Originally posted by storch
culero, no pastors or priests publically support violence in any form against anyone. In fact, quite the opposite any form of violence is openly condemned. the actions of certain nutjobs certainly does reflect poorly upon Christianity but the violence that occurs by so called Christians is like a paper cut in comparisson to mohammadan violence.
islam from it's very foundation has been about violence. you either convert to mohammadanism or you die. hence the term "conversion by the sword". there is no equivalent in Christianity for the "fatwah" which is in essense a death warrant. fatwahs are regularly issued by mohammadan "clerics". it is a violent and perverse religion and it needs to be dealt with on the terms they deal to others.
Its clear to me why I'm not a professional communicator, I do have so much trouble making myself clear
I used the obviously absurd example of the KKK to illustrate a point. The point is that if you allow yourself to become accustomed to forming opinions about people based on things like their religion, nationality, color, etc, you are allowing yourself to become prejudiced. If a community becomes prejudiced, that community is less likely to be able to live in peace with others. I'm not trying to discuss why we shouldn't offend people (I could care less who I offend if I speak the truth) but rather what's good for us.
I'll leave the debate about Islam to those who care to study religion. I put that behind me many years ago. My instinct is that you and others who believe as you do are wrong, but I'll happily discuss this with the assumption you are right, OK?
If indeed you are right, then the obvious conclusion is that we should be prepared to make total war against Islam. Yes, total war. If indeed any and every person who is Muslim is by definition committed to the death of any and every person who refuses to convert, then they should all be treated as enemies.
Are you prepared to say we should round up all the Muslims in our nation and treat them as POWs? That we should invade and conquer all nations who allow Islam to be an internal influence? Or that we should perhaps nuke them into submission? Its really the obvious course of action if indeed Islam is what you say it is.
Let's put it this way - whether you are prepared to do so or not, I am. If it becomes evident to me that Islam as a whole seeks the destruction of my community, that is.
I just don't believe you and others are right about Muslims in general. I'd agree that lots of folks in the Middle East who are Muslim hate us and wish us harm. That's pretty obvious. But I also believe there's lots of folks both there, and more importantly, here in our communities in the West, that don't hate us. I think these Muslims want to live in peace with us. I think they can help us by being a calming and positive influence on their Muslim brethren in faith.
Thus, I can see why its a good idea to not be prejudiced against people because of their religious choice. Which brings me back to my original point. I can see why there's an argument for avoiding the use of "Islam" when describing terror because it fosters prejudice - prejudice against people who don't deserve it. Prejudice against people in our community who don't deserve it hurts us.
culero
