Trading one tyranny for another?

Submitted by Angela Class (United States), Jun 12, 2007 at 18:30

I don't know that there is any proof of your allegations against Mohammed. I've never heard these particular allegations before. I know that he had four wives, and a daughter, Fatima, that he treated very well, and she is greatly revered in Islam. Possibly not by Islamists or Islamofacists, whatever you want to call them.

Mohammed fought all his life against the ancient Bedouin tribal traditions of treating women like chattel, of making them cover themselves entirely, and of circumscribing their lives and actions under the power of their husbands, fathers, and brothers. He did not allow his own daughter to be treated that way. She was a revered scholar and owned her own business.

But even a warlord can be converted by the intercession of the Divine hand. This is what is believed.

Certainly he didn't invent these customs. They reasserted themselves after his death, and today they are being used as a tool of political control. It would be easy for you to learm about the true history of Islam if you were really interested. It's a major part of the history of that region and the World. It hasn't always been like this. It's not like that now, not everywhere, not for every Muslim.

Look at Iran under the Shah of only 50 years ago, and you can see the shift take place. The country was modernizing. People wore western dress if they chose to. Women were allowed to be educated and take their place in society as doctors and teachers, etc. along with men. This is recent history. The films of that period, of people on the street, of modernizing cities, are strange to see, so different are they from the Iran of today. Time has turned backwards.After this fascist Islamist movement took over, everything reversed to far worse than it had been for hundreds of years.

I can't think of any religious group that doesn't have a history attached to it that is just as brutal and horrifying as the one you describe about Islam. Adolph Hitler claimed to be a Christian. In his speeches he described his ideal German soldier as a "Christian Warrior". Are we to make all Christians responsible for his atrocities? Should we assume all Germans are bad?

I could list actions of Christian Popes and Saints, and Jewish priests and Rabbis throughout history that would be equally hair raising. Bhuddist monks who were also ninjas and "warlords" .

No tradition is free of these kinds of accusations and many are true. Shall we take out all religious believers?

Just kill them all and let God sort them out, eh? Sorry, I can't sign up for that.

To be fair, we can't start that with the Muslims unless we're prepared to finish with everyone else.

That's a slippery slope that leads to Perdition as far as I'm concerned.

Nothing gives us that right. And if we take such tacts we are no better than the people we seek to vanquish. That would just be trading one tyranny for another. Both are overstepping their rights and powers.

I am an American, raised on the Constitution, and I believe in the freedom of religion as an inalienable human right. My ancestors have fought and died for it since 1670, in every field of conflict this country has ever entered into. To allow that to be disregarded, or blighted, would be a disservice to their sacred memory.

I don't feel that I, or anyone have the right to tell others what religion they can believe in or practice.

Now there are limitations on that, if someone believes they have to sacrifice other humans in order to get to their final reward, well they're out of luck there. We have to draw the religious freedom line at hurting other people.

In other words, your rights stop where my body begins.

My ability to intervene only relates to the outward conflicts that arise.

Not to deciding whether someone elses's religious beliefs are valid, whether I agree with them or not..

Certainly not whether they have the right to exist.

I've said before that I believe that there is another tradition of Islam, another interpretation of the Koran, that is not involved with the present conflicts. I've seen it, heard it, read about it, and know people who practice it.

It's focus is on a righteous, peaceful life with the intent of achieveing submission to God's will, peace, and ultimately union with God as their reward. They're called Sufis, but they are Muslims all the same, no different in that sense than Shi'ites or Sunnis. Islam is their religion. No one can convince me thatthese kind and peaceful people are dangerous to mankind. They are exemplary.

More christ-like than many so called saved Christians I know. That's only one of many examples of Muslims who deserve to have their rights respected. All people deserve to have their rights respected.it's not about who they are. It's about who we are.

I can't condone harming them. They're innocent of these crimes you speak of. Interesting how you can speak of these alleged incidents, but don't know any more than that about the whole history of Islam...

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