From: Zero Powers (zero_powers@hotmail.com)
Date: Wed Sep 19 2001 - 22:28:37 MDT
>From: Greg Burch <gregburch@gregburch.net>
> I have just listened to Duncan Moon's September 18 piece on Islamic
>reaction to the terrorist attacks on the United States. I do not doubt the
>sincerity of the moderate Islamic clerics who spoke in this piece, but I do
>doubt that Mr. Moon knows anything about Islam and especially about the
>central scripture of that religion, the Koran.
> Like the rest of the U.S. press corps, Mr. Moon has passed on without
>question the statements by moderate Muslims that "Islam does not endorse
>violence." We will not as a nation come to understand how and why the
>events of September 11 occurred until we take the time to study Islam and
>develop an understanding of how a large number of people in the world use
>religion to justify violence. The simple and undisputable fact is that
>there is clear and explicit language in the Koran that:
>
> <> endorses the use of violence against "unbelievers"
>
> <> requires that Islamic countries institute legal discrimination against
>non-Muslims
>
> <> demands unequal treatment of women
>
>How do we, as a free people, come to terms with these facts? How do
>moderate Muslims rationalize their calls for peace and tolerance in light
>of
>the clear and unambiguous text of their scripture to the contrary? How can
>democracy flourish in cultures where a religion based on that scripture is
>enshrined in law? These are the hard questions that our contemporary
>cultural relativism apparently makes it impossible to ask. By dodging
>these
>questions, NPR does not encourage a pursuit of truth, but rather becomes
>complicit in our civilization's unwillingness to come to terms with them.
Not that I disagree with your points. In fact, as ususal, I wholeheartedly
agree with you. But perhaps we are not qualified to pull the beam out of
our brother's eye while ignoring the mote in our own eye.
In particular, the Bible also has passages which support the same things
which you point out are contained in the Q'uran. And while it is true that
our government is technically based on the doctrine of separation of church
and state, our laws and Constitution are clearly founded upon and/or
informed by Judeo-Christian mores and ethics. As a for instance, think of
the legal quagmires which are abortion, stem cell research and euthanasia in
this country.
Of course the good ol' US of A is nowhere near a theocracy on the order of,
say, the Taliban. But on closer analysis it may be that the difference is
only one of degree, rather than kind?
-Zero
"I'm a seeker too. But my dreams aren't like yours. I can't help thinking
that somewhere in the universe there has to be something better than man.
Has to be." -- George Taylor _Planet of the Apes_ (1968)
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