Especially after September 11 2001 we face in Europe and America the threat of a general suspicion – this time not of Jews but of Muslims. It is as if they were all incited up by their religion, and were all potentially violent. Whereas conversely, Christians, because they are taught by their religion, are all seen as non-violent, peaceful and loving? That would be a fine thing!
Of course there are many problems with Islam, especially in Europe with its big Muslim minorities, but let’s be fair: of course we citizens of a democratic constitutional state reject forced marriages, the oppression of women, honour killings and other archaic inhumanities in the name of human dignity. But most Muslims join us in doing so. They suffer from the fact that the condemnations made are sweepingly of the "Muslims" and the "Islam", without differentiation. They do not recognize themselves in our picture of Islam, because they want to be loyal citizens of the Islamic religion.
Let’s be fair: those who make "Islam" responsible for kidnappings, suicide attacks, car bombs and beheadings carried out by a few blind extremists ought at the same time to condemn "Christianity" or "Judaism" for the barbarous maltreatment of prisoners, the air strikes and tank attacks carried out by the US Army (several 10,000 civilians have been murdered in Iraq alone), and the terrorism of the Israeli army of occupation in Palestine. After five years of war also a majority of Americans realize that those who pretend that the battle for oil and hegemony in the Middle East and elsewhere is a "battle for democracy" and a "war against terror" are trying to deceive the world – though without success.
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3:23 AM
Moderate Islamist here
