I Wasn't Talking About Muslims, I Was Talking About Islam
Saturday
One of the most common things you'll notice when you're talking to people about Islam is that you'll say something about Islam and they'll respond with something about Muslims.
It's really important that you stop right there and make the distinction clear. Islam is an ideology. It is written. Muslims are people. Some of them know a great deal about Islam, and some of them know almost nothing, and everywhere in between.
So when you notice someone talking about Muslims in response to you talking about Islam, say something like this:
I wasn't talking about Muslims, I was talking about Islam, the ideology. Speaking freely about religions and political systems is one of the things we do in a free society. We compare and critique philosophies, religions, political doctrines in the hopes that our discussions will bring us to better clarity and understanding.
You will rarely find a person who disagrees with that.
7 comments:
I think if you find yourself making that statement in Luton you may also find that you will find people that will disagree with you.
Yes, it does need to be made clear. Muslims are not Islam. Muslim are people and in contrast Islam a a religious/political though control that requires blind and unquestioning total faith in it. Some Muslim are even brought up in Islamic mind programming centers which are known as mosques and madrasas. In those Islamic brainwashing centers young Muslims are thoroughly indoctrinated into accepting the Koran with all its doctrines. The young Muslims are ingrained into blind unquestioning faith that is not based on either logic of reason. To this two further things need to be stated. First,this is a reminder of the ancient work of literature by the Greek philosopher ,Plato, which is entitled THE APOLOGY OF SOCRATES .In which Socrates is to have said that "An unexamined life is not worth living." Likewise, the same may be said of religion which is that "An unexamined religion is not worth believing in." Second, a former Muslim who is now a Christian also explained that "Diving into the depths of the world of reasoned thinking and research in Islamic societies has always been costly. Some Muslims who have done this have even been sentenced to death." [1] Something is very wrong with a religion the is so apparently weak that it can't stand up to questioning and reason. So there is the Christian internet site answering-islam.org
[1] ISLAM AND THE SON OF GOD by Daniel Shayesteh page 70.
Thanks for maintaining this outstanding site.
I hope your book, Getting Through, will appear in Kindle or e-format sometime. I move every two years or so, so I can't collect physical books.
I came across this while looking for something in regard to Obama's lecturing of us on why he doesn't use the term Radical Islamic terror. (Because it's not fair to all Muslims and it "does the terrorists work for them.") ??? Such a BS artist and people just lap it up.
I like you Jeremiah. We need more thinkers like you.
"Muslims are people. Some of them know a great deal about Islam, and some of them know almost nothing, and everywhere in between."
I understand your motive in making this claim. You're being politically correct. But you make the same mistake most westerners make about islam whether as an ideology or a religion. They want to see it through a western perspective in which it is quite possible and very probable not to take the belief system seriously, to regard it as something they are free to take or leave as they wish with no consequences. Such is absolutely not possible in the context of islam. Every muslim knows perfectly well what the Quran and Hadith command about kuffars, whether they read it for themselves in islam's core documents or hear it repeatedly preached in the mosque. And unlike western religious doctrine, those teachings are obligatory, no questions asked. Prsident Erdoğan of Turkey declared, “There is no moderate or immoderate Islam. Islam is Islam and that’s it." In his article, ”The Truth about the Moderate Muslim as Seen by the West and its Muslim Followers," (2011), Dr. Ahmed Ibrahim Khadr declared that "the division of Islam into 'moderate Islam' and 'radical Islam' has no basis in Islam -- neither in its doctrines and rulings, nor in its understandings or reality." And Daniel Greenfield has suggested that a "moderate" muslim is merely a jihadist awaiting an opportunity. You can't be a muslim and know nothing about islam.
I'm not in the slightest bit politically correct, and have no motivation to ever be. Yes, it is quite possible for a Muslim to consider himself a Muslim and yet know next to nothing about Muhammad's life or the violent, intolerant teachings in the Koran. I personally know many Muslims and ex-Muslims who confirm what is common sense: Many people who call themselves Muslims don't really care about religion. They just want to earn money, raise their families, etc. Then why do they call themselves "Muslim?" Because their parents were Muslim and in an Islamic culture, leaving the religion is unthinkable. Not only because it is dangerous (people aren't allowed to leave that religion), but because everyone they know is Muslim and it would mean leaving behind everyone they know and love.
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