The road to hell, as they say, is paved with good intentions.
Apparently, that’s true.
A friend of mine recently pointed me to a website carrying an English translation of the Quran, thinking it would do me good to read some of it. I checked the link, and then shortened the URL to see the home page. Lo and behold! The front page had a nice little condemnation – in a small black box on the right, reading ‘We condemn all acts of violence, killing, and suicide bombings carried out in the name of Islam‘.
Oh, gosh. Aren’t these cute Moslems sane?
Let’s consider this for a moment…
Notice it does not state that they condemn all acts of violence against, say, innocents. No! The site that claims to be spreading the religion of Islam and teaching about it condemns ‘all acts of violence carried out in the name of Islam’. All! Which can only lead me to conclude that they also condemn, say – lashings and capital punishment, whether or not these are dictated by Islam!
Yes, it gets confusing. With friends like these…
Some would argue that I’m being facetious, but I’m not.
There’s a whole camp of supposedly well-intentioned but apparently idiotic so-called ‘Moslems’ who are doing their very best to distance themselves as much as possible from any acceptance of violence – the implicit assumption being that violence is barbaric, unjust, and always a manifestation of terrorism. The last resort of the backward, the feeble minded, etc…
These are the same people who when confronted with the terrors of a Jenin, suggest Gandhi-esque non-violence to Palestinians. Briefly put, they are not Moslems, nor even quite human. They are fairies, living in Disneyland, wondering how much whitening cream their faces can take before their skin finally peels off and falls to the ground.
Another example of this is a recent television ad that I saw on MBC2. It shows a suicide bomber blowing himself up in a market, chaos ensues, people flying all over the place. A child looking on in fear. Etc. Etc…It ends with the message “Terrorism Has No Religion”.
Right. Can’t you just feel the epiphany?
Gosh, they’re clever, those cute, sane…domesticated ‘Moslems’.
But not all violence is terrorism, and whereas an attack on innocents is unjustifiable by any rational or religious means, violence in and of itself is often necessary, sometimes advisable, and occasionally mandatory. Peaceful persuasion and rational negotiations work when the conflict is a result of a misunderstanding, but NOT when you are simply being invaded, occupied, robbed, or raped. In cases such as those, arguing that ‘losing your temper’ or ‘resorting to violence’ is ‘wrong’ is simply criminal.
By placing messages such as these, the messengers are implicitly accepting the notion, peddled by Western imperialists to the Middle-East, that any violence or resistance is both backward and, on a more sinister note, punishable. It is an appeal to fairy and coward alike.
Hold a flower. Bow down. Bend over. Smile.
Who Loves Ya, Baby?
