ISIS, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, the Muslim Brotherhood, Boko Haram, the al-Nusra front... No doubt there are groups just as bloodthirsty that are not on this list because I can't think of them off the top of my head.
These are all names of organisations I wish I'd never heard of. Because these names belong to terrorist groups that seem to find it necessary to kill, hurt, harm and maim; to execute people, to enslave and rape women, to terrorise and kill and cause destruction in an effort to further their own cause.
The cause they are attempting to further (to impose / to enforce) is Islam. Or rather - their own radical and violent interpretation of Islam with current actions seemingly geared entirely toward the spread of (their version of) Islam through any means.
While I am a student of the world's peoples and religions and consider myself someone who attempts to walk in another's shoes to understand them and learn what it's like to be them, there is a large element of fanaticism and bloodthirstiness in many of these groups that I simply don't understand and can't wrap my head around.
How does raping and selling women further the Islamic cause? How does calling for the destruction of Israel and the extermination of Jews worldwide further the Islamic cause? How does killing Christians in Iraq further the Islamic cause? How does blowing up and destroying cultural and religious history further the Islamic cause? How does attacking the Twin Towers and the Pentagon further the Islamic cause? How do suicide bombings the world over further the Islamic cause?
If world domination for Islam is what groups such as these want, then surely they could be and should be focusing on spreading Islam all over the world by showing people the goodness and kindness of Islam, instead of showing the world what horrible, inhumane and brutal killers they are?
Or is that just me being an optimist, thinking that all the world living at peace (and in freedom) is still possible?
I am a woman. In my 30-ish years on this earth I have been insulted, harassed, discriminated against, beaten into submission, threatened at knife point, attacked by an idiot wielding an electric saw, even raped by a man I thought I could trust. From the time I started developing breasts, males started taking an interest in me, harassing me on the street, trying to ask me out, chat me up, get 'into my pants', touch my body against my will. I quickly learnt (at age twelve!!!) not to smile at strangers any more, not to catch anyone's eye any more, to dress in boring and baggy clothes and keep my head down. Within the space of a few weeks, I changed from a chatty, bubbly and happy child (who smiled at everyone, who talked to everyone, who wanted to get to know everyone) into one always cautious, always prepared, always anticipating the next threat. I wasn't even old enough to menstruate, yet I knew the horror of someone touching my itty-bitty breasts while holding a knife to my throat.
Why am I telling you this? To explain that inhumane, violent, vicious and cruel acts are not restricted to Muslims or to Arabs or to Islam. This is me making a point. Because you know what, apart from some of the harassment and the insults, none of these things were done by Muslims or Arabs or even people with Middle-Eastern roots. Horrible people exist the world over, murderers and sadists and those who use and abuse others for their own goals live in all countries the world over.
While in the media I hear many condemn terrorism and Islam in the same breath, I do not agree with most of the statements I hear around me. Do I condemn the inhuman treatment of others, murder, rape, human slavery? Yes, certainly. Do I condemn an entire religion and millions upon millions of its adherents? No, most certainly not.
It is not my intention to demonise Islam or Muslims, simply because I do not believe that Islam is all bad or that all Muslims are bad. It is people who act in the name of religion, it is people who use and abuse religion to further their own cause, it is people who rape and sell women, it is people who murder and call for genocide and people who claim religion 'made them do it'. It is not religion causing this, not a book causing this. Neither ideas nor books can walk or talk or hold knives or guns. It is people who CHOOSE to do this, who CHOOSE to follow (their interpretation of) what a book says, who CHOOSE to commit horrible acts.
By pretending that Islam is the Big Evil, we (in 'the West') are forgetting one very important thing: By condemning ALL Muslims because of the actions of a relatively small group, we would be sinking to the level of the terrorists who behead innocent civilians for the actions of their governments. James Foley and Steven Sotloff were killed by the so-called Islamic State for actions committed by the government of the country they were born in, for happenings far beyond their knowledge or control. They were murdered because they were American, not for who they were as people but for the larger group they happened to belong to.
While I am neither a Jew, a Christian or a Muslim, I do read Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy books and publications. I believe in God, I believe in working to become closer to God / the Divine through being a good person, reading God's scriptures, praying and doing good deeds. I try to find the common ground in the world's religions and work to connect people, to remind my readers that despite small differences, we are much more alike than different.
Religions the world over have many similar basic values: Love God, love your fellow human beings, pray, be a good person, give charity, be kind to orphans and widows and those in need, do not steal or murder or treat others cruelly. It is important to remember that Islam shares many of those same values, that most Muslims are just as human and humane as 'the rest of us'. Islam is not the enemy. Muslims are not the enemy. It is people who CHOOSE to act in the name of religion or ideology or for whatever reasons may move them to do things who ARE the enemy.
We are ALL human. We all love, we all have parents, we all have the same basic urges and needs. We all have eyes and ears and hair and skin and bones. We all think, even though we think different things. We all feel, we all love and laugh and cry. We all breathe the same air, we all need oxygen to live. We all have brains and hearts and lungs that keep us alive. We have so much in common with each other because we are the same species, we operate the same way.
