adeelsiddiqui? Is there an international voice for Islam? Does Al Jazeera represent the "Islamic" point of view? Do they condem these types of events? If there is a pan-Islamic view that the US as anti-Islamic, how did it become so pervasive? (do they not understand the effect of the Holocost on the establishment of Israel?) I don't know if there is a generalized Islamic opinion since Sunni's and Shiites and Wabbi's can vary to the point of conflict. (granted, so can Catholics and Protestants outside of the US) I don't ask as an indictment, I just want to know.
unfortunately tther is no ONE islamic voice. A person in Pakistan would never listen to what an arab Imam says, especially if it goes against what a local imam has said. Al jazeera is in no way an islamic voice, its just trying to show the western world what they dont see in the media. I dont know for sure if they condone these events or not, im not a big al jazeera fan, i just watch cnn, and bbc. the view that the US is un islamic IMO started after the repeated help and aid towards Israel. Many muslims were pro America, during the Gulf war, and such, but afterwords the muslims expected America to understand what was going on in Palestine, and atleast acknowledge that Palestinians too are being harmed, but all that happened is that tehy got ignored, and the Israelis continued to get financial and military help from america, i guess this just fueld the fire, and ppl like OSAMA just took it upon themselves to take revenge... many people outside of America dont know the type of affect the holocost has had on the jewish population, well atleast most arabs, and south asians i have spoken to. they know that it happened, but dont know to what affect it effected the Jewish population as a whole.
Do the Israelis claim we're un jewish because we've supported the PLO? And obl's early demands on the US were to leave the Holy Land (Saudi Arabia). It was not until later that he recognized the PR potential for supporting the Palestinian cause. FWIW, many Arabs were anti-US long before the Gulf War.
I'll add a few things to adeel's response, which I think is right. No international voice exists. Can you tell me the "international voice for Christianity"? for Judaism? It's tough, because there are sects. Now, I know you can point to the Pope or another major minister/pastor. Are you willing to accept those as the voices for you? I think al-Jazeera (never seen, just from what I've read) represents the ARAB point of view. Arab does NOT equal Muslim. Muslims are all over the world; Arabs are home in the Middle East. For this reason, I don't think they represent a religious point of view, but an ethnic/regional one. Ultimately, they look to me to be a check against the American media conglomerates. CNN and BBC (British, yes) have dominated global media for a while, and al-Jazeera was started as a regional network to give the local point of view. Remember, al-Jazeera is hated by leaders in the Middle East because it is not a mouthpiece for them. That's a very American ideal. The USA as anti-Islamic - From what I understand, this view isn't really believed by most people. It's spread by leaders in the Middle East because of their fears that the American ideal is dangerous to their own (i.e., the rich and powerful who oppress the populace) well-being. If you had to keep control of a large amount of people living in substandard conditions while you had palaces, would you allow free discussion of ideas and organization? No... you'd likely describe something foreign as evil and focus your attention on getting people to believe that the foreign group is responsible for their problems. But, that being said, the displacement of Palestinians is a big deal in the Middle East as signs the US is against the people of the Middle East... as is the US support of the dictators and powerful mentioned above. Remember that the Iranian description of the US as "The Great Satan" resulted because the Ayatollah took power by overthrowing an oppressive Shah who was supported by.. the USA. And the Iranian public does not believe that description now, though you may hear it espoused by the religious leaders of Iran.
* scholarship foundation * funded a mosque inside the loop * lived a rather quiet life for such an NBA superstar * signed with Etonic and then Spalding instead of Nike because he thought expensive shoes were not good for kids And after 9/11: http://www.beliefnet.com/story/87/story_8779_1.html (a reprint of a Fran Blinebury article). That said, no single person can simply become "The Voice". I ask you to become the voice for your religion. Good luck with that. All we can all do is be ambassadors of our faiths. To live our lives as best we can. No?
I've noticed that this IS what most people believe now. I have had close relatives and family friends being interogated many times, friends of family members being put into jail indefinately, family friends that are in the U.S. legally not being allowed back after going on vacations overseas. When my relatives in Pakistan hear about this sort of stuff, they are outraged and believe that Muslims in the U.S. are under seige by the U.S. government.
