Re: OT - I may be in the minority

All of this is interesting and true, and just strengthens my own believe
that most religions in their extreme are simply a device for maintaining
power over the people. All of those things you cite involve political
controls more than religious--religion is just the means to justify the
ends.

Barb C.
"Eliyahu" <lrooff@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1146970699.686335.156040@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Barbara Carlson wrote:
Anyone who believes the Muslin religion is based on hatred is either
ignorant or sadly misinformed! Muhammad was a very remarkable man. He
won
victories and freedom for his people. The Koran, which Muslims believe
is
God's word delivered through Muhammad (who was illiterate) is a very
beautiful book. I have read an English translation of it. I have Muslin
friends.

Many apologists will defend Islam against the charge of intolerance by
pointing to the "tolerance" exhibited by the Muslims during the
Middle Ages. When Islamic civilisation was at its height, so the myth
is spun, Islam was wonderfully tolerant and open-minded towards other
religions. While it is true that during this period Islam more often
than not refrained from massacring dissenters and rivals (which is
often more than can be said for the European Catholicism of the day),
to say that Muslims were either tolerant or open-minded is an untidy
falsehood. During this era, Jews and Christians living in Muslim lands
were reduced to the position of dhimmis. Dhimmitude entailed allowing
non-Muslims to remain non-Muslim, so long as certain stringent rules
were adhered to, rules which were designed to humiliate the dhimmis and
to "demonstrate" the superiority of Islam over the religions of the
conquered peoples. Dhimmis were not allowed to engage in any outward
show of their religion, such as ringing church bells, praying or
reading their Scriptures in public, or disputing about religious
matters with a Muslim. They were also not allowed to build any
religious buildings such as churches or synagogues, nor were they
allowed to repair those already existing which wore down with age. They
were most often reduced to a position of economic privation and
near-slavery. Dhimmis had to wear distinctive clothing that marked them
as clearly non-Muslim. Further, the distinctive clothing was often
meant to humiliate the wearers. At various times, Jews and Christians
would be compelled to wear badges in the shapes of apes and pigs, drawn
from the Quranic description of unbelievers as these animals (Surat
2:65, 5:60, 7:166 in your "beautiful book").

Coupled with this position of dhimmitude was the requirement for
non-Muslims to pay the jizyah, the religion tax. This was a tax levied
specifically upon non-Muslims, usually Christians and Jews, which was
the only life-preserving alternative to outright conversion to Islam.
The jizyah was designed to "encourage" subject populations to
convert to Islam, since conversion meant being relieved of a heavy
financial burden. Further, the jizyah, as well as other financial
burdens upon dhimmi populations (such as the kharaj, or land tax) were
traditionally supported by Muslim theologians through appeal to various
passages of the Qur'an, such as Surah 9:29, one of the most obvious
passages in the Qur'an commanding Muslims to make war against
non-Muslims and to force them into submission.

It similarly promotes anti-Semitism. "The Day of Judgment will not come
about until Muslims fight the Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will
hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: 'O
Muslim, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him.'" Sahih
al-Bukhari, Vol. 4, Bk. 52, no. 177. Does this sound like a religion
of peace? The fact is, although your Muslim friends will try to avoid
explaining it, the "peace" they promote is a peace they believe will
only come about when the entire world has converted to Islam, accepted
their status as dhimmas, or been killed. It's a mistake to try and
interpret or understand Islam in western terms without understanding
what they mean. For instance, we read that an Islamic nation or
faction has proposed a truce, and think of it in our own terms as an
intentional step toward peace. In Islamic Law, a truce ("hudna") means
a peace treaty with those hostile to Islam, involving a cessation of
fighting for a specified period, whether for payment or something else.
Interests that justify making a truce are such things as Muslim
weakness because of lack of numbers or materiel, or the hope of an
enemy becoming Muslim. So we see that in Islam, a "truce" does not mean
a state of peace as those in the West would understand it. Rather it
means a cessation of hostilities that might lead to a longer lasting
peace if it so suits both parties. In an Islamic truce both sides will
be free to regroup and rearm for the next battle. When the truce
expires the sides will be free to go back to killing each other.

Eliyahu



.

Relevant Pages

  • One Religion or Two?
    ... different religions get to know each other more through open and frank ... Episcopal Church, claims to have declared Shahadah and become Muslim, ... "Can you be Christian and Muslim at the same time?" ... Shahadah and embraced Islam nearly seven years ago in Regent's Park ...
    (soc.culture.iranian)
  • RELIGION-MALAYSIA: Dismay at Cancellation of Islam-Christian Meet
    ... an annual series under the theme, ?Humanity in Context: Christian and Muslim ... Perspectives,' brings together the finest minds in the Christian and Islamic ... Islam has always enjoined Muslims to ... live with or cohabit with persons of other religions. ...
    (soc.culture.malaysia)
  • Pseudo-symmetries and moral equivalences
    ... One form of denial of the global jihad is that of pseudo-symmetries ... no brave defector from Islam would quibble with, ... This business of "all religions do it" is comforting, ... poverty in the Muslim world is licked peace will reign everywhere. ...
    (uk.politics.misc)
  • repost:RELIGION-MALAYSIA: Dismay at Cancellation of Islam-Christian Meet
    ... an annual series under the theme, ?Humanity in Context: Christian and Muslim ... Perspectives,' brings together the finest minds in the Christian and Islamic ... Islam has always enjoined Muslims to ... live with or cohabit with persons of other religions. ...
    (soc.culture.malaysia)
  • Islam is a religion of..........WHAT?
    ... What about more abstract concepts like love and peace? ... Dr. Tibi, who claims to be a direct descendant of the Prophet ... is a member of a small worldwide Muslim reform movement ... wishful thinking in any dialogue it entered into with Islam. ...
    (soc.culture.indonesia)