Fear of Muslims has gone over the top

[rug]

By Myles Spicer, Free Speech Zone
September 19, 2011

In a recent Daily Planet story on American Muslims after 9/11, and an excellent editorial in the September 11 Star Tribune (“America paid too high a price for fear”), the writers touch on the important point that “political opportunists” have stoked unfounded fears about Islam; and fear mongering “has become a staple of American political discourse”. Indeed it has, and although I have written on this subject before, its resurgence at this time deserves renewed discussion and analysis.

To start with, less than 1% of our nation’s population is Muslim, yet, we have created a startling xenophobia about the religion. While our image of Muslims centers on bearded, turban-wearing, armed Middle Eastern zealots -- most Muslims do not even live in the Middle East, and most have lives well outside this perceived image. In fact, around 62% of the world's Muslims live in Asia, with over 683 million adherents in such countries as Indonesia(the largest Muslim country by population, home to 12.9% of the world's Muslims). Only about 20% of Muslims live in Arab countries. In the Middle East, the non-Arab countries of Turkey and Iran are the largest Muslim-majority countries. Even China has more Muslims than Syria, yet we likely view Chinese Muslims as peace-loving non-threatening people.

The fact is, there are 1.5 billion adherents to Islam around the world (the second largest religion, and 23% of the world’s population). What is often lost in the understanding of the religion by non-Muslims is that its roots trace back to both the Torah and the Bible (both Testaments). All three Semitic religions — Judaism, Christianity and Islam — trace themselves back to Abraham. The very latest DNA genetic studies indicate a close relationship between Muslim Palestinian Arabs and Israeli Jews — so close that it is quite difficult to distinguish one from the other. As for Jesus, the Qur’an tells us that Jesus came to teach the same basic message which was taught by previous prophets from God — that we must shun every false god and worship only the one true God. Jesus is described in the Qur’an as a prophet of God, and a "messiah".

Sadly, the history of all religions is littered with violence and what we call today “terrorism”. The Qur’an (Koran) was written in the early 7th century, Islam was born...and trouble began not long afterwards. Starting about 1095 brutal campaigns were waged against pagan Slavs, pagan Balts, Jews, Russian and Greek Orthodox Christians, Mongols, Prussians, and others considered "heretics


http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2011/09/19/free-speech-zone-fear-muslims-has-gone-over-top

[LeftishBrit]

1. Indeed.

Though I think in many places Islamophobia is really secondary to racism and anti-immigrant prejudice, or to a tendency to see other nations as enemies.