Orrrrrrrrrrrrrrr... Maybe your reading skills are deteriorating. Re-read my post, and then re-think your accusation. Thank you.
I could care-less if Russia did ethnic cleansing - the people that committed these crimes are only Muslim by title, not by actions, and if the rest of their people are like that (highly unlikely) then to hell with all of them.
Think of it this way though. -------------------------------Outside the box---------------------------- Let's say (for ARGUMENT'S SAKE) that all religions provide the same platform for creating terrorists. I.E., they all say the EXACT SAME THING regarding terrorism and anti-terrorism. If this is the case, then it ishighly unlikely, even impossible, that the distribution of terrorists will be even among all religions. Fact of the matter is, the religion which happens to have more "bad" people will have more terrorists, and in this case it won't be the religion's fault. ----------------------------Outside the box------------------------------ That was the "outside the box" case. Now for: ---------------------------Inside the box----------------------------------- Now, ofcourse I'm not saying that all religions preach the same thing. Christianity is more peaceful than Islam, I won't refute that. Buddhism is more peaceful than all. But we can establish that they all have the same ideals - no killing children, no killing innocent people, no killing women, no killing for no reason, no provoking violence, only fight back when you are about to fall off the edge. With that said, there are different little details here and there. For example, in Islam, you are not even allowed to harm a tree in war. So these little things vary from religion, but we agree that the base is the same. So IMO, this difference among religions is not big enough for me to attribute terrorism to the LAWS of a religion rather than to the simple fact that there will be more terrorists in ONE religion at some point in time, and at this point in time it happens to be Islam. In the past it has been Christianity, it has been Juddaism. Who knows what it will be in the future. -------------------------------Inside the box----------------------------
Like it or not, as a good Muslim you have a serious problem that these people are perpetrating these horrors in the name of your religion. Muslims needs to rise up and do some of their own ethnic cleansing, er make that policing.
No doubt. In the name of this religion seems to excuse the most evil of deeds so prominently everywhere...
I don't need to do anything. My religion is between me and God, I could care less what anyone else thinks about my "relationship" with God. What happened to your concept of "freedom"? Aren't you American? Aren't people free to say whatever they want, choose whatever religion?
I won't argue with this point that you made about your religion being between you and your God. That's great and I have no issue with that. However, it is quite clear that the reputation of your religion is absolutely being drug through the mud due to these whack-jobs killing children and other innocent civilians in the name of Allah. Now that's just despicable.
Tell me, what stops me from getting a huge cross, tying it to myself, running into some store, and blowing everyone up? Nothing but myself. But when it's in the news the next day, I will apparently have done it in the name of Christianity, EVEN THOUGH Christianity is against any such act. Same thing with terrorist attacks. They do it in the name of Islam out of their own free will, out of their misinterpretation of the Qura'an, and the manipulation of vulnerable minds. That doesn't mean Islam or God told them to do it. It does mean that no one can stop them though. You kill innocent people, you are supposed to go to hell. You die as an innocent person, you will go to heaven. In the end, everything works out. All we can do now (someone else said it, don't remember who) is be ambassadors for our religion(s), and do our best to keep everything decent. A Muslim who goes by Islamic law is not allowed to kill innocent people. Terrorists are as Muslim as abosrtion-clinic-bombers are Christian. They claim to be Muslim, but don't go by the rules of that religion apparently.
READ SANE's LAST POST Exactly what I have been trying to say about how just because someone does something in the name of Islam doesnt mean he is representing Islam's teachings.
Are you trying to imply that Osama bin Laden is so casual about his ties to Islam? I hope not. It is unfortunate for all Muslims, but it always has been their problem as much as Christians' and Jews'.
Did you even read what I wrote? I cited you as a good Muslim. I criticized nothing about your relationship with God. My point was that Muslims need to do more than just defend their faith by denouncing OBL from their armchairs. OBL has co-opted a much more significant percentage of the Muslims in this world than the abortion clinic bombers ever have or will.
