11-09-2004, 09:13 AM
Hail eppie,
I tended to see this the same as you, but some recent things have made me reexamine that point of view. Most recent of them: The van Gogh murder. I'm not 100% sure if they got the murderer yet (you'll know better, being from the Netherlands, IIRC), but the evidence present strongly suggests that he was murdered by an Islamistic extremist. Also, when a TV crew interviewed some people from his local mosque, it got relatively clear that there was, if not open support, then at least a sense of understanding, along the lines that "He was offended, and did what he had to do".
So, was that murderer someone flown in from Afgahnistan or Iraq? I guess not, so the poverty argument doesn't really work here. I don't say that all people of the Islamic faith are potential murderers, but lately it seems to me that the capability for violence when it comes to defending their faith is quite big, and "crossing the line" becomes easily justifiable. Remember, we're not talking about someone defending his soil against an invader, but about someone murdering because he had his religious feelings offended.
SIDE NOTE: The Dutch movie-maker and journalist van Gogh (forgot his first name) was murdered some days ago in the Netherlands. Evidence seems to indicate that he was murdered for his views on Islam, foremost for his last movie, "Supression". In this film, which is mainly about the supression of women in Islamistic lands, he for example shows a naked women with lines from the Koran written on her body.
Also, he was murdered quite brutally, first being shot, then having his throat cut and then stabbed. Another thing that suggests to me that in Islam, there might really be a tendency to think of "those not of the faith" as lesser beings whom it is OK to butcher if they misbehave. A tendency, mind you, not saying that every Moslem is an extremist is a murderer... but something worth thinking about.
Take care,
Lord_Olf
eppie,Nov 9 2004, 09:55 AM Wrote:So long story short, religion is not the cause here in this conflict, is it a tool people use to get their way, ...
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I tended to see this the same as you, but some recent things have made me reexamine that point of view. Most recent of them: The van Gogh murder. I'm not 100% sure if they got the murderer yet (you'll know better, being from the Netherlands, IIRC), but the evidence present strongly suggests that he was murdered by an Islamistic extremist. Also, when a TV crew interviewed some people from his local mosque, it got relatively clear that there was, if not open support, then at least a sense of understanding, along the lines that "He was offended, and did what he had to do".
So, was that murderer someone flown in from Afgahnistan or Iraq? I guess not, so the poverty argument doesn't really work here. I don't say that all people of the Islamic faith are potential murderers, but lately it seems to me that the capability for violence when it comes to defending their faith is quite big, and "crossing the line" becomes easily justifiable. Remember, we're not talking about someone defending his soil against an invader, but about someone murdering because he had his religious feelings offended.
SIDE NOTE: The Dutch movie-maker and journalist van Gogh (forgot his first name) was murdered some days ago in the Netherlands. Evidence seems to indicate that he was murdered for his views on Islam, foremost for his last movie, "Supression". In this film, which is mainly about the supression of women in Islamistic lands, he for example shows a naked women with lines from the Koran written on her body.
Also, he was murdered quite brutally, first being shot, then having his throat cut and then stabbed. Another thing that suggests to me that in Islam, there might really be a tendency to think of "those not of the faith" as lesser beings whom it is OK to butcher if they misbehave. A tendency, mind you, not saying that every Moslem is an extremist is a murderer... but something worth thinking about.
Take care,
Lord_Olf
"I don't like to brag, I don't like to boast, but I like hot butter on my breakfast toast!" - Flea