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Is Islam itself, by its doctrine and accepted practices, to blame for much of the extremism/terrorism in the last ~50 years, or has it been hijacked by a few who are giving it a bad name? Does Islamic faith have an inherent tendancy towards violence or oppressive social mores?

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:3132, old post ID:57749

These video links are relevant to the topic. I will say, though, first off, that you should be aware that a lot of these highlight the more radical interpretations of Islam and the moderate voices present in some of these should be enough to give you the accurate impression that not all muslims are terrorist sympathizers. In any case, I believe that one cannot entirely separate from a murderer or terrorist the thing he/she uses as their justification or basis (i.e. religion, be it Islam, Christianity, etc.) and therefore I do not buy into the notion that Islam has nothing to do with the terrorists who commit horrible acts in its name, just as I do not buy into the notion that Christianity has nothing to do with the radical who bombs an abortion clinic or kills an abortion doctor. Hopefully here, in some of the vids, you will find and understand that there actually is good discussion and critical thinking in the Islamic arab world on the same satellite stations that get criticized for being too sympathetic to radical Islam. Enjoy:

Islamic scholar (presumably from Pakistan due to his accent) explains the religion's position on killing, etc.:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=21c29e2451

The guidelines for "beating" your wife, according to a Bahraini cleric:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d23a99a1aeh...ew?i=b09dc0288b

What a religious leader sees as the future of Islam in Europe:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e14_1177024616

Commentary on Islam by a Brit (some strong language):
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=418_1176494781

Debate between a woman journalist and a Wahhabi from Saudi Arabia (Wahhabi is the dominant, ultra-orthodox version of Sunni Islam in Saudi Arabia):
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=316_1177050269

Women's Rights activist in Bahrain being interviewed:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=764_1176555349

A female Spanish convert to Islam telling about her positive experience with Islam:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8e8_1176008801

An Egyptian scholar on female circumcision:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e18_1172983498

A debate about Islam on al-Jazeera:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=580_1172466169

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:3132, old post ID:59030

Yes those terrorists are, unfortunately, Muslims like those people who bomb abortion clinics are Christians. But in Christianitys case, as well as Islams I hope, doing what they do is actually against their religion. They just try to morph the Bible/Quran into what they want it to say, like Fred Phelps. God I hate him.
As you asked in your first post, I believe that it has been "hijacked" by some radicals, and therefore give all of Islam a bad rap in the eyes of many people. Same with Fred and Christianity.
I don't blame Islam for Obama. I mean Osama.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:3132, old post ID:59063

The Koran is similar to the Old Testament in a lot of ways, in the violent, wrathful actions of God and so on. The Koran does not, however, have something akin to the New Testament that is largely about mercy, love, and individual morality (whereas a lot of God's wrath was directed at entire populations in the OT). I view the New Testament as a force of Christian doctrine that makes the application of the religion more even-tempered. That said, we all know that historically, groups of Christians have oppressed others in so many ways, and used religious arguments to provide a basis for their oppression of others, be they pagans, nonbelievers, free-thinkers, and so on. Also, with the Reformation, the Christian establishment of old (at least in Western Europe) lost much of its power and would continue to lose its denominational hegemony in the following centuries.

Instead of a "New Testament", Islam has the Hadith, which seeks to present a more specific mode of conduct for a muslim based on Islamic scholars interpretations of traditions of Mohammad's way of life. Though the Hadith is not a part of the Koran, to be a meaningful Islamic scholar (which I will say right now - I DO NOT CLAIM TO BE), you have to know both. In any case, of what I have read, the Hadith maintains to a degree the militancy of Islam, though it tempers it.

Therefore, Islam itself does not require militancy, or the open use of violence to spread the religion, and neither does it condone deliberate targetting of innocents. In fact, the militant muslims we see today, though not entirely new, did not exist with such force and prevalence 100 years ago.

I think, on the whole, one can't build a solid case for the terrorism we see in the world based on Islamic doctrine (the Koran AND Hadith), though I do believe that the doctrine's generally more violent and forceful nature is more conducive to such militant groups existence. In other words, it takes a more broad or in depth knowledge of Islamic doctrine to say that this or that is against the religion than Christianity does, and when combined with angry, hateful religious leaders, relatively higher illiteracy rates (and therefore higher reliance on religious leaders for doctrinal interpretations), and tougher living conditions, it's practically a no-brainer.

I guess my point is that you could make the argument that the muslim who slaughters innocent people in the name of jihad is acting in an unislamic fashion (though it depends on how one might define "innocent people"), I do not believe that their violent acts or beliefs are entirely removed from the religion any more than the violent acts of an abortion clinic bomber, or the Fred Phelps ministry are entirely removed from Christianity, though I don't believe their interpretation of what the Bible says makes a damn bit of sense. I'm tired and maybe this isn't clear... I'll clarify more later if I need to.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:3132, old post ID:59072

Islam, as is Christianity, is not so much the cause of hate and terrorism, as it is an enabler. It gives hate a purpose and reward, allowing or perhaps furthering the hatred towards an innocent simply because of where that person lives or what they believe in. Not to say such things can't and don't happen outside religion, but it helps to believe that you are doing God's will and you will receive an eternal reward to act on that hatred.

I really have no doubt that religion 'evolved' with this purpose. It really takes something like religion to cause a person to do something so extremely outside his character. There were times in history where religion was necessary to motivate people to do what they needed to in order to survive, and that leaders have (and do) use religion to motivate people to do what they might have thought unthinkable.

Now this may sound like an all-out attack on religion in general, but what I'm saying is that religion can be used as a tool, for good or ill. And it's those who wield it (leaders and followers) that are the ones responsible for their actions be they good or ill.

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:3132, old post ID:59112