People are so naive

Submitted by Ted (United States), Feb 9, 2011 at 08:39

Dear Dr Pipes:

A lot of your readers say that Islam is not violent because it says so many things about peace. These readers are so naive (or they purposefully ignore what should be obvious). It is easy to say things about peace but it is a lot more difficult to practice them.

If a doctrine allows an individual to commit violence in the name of God without general societal consent, that doctrine is likely to be misused. I have read many quoranic passages that ask people to commit violent acts --with or without widespread societal agreement-- when either they, or Islam, or the prophet, or the God is under threat. Under best possible interpretations these passages are peaceful. Under normal interpretations they can be misused for violence. And, any criticism of them can always be challenged on the basis that it is "quoted out of context".

Such reference may have existed in non-Islamic religious texts also but there is a general agreement in most societies that their religious books must be interpreted and should not be taken literally. Only Islamic texts are treated as final truths beyond criticism. That is why they are misused.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".