Since starting people-against-terror.org I’ve been immersed in a world of darkness,
conspiracy theories, misrepresentations, allegations, rhetoric, pandering and far too many
things taken out of context. There have been more kidnappings and beheadings than I have
been able to keep up with, and suicide bombings are more common than Bibles and Korans.
I see the world as this big family seated at the dinner table, with the right standing up
and shouting at the left, while the left is there waving their arms and screaming back, and
the poor guy sitting in the middle trying to eat their supper in peace without getting
involved. Before it’s all over there’s someone with pie in the face, several black eyes,
many bruised knees and egos and one big mess for mamma to clean up.
I am continually amazed how some people use their right to free speech to try and silence
others, such as by demanding retractions and apologies for what another has said or written.
Nobody’s perfect, and sometimes we let emotions run away with us and we might forget to
double-check a source. Given the diversity of this world, there is no way we can please
everyone, so that throws “politically correctness” out the window. Everyone hears what they
want to anyway, so I say get over it! Deal with it! The problem is not that, “he said that
she said that so-and-so is a dirty rotten scoundrel.”, the problem is people are too hung up
on semantics and attacking those trying to solve the problem, rather than taking
responsibility and joining a side attacking the problem itself.
On one side we have people attacking Islam because it seems most terrorists are Islamic
Fundamentalists. On the other side we have the Muslims who are getting mad that they are
being “stereotyped” or connected to terrorists, and in the middle we have the silent
majority who are just hoping it will all go away.
If it is indeed true that 90% of Muslims are peaceful and tolerant, then why do they let
the other 10% soil their name? Why are they retaliating against those who are “stereotyping”
them, instead of chastising the “bad apples”?
I have a theory on that, and it’s pretty simple. The 90% quietly support the 10%. Now why
would I say something like that?
A) “Silence is consent”
B) Islam teaches that Sharia Law is beyond reproach.
C) Islam represses women’s human and civil rights.
D) Islam represses free speech, especially against its doctrine and leaders, even more so
against women who speak out.
E) Muslims outwardly display their disdain and intolerance for everyone else and all other
faiths by referring to them as “infidels”.
F) Sharia Law condones, even dictates excessively violent punishment for offenses, including
beheading, stoning, amputation and even torture.
G) All the above
I used to believe Islam was a peaceful and tolerant religion, but the lack of action by
the so called peaceful 90% has made me doubt it.
Certainly Islam is not the only religion to be repressive, unfair, or violent. Certainly
EVERYONE is not a terrorist or supportive of them, but the focus of this article is on
terrorism, and it is a fact that the majority of the worlds most powerful and violent
terrorists are Muslim, and it is a fact that very, very few followers have spoken out and
become actively involved in denouncing the terrorists and tracking them down to bring them
to justice.
If this article has outraged you in any way, I challenge you to stand up and take
responsibility. Get involved in fighting terrorism, not in fighting the ones speaking out
against it. If you agree with what I said, you can get involved too. Just remember who we
are fighting. It’s not every Muslim you meet on the street, don’t take the law into your own
hands. We have a fair system for that, and if you don’t agree then you can use your vote to
make it so. Violence, hate, repression and fascism are what terrorists and criminals use.
You’re either part of the solution, or you’re part of the problem. Which side are you on?
Reprinted with permission of the author from his website
Comment: I’m on the side to defeat Terrorism, but let’s look at some history of what causes all the descent as it gets worse and worse. I doubt it will ever get better until most of civilization destroys itself by its own greed and passion for individualistic power. As long as a few have a lot of power, the masses will object. However, since the masses have the least amount of money and arms, many fanatics will use suicide as a means of homemade arms to match the military power of large countries they feel they could never defeat in an all out war. Sure OBL is a rich guy but he won’t commandeer a plane to crash into a building, but he will play on the followers of his so called faith to do it for him. Thus one or two ‘martyrs’ can cause a lot of mass destruction. Here is how it may have begun.
Muhammud (570-632ad) Muhammud was born to a poor family. His father died before his birth and his mother died when he was six. He was taken in by an uncle; however he became somewhat of a street urchin and wandered with his tribesmen along the east/west trade routs between Europe and Asia. Later he married a widow, whose husband had been a merchant/trader and because she was a woman, needed a man to front her late husbands business, since women were not accepted as business or political leaders.
