That Islam is not the religion of peace its apologists claim is so obvious that the description has become a standing joke. Its a joke told by those who are either afraid of the truth, or who dont know it. But with every passing month, the joke becomes indistinguishable from a mere lie.
The peacefulness of a faith should be obvious and easy to determine. If nonviolence is a prominent characteristic of a faiths distant and recent history, of the teachings of sacred texts, and of the current behavior of spiritual leaders and ordinary followers, then that religion can be considered peaceful. Old Order Amish reject modern technology, are pacifists, and most value community, self-sufficiency, and God. Not one Amish has committed a violent act in the name of his faith. There are no Amish preachers advocating the destruction of other groups or states. There are no Amish mobs roving the streets launching Molotov cocktails and overturning cars. There are no Amish suicide bombers. There are no Amish politicians denying the Holocaust, amassing weapons stockpiles, or intent on developing atomic weapons. There are no Amish schools teaching the inherent deficiencies of other societies. Amish girls are not considered inferior, and are not stoned to death if they are unfaithful. In Amish society, it is illegal for a man to beat his wife, even if she disobeys him. The Amish practice a religion of peace.
Christianity during the Crusades was not a religion of peace. Today, however, Christians do not wander lands in armed bands seeking converts, treasure, or land. News broadcasts are not replete with stories of Christians murdering non-Christians to intimidate others into converting. Nor are there stories of Jews attacking Arabs for not being Jewish. Nor are there stories of Buddhists, Hindus, or Sikhs injuring or killing anyone in the name of their faith. There is only one religion whose adherents can be seen every day on television practicing not peace, but violence. They can be seen rejoicing in another bombing, ecstatically burning another flag, beheading another hostage, or excitedly declaring holy war.
Islam is not a religion of peace because of how it initially developed. Islam grew by violent conquest. Jesus gained converts through persuasion with His words and His deeds. Jehovahs Witnesses try to gain converts one house at a time. But, Muhammads method of proselytizing was to attack people, and kill whomever resisted his efforts to execute Allahs will. Islam did not spread quickly because of the attractiveness of its tenets, but because its armys lethal powers.
We often hear that Osama bin-Laden, Hamas, and their kind dont represent the true Islamic faith. But, inasmuch as one of their shared goals is to create a worldwide Islamist society through violence, they more closely resemble the original Muslims than do Muslims who dont try to intimidate or kill innocent people to achieve their ends.
Islam is not a religion of peace because so many of its adherents support violent actions against innocent, unsuspecting people. There was no chorus of protest among high-ranking Muslims about the September 11 attacks, not even in the United States. The Arab street, comprised of Muslims, cheered their hero Osama for inflicting pain on the Great Satan America. There were no influential Imams in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, or Syria or anywhere who condemned the attacks, or (at least) the people celebrating them.
Islam is not a religion of peace because it doesnt even denounce violence by Muslims against other Muslims. The 2002 Bali bombings killed mostly Muslims. The 1998 African embassy bombs killed mostly Muslims. Practically everyone killed in the Iran-Iraq war was a Muslim. But no influential Muslim clerics protested against the actions of their wayward Muslims brothers. Just like no one is protesting the regular bombings in Iraq today that are killing mostly Muslims.
When Muslim nation Iraq attacked and pillaged Muslim nation Kuwait, it was the Judeo-Christian nation of the United States that saved Kuwait, or that even tried to defend it. The display of gratitude by Muslims is Al-Queda, one of whose original objections was that American troops were on sacred Saudi soil. Yet America was there because it was defending a Muslim nation from aggression by another Muslim nation.
The Muslim Palestinians blame Israel for taking their land. But the Palestinians never had their own state, because their Muslims brothers who controlled the surrounding land continually denied them one. It has been the Judeo-Christian United States that has risked its prestige and security by supporting a two-state solution to the Palestinian problem.
Islam is not a religion of peace because of its rabid, pathological anti-Semitism, and behavior towards Israel. The president of Iran denies the holocaust occurred. In Saudi Arabia children are taught that Jews are monkeys and apes. In the West Bank dancing Jewish teenagers and people riding the bus are considered the enemy deserving to be bombed. Throughout the Muslim world, the blood libel is recounted as truth to new generations.
Islam is not a religion of peace because Muslims are the greatest purveyors of violence in the modern world. Al-Queda, the worldwide terrorist network dedicated to killing Americans and who have claimed more than 3500 lives, is Islamic. The Iranian regime, dedicated to obtaining nuclear weapons, eradicating Israel, and supporting terrorist groups, is Islamic. Hamas, the new governing organization of the Palestinian Authority, with the blood of hundreds of Israelis on its hands, is Islamic. The Syrian government, supporter of Hizbollah and other terrorist gangs, is Islamic. The people who have been setting cars afire this week, burning flags, damaging embassies, and running amok through the streets due to a cartoon are, of course, Islamic.
When innocent children are killed in the name of Allah, there are no protests. When Muslims commit premeditated murder so that they can perpetually frolic with virgins, there are no protests. When Muslim leaders kill their own people with poison gas, by foolish wars, or by torture for political control, there are no protests. While Muslim children are inculcated with hatred toward different cultures and faiths, there are no protests. When Muslim parents send their children to be suicide bombers, there are no protests. When millions of Muslims live in stone-age squalor while their leaders repose in golden palaces, there are no protests. But when a free newspaper in a secular nation violates an Islamic law, there are frenzied protests.
Despite that their governments are wealthy and corrupt, their children are unhealthy and uneducated, and that their society is impoverished and stagnant, the rioters have nothing else better to do than to fanatically rage against a drawing published 4 months ago in a newspaper 1000 miles away. Death to anyone who offends the disciples of the Religion of Peace.
by Max Kimball
