There’s been a great “discussion”:http://open-dialogue.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=279 on my “forum”:http://www.open-dialogue.com about Islam and whether or not it is actually a peaceful religion. A thought occurred to me this morning that I wanted to share:
A lot of attention has been given to the fact that very few Muslims have been speaking up and speaking out against the terror bombings or the riot violence. Accusations have been launched that this means that the Islamic community is actually silently supportive of the violence. The problem with this is that just because someone does not speak out against something that is wrong does not mean that they are supportive of it (though inaction does accomplish essentially the same thing as outright support). How often have Christians in this country performed acts that are completely counter to the teachings and doctrine of our faith, only to have hardly anyone say anything against it? Does that then mean that we support the action?
There _are_ always people who speak up and speak out, but those voices are typically too few. Most people just prefer to let the problem pass by without addressing it, ironically enough, _because_ they don’t support it. Ignore it, and it eventually goes away, right? The problem with this approach, though, is that it does make it look like the entire group is supportive of the extremist fringe.
Just something to think about…
Great post. I’m tired of people being stereotyped by religious affiliation. I was apalled at hearing governments banning certain clothes because they are indicative of a particular religion. Can you imagine a world where wearing a cross would be banned?