Saturday, July 05, 2003

"Understanding Islam"

Sean, it seems to me when you wrote the piece titled "Understanding Islam", you must have run out of serious things to write. I have read lots of your material; and found most of it to be thought provoking.It seems to me as some proclaimed Christians like our president, violence plays a role in his understanding of Christian values. An eye for an eye is in the Old Testament, not the new. Jesus was a turn the other cheek, love thy enemy type of fella. Correct me if I am wrong; should not the followers of Jesus (Christians) be in the business of peace rather than violence? Can it be said that many of us would just like to call ourselves Christians but when tested many of us rally behind a president that calls himself a Christian that promotes and believes in violence. Sean, some Jews, Muslims, Hindus, etc. carry their beliefs to points of convenient violence to sustain man made practices from generations to generations. In many instances, like many Christians, it depends on the tolerance and the interpretation of their belief. For example, in my opinion, the Taliban didn't have very much tolerance at all. The US grew into what you call a mature democracy. That maturity was like a light on a tower guiding other democracies out of their infancy of darkness to a future breathing freedom. In my opinion that light dimmed to a flicker when US showed its hand to side with Israel. Too many other democracies felt betrayed because the separation of church and state is indeed a concern now. It is scary to many to see the right wing extremists influencing the US policy in the Middle East; all under the banner of 9/11 and the flag. The US leader turned the tiller to the brain washing side to get support for an agenda to settle a score. This is what many countries believe in now. I personally think the only way the US can regain creditability is for the next leader to challenge the present US foreign policy and state he will undo it. Like Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism are all faith based. It may take years down the road for a US leader to come to an "understanding of Islam". I hope one will emerge in my life time. Governments in the Middle East were built off different interpretations of Islam. Democracy can't be forced on people indoctrinated at birth and governed by a faith based religion. A lesson should have been learned from the expelling of the shah from Iran in 1979. Realistically, in my opinion, a bold and real candidate for president should say it was a mistake to put Americans on Middle East soil, and it was a mistake to side with Israel. Therefore we should pull out and use those resources to beef up the Home Land Security. This will show a real "understanding of Islam".