Peace and Reciprocity in Religious Practice

An acquaintance posed the question, to me, “Is Islam a religion of peace?” He said, that a moslem friend of his, maintains that it certainly is. I am not convinced. I would have to argue to the contrary. History, more than suggests, that its initial spread, beyond Mahomet’s original converts, was done by the sword alone, and has been enforced by the sword. Charles Martel, Don Juan of Austria and Jan Sobieski were preventative agents.

It is not accidental that the Sa’udi flag has a sword and many christian lands and provinces (Greece, Georgia, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, England, Scotland, Quebec, Switzerland, Dominican Republic, Iceland) have crosses. To non-christians the cross is a scandal, to christians it is the vehicle of salvation. One can dismiss this as a symbol on cloth. The mohammedan is iconoclastic, against images, yet this one state, that contains Medina and Mecca, chose the sword as an icon. The cross was suffering, passion. The sword is an instrument for killing. It can be said that is making too much of a metaphor. We speak with the symbolism that our words convey. Our words are not physically tangible.

The following is a too, common notice:

Muslims Attack Christians in Indonesia

Madrid, Jun 3, 2008 (CNA).- Muslim extremists who are members of the Islamic Defenders Front recently attacked 200 moderate Christians and Muslims who protested for religious freedom in the Indonesian capital, threatening the protestors with death and attacking them with machetes and sticks. Twelve people were left wounded as the extremists shouted, “Repent or die.”

According to the Spanish daily, “La Razon,” the extremists also attacked children and the elderly who were present at the protest. Between the years 2004 and 2007, Muslim extremist groups and local governments closed 110 churches in Indonesia.

La Razon also pointed to the case of Habiba Kouider, a Muslim convert to Christianity in Algeria who was arrested and sentenced for having copies of the Bible in her possession. In addition to her case, seven other Christians are on trial.

The Spanish daily also denounced that in Egypt, two Catholic Coptic priests were wounded by drive-by gunfire against the Monastery of Abu Fana in the southern region of the country.

It can be said, this is just an aberration. Well, it is a pattern of cascading aberrations, then. It can be said these are the acts of extremists. Well, the vast majority of all people are inactive. Where is the mohammedan Saint Francis, or Gandhi?

Virtually all moslems make the argument, that, they will be peaceful, unless Mahomet or the Koran are insulted. Those two caveats are of sufficient rationale for violence. An insult is subjective and even false claims can be made. However, that may be, it is an avenue of permitted violence.

Mohammedan death penalties are meted out for “un-Islamic behavior”. That is a vague, open and unending list. People are convicted of blasphemy, often on the accusation alone, and mob violence breaks out if the penalty is not severe, the violence is expanded to relatives of the accused. Two hadiths are quoted to justify death for apostasy. Where is the state or the clerical establishment to prevent, discourage and abolish this behavior?

The Vatican calls for reciprocity. Mohammedans share civil rights in the christian west and have religious equality in practice and even in proselytism. How many mohammedan lands tolerate christianity? The Koran allows for this. When is reciprocity spoken by mohammedans? To the contrary, there are only demands that non-mohammedans, in non-mohammedan lands grant or accept increasing demands. If one activist, moslem is in a country, then, he would have, all other people to act as dhimmis.

Mahomet and his followers will never be in full peace with christianity. For its existence, as mormonism and other forms of protestantism, can only make claims of theological legitimacy by falsifying the historical record of christianity. In this country, in a less successful effort, Joseph Smith, likewise, created a new religion.