Logan Darklighter Wrote:Antisemitism is a no-brainer. Islam is FAR more anti-Jew thanLOL.
Christianity ever was or will be. But it's at least part of the overall
picture.
Yeah, because historically jews sure had it rough in Muslim states compared to that gentle treatment they got in Europe, right? And yes, while there is much hostility from many (not all) Muslim states towards a certain Jewish state in the world today, that stems entirely from geopolitical reasons only tangentially related to their respective religions.
Really, that ignorant comment aside, I agree that what Christianity is or is not really has no bearing on what Islam is or is not. So let's declare what it is:
- A religion.
And here's what it isn't:
- An ideology.
- A universal movement.
- Unified.
- Something that allows you to predict certain behaviours or attitudes from its practitioners.
It is the fact that you think it is the latter which is why you are wrong, and an ignorant bigot besides. It is you, and people like you, who are inclined to think that a cultural centre being built by an Islamic group, and including a mosque within it, within two blocks (OH NOES) of "ground zero" is somehow threatening, symbolic, or even relevant who are the cause of much of what is wrong with the world today. I am not saying that as hyperbole or even intending it to refer exclusively to American right-wing "culture war" hawks, loathsome though they are.
The World Trade Center was destroyed by airplanes hijacked and used as missiles by several, mostly Saudi Arabian, agents trained and sent with that mission by al-Qaeda, a terrorist group based in Afghanistan and set up during the Soviet occupation of that same state. This attack was executed due to specific, articulated grievances with United States foreign policy, not limited to but primarily involving the establishment of permanent United States military bases in the "holy land" of Saudi Arabia and U.S. collaboration with and propping up of the despotic (and, more importantly, not explicitly religious) Saudi regime. The leader of al-Qaeda is a rich Saudi who "found religion" in his youth and went to Afghanistan to fight the Soviets feeling it was his duty to his religion to do so. Though he was an American ally at the time, he has since turned against them, as the threat they originally collaborated against no longer exists.
It had nothing to do with a "war" between the United States and Islam, the "West" and Islam, or Christianity and Islam. That rich Saudi would dearly love it to be, of course, because he is a just a guy and some friends hiding in caves around the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and his resources are considerably limited compared to those of the United States. There are over a billion Muslims in the world and if they are all drawn to his side he has a far better chance of achieving his goals (or at least having set things in motion to achieve them).
But it is not a war between Muslims and the United States. That rich Saudi has no religious authority within Islam (and has been criticised by Islamic authorities for pretending he does). Most Muslims in the world were either sympathetic to the victims of the WTC attacks, or indifferent to them (and those that weren't generally had excellent reasons for being unsympathetic to the United States). The United States has several predominantly Islamic countries allies (notably Pakistan, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia), though all of them have had prickly moments over the past decade. Many Muslims were killed in the WTC attacks, and I am not referring to those who carried them out.
There is absolutely no logical justification for thinking a mosque (within a twelve-story building primarily devoted to other purposes than worship, mind you) near the melodramatically-named "ground zero" has any relevance at all to the conflict between America and her allies and al-Qaeda and its allies unless the building was being built by the latter (it isn't), or by believing that this is all an actual struggle between the United States (or "the west", or Christianity) and some mythic unified force of "Islam" (rather than merely a struggle between the United States and al-Qaeda/other like-minded groups). You've made it quite clear you think it's the latter. Congratulations! You and that Saudi gentleman have at least one more common goal than you probably believed.
But you're both wrong, because Islam isn't any more an ideology than Christianity is. And thinking about it in those terms is indeed the sort of ignorant, backwards, medieval thinking that characterised the Crusades period on both sides - with a few exceptions, such as Richard I and Saladin. You and people like you (such as that Saudi gentleman), being throwbacks to that sort of thinking, are primary causes of much of the warfare, hatred and sorrow in the world today (as you and people like you were back then as well). Of course, there's a certain amount of irony in my condemnation, but at least I'll criticise you based on the actual ideas you hold, not on what the name you call your adopted Jewish tribal god is, or how much melanin your skin possesses, or what semi-arbitrary name is given to your particular strain of Indo-Aryan genetic stock.