Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Brigitte Gabriel on Muslims



#terror #Muslims #Muslimterror #RadicalIslam #BrigitteGabriel #Christians

This is a comment I made in reply to my friend posting this video. This attitude that all Muslims are terrorists, or all Muslims are radical, like the ones we are constantly bombarded with in the media, needs to end now.

I find this a bit troubling. She says there are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world, and she says about 25% of them are extremists and want to destroy western culture. Everything on the internet about this woman says she's Christian and believes that Islam is a backwards religion that sends people back into the dark ages.

I think she is forgetting that there are extremists on all sides. There are 2.2 billion Christians in the world today, how many of them are extremists? How many of them are people who would like to see the Middle-East converted to their religion? How many of them simply believe they don't have a right to exist? So why don't we hear any talk from her about Christianity being a backwards religion, one that sends people back to the dark ages? Simple, she has a predilection for the Christian faith, and for people of the Christian faith.

The Christian bible teaches all kinds of hate towards other people. It commands the death of homosexuals and non-believers, and legitimizes rape and slavery. Yet Most Christians argue this has being said in the OT, and that Jesus would never want us to do those things. Yet, it's in the bible is it not? Same thing with the Koran. It says some very ugly things about killing those who don't believe, stoning homosexuals, raping women, etc.

I had this same argument with a Muslim man. I told him he followed a religion that allowed for the murder of homosexuals, the rape of women, and the murdering of others who don't believe in their god. He told me that it was not the true way of Islam. And just like all of the Christians whom I had debated in the past, who said that those rules were simply a concession to the people who lived during the time those things were written, this man told me the same thing.

I think it is awful to say Islam a backwards religion, one that teaches terrorism, simply because that religion happens to have extremists. That's like saying, "stay away from gay people, they can give you AIDS" simply because AIDS is in issue in the gay community. Or "Only irresponsible hicks are gun owners" simply because a certain percentage of people go off the deep end and spray bullets into public areas with intent to kill.

How about this one? All Christians hate gay people. It says so in the bible, on top of that we have groups like this all over America, starting with the Westboro Baptist Church, and moving to the Army of God, Hutaree, the Covenant, The Sword, Defensive Action, Concerned Christians, and the Ku Klux Clan.

How about the Christian Re-constructionists that were founded by Calvinist theologian Rousas John Rushdoony? He was on the far right and said the construction of a Christian government would, in many respects, mirror the Taliban of radical Islam.

How about the Christian terror groups all over the world? Lords Resistance Army in Africa? Or the Iron Guard Movements in Romania? The National Liberation Front of Tripura? The Christian inspired terror and forced conversions in Nagaland?

Between 2002-2005 more than 90% of all terror attacks on American soil were committed by non-Muslims. (http://www.fbi.gov/.../terrorism-2002-2005/terror02_05...)

All of this being said, how can you now not agree with her logic personally? There are 2.2 billion Christians in the world, and at least 25% of them are extremists. Now, that still doesn't mean I have better chances of being killed by a Christian terror attack than I do by lightening. But what it does mean is Christianity is a backwards religion that teaches inequality and terrorism.

Here's a great excerpt from an online article about Christian extremists:
http://www.stopracism.ca/.../most-extreme-radical-christians

Another voice of sanity on the subject of Islam and Christianity is journalist Leonard Pitts, Jr., author of Becoming Dad: Black Men and the Journey to Fatherhood and a syndicated columnist for the Miami Herald. In his columns, Pitts has had a lot to say about the way some people on the far right will try to paint Islam in general as a violent religion (as opposed to making a distinction between radical and non-radical Islam). And they get away with that double standard, according to Pitts, because it is easier to attack what is a minority religion in the U.S.

"Christianity is a known element in the United States, whereas Islam is a foreign faith," Pitts explained. He continued:

"Most people of faith in the United States are Christian. Most Americans know a lot of Christians but don't know any Muslims. So it's easy to look at the craziest, most dangerous Muslims and assume that they are representative of Islam as a whole. Christians in the United States will look at the Army of God and say, 'That has no relation to any Christianity I have ever known. That has absolutely nothing to do with any Christianity I have ever known,' but moderate Muslims will say the same thing about Muslims who commit acts of violence."

This woman was a Christian who grew up in a volatile area and was witness religious terrorism first hand. She has a bias opinion and is blind to what her religion has done. But I'm sure she doesn't care because she wasn't brought up Muslim, being terrorized by Christians.


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That was what I commented with. What I wanted to add was that according to a 2008 FBI report on terror it showed that a little more than 50% of the acts committed were committed by Sunni Muslims. Off all terror attacks that year over 50,00 individuals were killed. According to the FBI report, well over 50% of the victims were Muslim. US fatalities were 33.

http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/terror_08.pdf