Thursday, March 23, 2006

"Humiliating for Islam"

Abdul Raoulf, a cleric at the Herati Mosque in Afghanistan who is generally considered a moderate and was jailed several times by the Taliban for disagreeing with them was asked about Abdul Rahman, the Christian Afghan who refused to convert back to Islam. His comment was that Rahman's refusal was "humiliating for Islam" and that they should "cut off his head" for refusing to become a Muslim again.

What I find that should humiliate Islam and all Muslims is the thoroughly repugnant idea that if you become a Muslim and change your mind that you should be murdered for it. What kind of religion is that? Are we in the 21st century or are we back in Medieval times? For those individuals who may have thought about Islam as a religion for themselves, you should think again. There appears to be no turning back once that decision is made.

So, this is the Islam of tolerance and peace that we hear so much about? This is the Islam that has been hijacked by radicals but whose current laws demand that if you become an apostate from Islam you should die? How many more examples of Islamic cruelty and intolerance do Americans need before they realize that this is not just another world religion, it is a religion of hate, violence and intolerance if it is practiced in it's original form.

Anyone who still believes that Islam is equal to Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and other world faiths as a peaceful, tolerant religion which respects all people is either blind or cannot read. We have seen too much of what Islam is all about over the last decade and the sight is not pretty. Unless Muslims make a huge concerted effort to rid themselves of the ancient and barbaric laws of Sharia and join the 21st century with the rest of us, Islam will continue to humiliate itself and it's followers.