get the hell out of my way and that he had no right to take away my hearing, destroying God’s work.
September 16th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
LOL Good for you.
I had a cretin volunteer to ’show me the truth’ at my sister-in-law’s wedding. Someone must have referred him to me for sport : I have no trouble telling prophets from disciples. The disciples know nothing and respect no one : the prophets know ‘Love Your Brother’ does not imply he’s a doddering fool who cannot relate to God without your instructing him in the manner in which it is to be done.
Control Freaks.
September 17th, 2007 at 8:59 am
You know that’s exactly what it feels like - you’re right. I don’t like being lectured to, especially when what they’re saying makes no sense to me.
I don’t know if you know, but every time you comment (on my blog anyway) it is caught by askimet as SPAM. I can’t really see why, but if you ever find your posts not being approved, that’ll be why.
September 17th, 2007 at 10:38 am
“I just don’t understand why Muslims haven’t turned on Al Qaeda in mass for hi-jacking their faith”
several diverse reasons:
because al qaeda has been trying to appeal to muslims and has not declared itself the enemy of their beliefs etc… so muslims don’t have an active reason to be against them.
furthermore in their eyes, terrorism is not condoned in islam so they just don’t see it as “hijacking” their religion… they see it as a “clear contradiction” and so need not actively condemn it. they are limited in their perspective of the world since they DON’T see it from the perspective of the non-muslim world… just like americans don’t from the perspective of non-americans.
also, because of US and generally western foreign policy and history (european colonization etc) muslims have a very negative POLITICAL opinion of the west. Al Qaeda’s DECLARED objectives are politically aligned with the muslims’…. even though this has nothing to do with religion.
for example a recent study showed that the vast majority of muslims believe the US is trying to spread christianity by subduing muslim lands. They also believe the US should leave all muslim lands forthwith. Therefore Al Qaeda is playing smart politics by adopting those as its political objectives… so even though the same poll showed that muslims are overwhelmingly against terrorism, suicide bombing etc, they are unlikely to act against al qaeda because of political similarities.
that said, a lot of muslims don’t have that political stance and so they do actively condemn al qaeda for “hijacking” their religion… this group is not large enough to make a difference, however when large numbers of muslims DO show up to protest islamization of their muslim countries, the mainstream media fails to cover it. for example:
link
hope that clears up some stuff
September 17th, 2007 at 10:56 am
Gradually I begin to see.
That link you posted made me really sad. I never heard or saw anything about that - and I should have! My news sources - the ones I have no choice but to watch and read - can’t have publicized it well. It’s my fault though, I need to change where and how I find news on current events.
September 17th, 2007 at 11:02 am
yeah i never really believed the media was as biased as DemocracyNow would accuse it as… but apparently it is!
that’s frightening, really.
September 17th, 2007 at 11:07 am
Yeah it is. You have a guy, like me, who although never easily swayed by individuals face to face, can be moulded and manipulated gradually by the media.
I’m just glad I noticed how I was starting to feel… I can truly understand mob mentality and that whole aspect of being taken with a crowd. Sometimes it’s very hard to think differently but I am glad that I have started to do just that.
September 17th, 2007 at 11:20 am
you’re an enlightened individual if you’re able to notice indoctrinated conformity!!!
don’t fret it… just make a few friends from the group that is being discussed. that should give you enough information from both sides and then you can make a truly informed judgement.
September 17th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
Salahudin just repeated one of the basic principles behind out legal system. Spam filter, huh ? Odd. It’s been happening even on my blog when I try to reply to inquiries !
November 30th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
[...] they were loud enough to be heard damaging the image of Islam throughout the CIVILISED world - again - just what Islam [...]