When will we put this argument to rest for good

Submitted by Prashant (United States), Mar 1, 2013 at 15:54

Dear Dr Pipes,

This time the argument came from a non-muslim: your reader Miri Schwartz said that 'criminals are criminals' and they are found in all religions. When will we put this argument to rest for good? Yes there are criminals in every society but criminals who kill in the name of religion are overly represented in Islamic societies. When will we understand and appreciate this difference?

And, more importantly, when will the religious, social, and political leaders of our societies start taking actions to account for this difference.

Today's news of Islamic killings comes form Bangladesh where about 50 people have been killed because they were protesting the death sentence awarded to an Islamic war criminal who allegedly committed war crimes about 40 years ago. Imagine, 50 people being killed to protest the death sentence of one person! These societies think that violence is the only way to resolve problems. Or they are misguided. At the very least, they are different from everyone else. It is possible that the people cited by you (Dr Pipes) in the original article were secular criminals, but when a muslim name occurs in the context of violence, its association with Islam is not completely unfounded.

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