All are valid, but not superior.

Submitted by androgynous (United States), Jun 17, 2006 at 00:47

I practice hinduism, so if you do not like hindu's, do not read an further.

I do not know how religion started, but have you looked far into it? Almost every religion seems to believe that it is genuine. This leads me to believe that god appeared in several different forms to suit the views of each culture. As such, I do not believe that there is such a thing as a "false religion" or that one religion is better than another.

Muslims are not crazy. I do not know why Al Qaeda behaves the way that it does.

If I am mistaken, please forgive me, but supposedly the Quran says that one should not act in violence unless to protect one's home or family from harm. I think that maybe something happened to upset Bin Laden, so he told people about that part of the Quran and decieved them into committing acts of terrorism. These people were probably poor or prejudiced. It could have been caused in any manner, but Al Qaeda has lost sight of what Islam really is and has twisted its words around, but that does not make muslims bad. I know. One of my friends is muslim, and when some stupid, fat kid asks him for Bin Laden's phone number, I want to slap them into oblivion. As there are muslims who might do wrong, that does not reflect on all of them.

I also agree about the muslim's view on logos and cartoons. I do think that making a cartoon about Muhammad was a foolish and inconsiderate act, but not one which caused for violence.

Also, there have been several cases in which some preachers might say that Islam is not real. I also believe this to be wrong. I do not know the full story of what is happening in Saudi Arabia and their restrictions on other religions, but if it is true, let us look at this logically. If Saudi Arabia bans other religions, then their government probably has a good reason for it, so why would you want to take a bible into Saudi Arabia or try to drag a golden statue of Buddha into the street? If you are visiting Saudi Arabia, you should respect their customs and leave these items at home, otherwise you are disrespecting them. As for those who say that they did not realize this, if you are entering a foreign land, would it not be wise to learn of their customs first?

I know that I sound like a preacher who is nagging you, so remember that I mean no disrespect. I just want to understand what is happening and how this all could have been prevented.

As for the muslims who live here in America, there is nothing wrong with you and there is nothing wrong with everybody else, and if Amerca is to stay above water, we must cast aside our differences and learn to get along, and whether we are Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Jew, Jain,or any other religion, all of these religious groups can be found in every state and every city. We cannot seperate them.

All I am trying to say is that we need to fight for our rights, but not for superiority. If you must fight something, fight the anger, do not feed it. I want to wake up one morning to a world where hindus and muslims can be next-door neighbors and where all races get along.

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".