Skin colour, hair colour, eye colour, size, shape, thoughts, opinions, beliefs, favourite foods, allergies, relationships, family bonds, languages, cultures - These things make us human and connect us all, yet they also define us as individuals, as people who look and sound and think differently, yet people one and all. The operative word there is PEOPLE (in case you missed it), because that is what we all are. Individual beings who share many similarities, members of the same human race, citizens of the same planet we all share.
We need to realise, to remember, to learn and understand that all of humanity is just one very large and diverse family. We need to remember that by killing, using, raping, hurting, maiming and selling members of our own extended family we are hurting our own people. I hope that the people of the world will realise that, before we do more damage than can be undone and manage to nuke the entire world to Kingdom Come and damage our planet so badly that it will no longer be able to sustain any life.
While I am a student of the world's peoples and religions and consider myself someone who attempts to walk in another's shoes to understand them and learn what it's like to be them, there is a large element of fanaticism and bloodthirstiness in many of these groups that I simply don't understand and can't wrap my head around.
How does raping and selling women further the Islamic cause? How does calling for the destruction of Israel and the extermination of Jews worldwide further the Islamic cause? How does killing Christians in Iraq further the Islamic cause? How does blowing up and destroying cultural and religious history further the Islamic cause? How does attacking the Twin Towers and the Pentagon further the Islamic cause? How do suicide bombings the world over further the Islamic cause?
If world domination for Islam is what groups such as these want, then surely they could be and should be focusing on spreading Islam all over the world by showing people the goodness and kindness of Islam, instead of showing the world what horrible, inhumane and brutal killers they are?
Or is that just me being an optimist, thinking that all the world living at peace (and in freedom) is still possible?
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| Image source: Shutter Stock |
Why am I telling you this? To explain that inhumane, violent, vicious and cruel acts are not restricted to Muslims or to Arabs or to Islam. This is me making a point. Because you know what, apart from some of the harassment and the insults, none of these things were done by Muslims or Arabs or even people with Middle-Eastern roots. Horrible people exist the world over, murderers and sadists and those who use and abuse others for their own goals live in all countries the world over.
While in the media I hear many condemn terrorism and Islam in the same breath, I do not agree with most of the statements I hear around me. Do I condemn the inhuman treatment of others, murder, rape, human slavery? Yes, certainly. Do I condemn an entire religion and millions upon millions of its adherents? No, most certainly not.
It is not my intention to demonise Islam or Muslims, simply because I do not believe that Islam is all bad or that all Muslims are bad. It is people who act in the name of religion, it is people who use and abuse religion to further their own cause, it is people who rape and sell women, it is people who murder and call for genocide and people who claim religion 'made them do it'. It is not religion causing this, not a book causing this. Neither ideas nor books can walk or talk or hold knives or guns. It is people who CHOOSE to do this, who CHOOSE to follow (their interpretation of) what a book says, who CHOOSE to commit horrible acts.
By pretending that Islam is the Big Evil, we (in 'the West') are forgetting one very important thing: By condemning ALL Muslims because of the actions of a relatively small group, we would be sinking to the level of the terrorists who behead innocent civilians for the actions of their governments. James Foley and Steven Sotloff were killed by the so-called Islamic State for actions committed by the government of the country they were born in, for happenings far beyond their knowledge or control. They were murdered because they were American, not for who they were as people but for the larger group they happened to belong to.
While I am neither a Jew, a Christian or a Muslim, I do read Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy books and publications. I believe in God, I believe in working to become closer to God / the Divine through being a good person, reading God's scriptures, praying and doing good deeds. I try to find the common ground in the world's religions and work to connect people, to remind my readers that despite small differences, we are much more alike than different.
Religions the world over have many similar basic values: Love God, love your fellow human beings, pray, be a good person, give charity, be kind to orphans and widows and those in need, do not steal or murder or treat others cruelly. It is important to remember that Islam shares many of those same values, that most Muslims are just as human and humane as 'the rest of us'. Islam is not the enemy. Muslims are not the enemy. It is people who CHOOSE to act in the name of religion or ideology or for whatever reasons may move them to do things who ARE the enemy.
We are ALL human. We all love, we all have parents, we all have the same basic urges and needs. We all have eyes and ears and hair and skin and bones. We all think, even though we think different things. We all feel, we all love and laugh and cry. We all breathe the same air, we all need oxygen to live. We all have brains and hearts and lungs that keep us alive. We have so much in common with each other because we are the same species, we operate the same way.
Skin colour, hair colour, eye colour, size, shape, thoughts, opinions, beliefs, favourite foods, allergies, relationships, family bonds, languages, cultures - These things make us human and connect us all, yet they also define us as individuals, as people who look and sound and think differently, yet people one and all. The operative word there is PEOPLE (in case you missed it), because that is what we all are. Individual beings who share many similarities, members of the same human race, citizens of the same planet we all share.
We need to realise, to remember, to learn and understand that all of humanity is just one very large and diverse family. We need to remember that by killing, using, raping, hurting, maiming and selling members of our own extended family we are hurting our own people. I hope that the people of the world will realise that, before we do more damage than can be undone and manage to nuke the entire world to Kingdom Come and damage our planet so badly that it will no longer be able to sustain any life.