Posted on 11/30/2001 10:41:31 AM PST by Stand Watch Listen
Really? Prove it.
He has revealed that Islam is neither a religion of peace, nor tolerance.
OBL, his organization and their actions say nothing about what Islam inherently is, or is not. During the Middle Ages, Islam-ruled Spain was a haven for Jews, as they faced no persecution there from the Moslem rulers, unlike many places in Christiandom. Until fairly recent times, Islam has a pretty good record of getting on well with Jews and their Orthodox Christian neighbors, whom they regarded as 'people of the book'. Things look pretty grim right now, but I will venture the unpopular assertion that Islam can, and will, return to its more amicable past ways. Right now there are Afghan Muslims fighting and dying alongside our troops, and the central gov't of Afghanistan probably isn't strong enough to compel anyone to fight, so I have to believe they are volunteers. There is opposition to this extreme 'Islamic' agenda in every Moslem country, as events (I am hoping and praying) will soon prove. I simply don't believe that most Moslems want an unending, suicidal war with the West. To those here on FR who repeatedly post comments to the effect that we must 'kill them all', erase Islam from the face of the earth, etc. -- you should be aware that they comprise about 1/7 of the world's population. Are you folks serious?
The arabs turned to the west to help develop their resources because it would be too dangerous to educate their own citizens. It was the Arabs who came begging for western assistance. It is the Arabs who exploit their uneducated masses. Islam is the weapon that the Arabs use to keep their population impoverished.
Are they or are they not entitled to live as sovereign peoples free from outside interference. Did they and do they go and force the industrialized world to consume their resources, come in, and impose leaders who will do business with the West?
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