Quote:
Originally Posted by krynski
No, it is EXTREMISM. It is people who CLAIM to represent Islam, but DO NOT represent the majority of it's followers' ideology or practices.
These extremists are cults.
If you can't recognize that, you're a lost cause.
|
This part I find to be a bit curious. Are you suggesting that religions are inherently peaceful because the numerical majority doesn't commit atrocity, or that there isn't large potential for incitement of violence in scripture?
How are the "ideologies or practices" of the "majority" of Muslims relevant to those who wield Islam as a tool for violence? These are people that are acting dangerously and irrationally and are providing the reasons as to why they're doing it, and those reasons more often than not begin and end with their faith.
The fact that the majority of religions and their adherents have "mellowed" to a significant degree speaks volumes to the external pressures of science and secularism, and is a good thing, but doesn't mean that moderates are the purest representatives of their faith in every instance, or even most instances. Dismissing "extremists" or Islamic terrorists as merely smearing and misappropriating the peaceful word of 1500 year old superstition isn't a legitimate way of looking at this in my eyes.