By MICHAEL CORENGolly, am I relieved. Because until I heard the various statements from assorted politicians, journalists, police chiefs and religious leaders, I assumed that the 17 Muslim men arrested last weekend for alleged connection with acts of murderous terrorism might in some way have been inspired by Islam.
But no. Apparently Islam has nothing at all to do with it and all religions are made up of good and bad people and produce their own share of extremists. In fact, according to those who shape and govern our culture, the Muslim religion is one of peace and love.
Again, big sighs of relief all round -- and a celebratory burning of American flags, stars of David and any Danish cartoons that we can get our hands on. Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, al-Qaida, the Martyrs' Brigades and all the rest are mere products of righteous anger, not religion.
As for the British-born Muslims who slaughtered people on the London Underground or those lovable atheists who ripped Spanish bodies apart in Madrid or our friends from 9/11, they wouldn't know the difference between a mosque and Moscow. Unless it was a theatre in Moscow where other Muslims, presumably not inspired by Islam, murdered innocent people enjoying an evening with their families. But there was justification for this, because Muslims are suffering.
Which, of course, is why specifically Muslim terror groups have slaughtered people in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Iraq, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Denmark, France, Somalia, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Thailand, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey, Yemen, Jordan and so many other nations.
It really is extraordinary to watch the Canadian establishment spinning as it tries to disassociate Islamist terrorism from Islam. Yet on the three occasions in the past 30 years when abortionists have been attacked in Canada, the crime was portrayed as being typical of pro-life extremism.
Or when a tiny percentage of Catholic priests raped teenage boys, it was a "systemic problem within the Catholic Church." Or when Israel builds a fence to protect its people, it is somehow a product of an apartheid state.
Look, it is hardly necessary to say it, but the majority of Muslims are not violent and condemn terrorism. But it is equally true that the majority of terrorism at this point in history is being carried out by people in the name of Islam.
They tell us so themselves. They scream from the Koran as they decapitate men and women, or when they tape religious sermons before they blow themselves up.
It is not for someone like me -- a Christian with a Jewish father -- to argue with those Muslims who say they are willing to die and kill for their faith, whether they are doing so in the name of Islam.
And spare me the argument about colonial oppression and suffering. In Pakistan and Egypt, for example, Christians have been persecuted by Muslim gangs.
No Christian, Jew, Hindu or Buddhist has shot a filmmaker nine times and then tried to sever his head as he lies on the street begging for his life, merely because he made a movie that offended their religion (as happened in the Netherlands).
Goodness, don't lecture any Christian about being offended after weeks of anti-Christian nonsense with The Da Vinci Code.
It may be that Islam has been hijacked, it may be that Islam is being exploited, it may be that Islam has been misunderstood. But if so, it is Muslims who have done the hijacking and exploiting and misunderstanding and the world is being punished for the errors.