In his journeys, he heard and learned much of the Christian and Jewish teachings and discussions. And, from these he adapted his own Religious Ideas. From the teachings and writings of the Jewish Torah, and Bible, he formed his own book of teachings called the Qur’an (Koran). Many of his family and friends accepted his teachings. And soon he had a large following. About 630ad he waged war with and conquered Mecca and declared it as the Holy City of his religion. Later followers used much of his supposed revelations as Allah’s (from the word Yahweh) word to conquer most of the Middle East including what were once Israel, and the Jewish Holy City of Jerusalem. Thus in later years the Catholic Church in an effort to retake the Holy Lands formed Crusades to save the area around Jerusalem from those they called Infidels. The Crusades. of course, were mostly a failure and in modern times Jews, whose country it once was from 1500bc until 70ad, and who were repatriated there after WWII; Islams, followers of Muhammud who conquered it by force; and the Catholic Church, which started the Crusades; all have declared the Holy Land Area as their own. All are diametrically opposed to one another as ‘infidels, who have appropriated the areas for themselves. Thus we have the constant in fighting.
In 70ad when the Romans destroyed most of Jerusalem and the temple, the area was no longer predominantly Jewish. As Rome became Christianized and the area became more Roman-Christian, the Jewish leaders of that faith moved their base of operation to Alexandria, Egypt. After the fall of Rome and the spread of Islam, the area was easy pickings. A few centuries later the Catholic Church began the Crusades to take back the Holy Lands. Although that was more or less unsuccessful many priests and leaders of the Catholic Church declared many, so called Holy Places, as Roman Catholic Church property, and set up Catholic Congregations and erected new buildings at supposed sites that were part of the life of Jesus Christ, and in some cases even appropriating some Islamic sites. As Islamic power grew in the last few centuries, and because of the fact that the Jews were repatriated to the area after WWII, and because the Catholic Church imposed its ‘decrees’ on its so called Holy Area, there is now constant unrest.
As for Islam being a religion of aggression, it is clear that all man made religions are aggressive. Even Atheism is aggressive (Stalin’s Russia) the Catholic Church was aggressive in taking property during and after the Crusades. They were aggressive when Spain, a Catholic country in 1492, declared the Indians of South America to be Infidels and killed them all. All man made religions are aggressive by nature in order to push forth their Faith as being superior to other faiths, and supposedly the only way to God or Allah.
The faith of Israel (Jewish) goes back to the time of Moses... Christianity follows the word of Jesus Christ. Anything else is man made interpretations of either or both of the two.
Catholicism began shortly after the death of the Original Apostles; it started in Rome in the 2nd century, when, in the guise of Christianity, it became the Church of Rome. Early leaders in an attempt to separate themselves from the Christians of Jerusalem, and who wanted Easter not to be part of the celebration of Passover, because of the ‘so called’ Jews’ involvement in the death of Jesus Christ finally prevailed and starting in 325ad began changing many Christian Holy Days to conform with Roman Holidays.. Thus was formed the Holy Roman Catholic Church. A man made institution which more or less ran the Roman Empire until its fall in the 5th century. Even then, it had become powerful enough as a so called Christian Faith, that it still held much authority over the new formed states of Europe, which had been Roman States. The Popes, (a sort of continuation of the Empowers of Rome, followed the example of many Roman Emperors who declared themselves to be gods so that their authority would not be questioned) declared themselves to be infallible by the authority of God. Thus in so-called matters of faith and morals they held most of Europe in their grasp from the time of the fall of the Roman Empire until the time that the Printing Press made Sacred Writings (the Bible) available to the masses. Thus numerous interpretations of the Bible led to the Reformation, which broke the control of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.
It has come to the point that everyone who has an opinion of the writings found in the Bible, has interpreted it in his/her own way. Likewise, Jews and followers of Islam have interpreted the Torah and the Qur’an into offshoots or sects of those religions. Some for good and some for bad.
As long as anybody or any Zealot, can do his/her own thing as regards to interpretations of Religious Writings, then there will always be dissention. And if the dissention is radical enough it also leads to religious warfare.
So, who are we going to blame? Jews, Catholics, Protestants, Islamic Sects, Atheists, and anybody else purporting to be an authority of God's or Allah's Word? All seem to be stirring up the pot of porridge. Many think that by being a martyr they will be awarded some sort of heaven.
