From the Richard Dawkins Foundation, I found this article and groaned inwardly. Why, might you ask. Well, in response to James Foley’s publicized murder, President Barack Obama has responded with this statement:
ISIL speaks for no religion… and no faith teaches people to massacre innocents. No just God would stand for what they did yesterday and what they do every single day. ISIL has no ideology of any value to human beings. Their ideology is bankrupt…. we will do everything that we can to protect our people and the timeless values that we stand for.
Following that was his remarks on strategies to defeat ISIS:
Now let’s make two things clear: ISIL is not Islamic. No religion condones the killing of innocents, and the vast majority of ISIL’s victims have been Muslim…. ISIL is a terrorist organization, pure and simple. And it has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way.
I understand that perhaps he is trying to keep the peace at home when so much has happened already (with shootings happening weekly and the Ferguson violence seeing no end in sight). But as president, he needs to have balls to call bullshit for what it is: bullshit. And this goes for other political leaders who are affected by the ISIS situation (I’m looking at you, David Cameron, you limey dick).
The ISIS’s objective is the establishment of a world wide Caliphate [the office or jurisdiction of an Islamic political leader, regarded as a successor of Mohammed and by tradition is always male], reflected in frequent media reports by means of images of the world united under a ISIS banner. Although it has perpetrated many terrorist acts since its formation in 2006, especially against Shia and Christian civilians, ISI/ISIS/ISIL has been especially active in late 2012 and 2013, claiming responsibility for killing and wounding hundreds of people through suicide bombings. It’s principal targets are U.S. military and Shia and Christian civilians.
These ISIS terrorists are a jihadist group–they are MUSLIM. Call them out for what they are. Don’t separate one bullshit faction from another with this “No True Muslim/No true believer/No true religion” fallacy bullshit. They believe in the prophet Mohammed. They believe in Allah. That. Makes. Them. MUSLIM.
People are saying to condemn their actions, not their religion. Well, you know what? Go whole hog, and condemn both. A religion like that is violent by nature, and has had nearly 15 centuries to sort out the violence. Most Christians don’t believe in stoning a non-virgin. Most Jews are calm and peace loving, and far from their warlike nature from the days of the Judges. We can’t allow Islam to have another 500 to 1000 years to learn what their other monotheistic brothers have learned. Cull the plant and let it die. Let the religion die, so we can actually prosper worldwide.
For the people who are about to tell me that most Muslims are good people, I’ll say this: you can be “good without God.” Or Allah. Or Yahweh. There are plenty of good Muslims in England. Who are now siding with ISIS. Good people do good things, bad people do bad things, but only religion can make good people do bad things. These “good Muslims” still hold on to their Qu’ran. They might interpret it differently, but that’s the case of the other two large monotheisms as well. They cherry-pick, just like their brothers and sisters of a different religion. Why not just forgo the whole book, and live your lives as peacefully and lovingly as possible?
But no. At almost every page turn of the Qu’ran, there is a divine mandate to convert and subjugate, or to otherwise destroy your enemies. This is not a religion of peace. When you have over 537 lines that condemn nonbelievers, or believers of another religion, that is called intolerance. Tolerance makes peace.
To my brothers living in the Middle East, I extend a hand of peace on one condition: let go of your barbaric traditions. Let go of your religion. You can believe in Allah, I don’t care. But for the sake of peace, forgo your book. Forgo Mohammed. And live your life in a peaceful manner with your neighbors. I don’t condemn your Arabian culture and background.
I condemn your religion.
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