Is our belief in freedom of religion the reason Western Christians don’t behead Muslims on television? Imagine how Islamic countries would erupt if that kind of spectacle popped up on the evening news.
We don’t see that kind of angry response when Americans are murdered for show. When the evil side of Islam kills, we shake our heads. World leaders and diplomats make harsh pronouncements. We bide our time until the next atrocity or, in the case of ISIS, act surprised and hunker down for another long engagement.
Sometimes America’s values get in the way of our thinking. This is one of those times. The U.S. will defend freedom of religion for Islam no matter what happens in the world, preferring to blame militant groups instead of the beliefs that spawn them. Until we refuse to view Islam as a religion and start treating it like an evolving political threat, we are in for more of what we saw this week.
Freedom of religion means no wake up call for the West.
Listening to what happened to James Foley being called a wake up call to the world is an insult to his memory as tiring as hearing our president refer to Islam as a great religion. We can’t separate Islam from its politics. In many places, those politics are used for evil. When Barack Obama declared January 16, 2014 to be Religious Freedom Day, he was wrong when he said:
America proudly stands with people of every nation who seek to think, believe, and practice their faiths as they choose.1
Not everyone everywhere should have the right to freedom of religion. Daniel Pearl and James Foley were victims of our flawed belief that this freedom we claim as our own should be doled out to others.
John Kerry spoke of ISIS being:
… an ugly insult to the peaceful religion they violate every day with their barbarity.2
Should we believe that militant Islam violates a peaceful religion, or should we admit that Islam is only peaceful because our hysterical fixation on freedom of religion refuses to allow us to condemn another faith?
Obama has distanced himself from Islam’s evil side, going overboard to cultivate the image of a benign faith treated shabbily by the Bush administration. Muslims in this country are entitled to our freedoms including freedom of religion, but we owe Islam nothing anywhere else in the world. Even in the United States it is hard to explain a poll that showed only 81% of American Muslims completely reject suicide bombings and violence. How do you go about defending freedom of religion for people whose faith can justify taking away others’ right to life indiscriminately?
No protests, no outrage from Islam over Foley.
After the release of the James Foley video, Kerry droned on with the usual diplomatic niceties that accompany something terrible happening to one of our people:
James Foley went to the darkest of places to shine the light of truth.3
The light of America’s truth doesn’t mean anything where James Foley was murdered. His death is not a wake up call to a world that can’t and won’t deal with the evil spread by Islam. The West is terrified of criticizing religious faith, particularly a religion where the slightest offense means an outpouring of protest and violence.
There were no mass protests in Pakistan when Daniel Pearl was killed, but there was Pakistani criticism over the killing of Osama bin Laden. We don’t see public outrage in the Middle East or North Africa over James Foley any more than we saw it after the Benghazi killings, but a cartoon or video will spill violent rabble into the streets.
Terrorism is trendy. We like to seize on the threat of the moment, whether it is exotic explosives in shampoo bottles, booby trapped shoes, or the revelation that ISIS is a whole lot bigger than Washington let on. ISIS isn’t the problem. Islam is the problem and the U.S. seems too conflicted over religion to be able to deal with it.
Grass roots extremist movements don’t come from government. Those who turn to militant Islam weren’t born terrorists and in the end, only the people can put a stop to radical Islam. Much as we like to transplant our ideals to other countries, they don’t exist everywhere. Islam is not inherently evil, but it cultivates evil. Why? Does it matter? What matters is that we stop cowering to freedom of religion, demand some accountability from Muslim countries and Western governments, and stop sheltering the evil in Islam that begs to be eradicated.
America’s government should be grateful for Israel’s friendship, as well. Instead, we have made sure the world knows that our position on the situation in Gaza is conflicted. See Susan Rice’s remarks in today’s post on Obama’s leadership.
Don:
My reference to Christianity as a belief or unbelief is in the hole bible (Old & New Testament) complete with God the father, Jesus Christ the son @ the Holy Spirit, which are the trinity. The New Testament has more references to Hell than to Heaven and anyone who accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will go to Heaven when they die. There are many scriptures in the New Testament that make this perfectly clear as the bible was truly written by God through His chosen writers. The prophecy as written in the Old Testament were fulfilled in the New Testament and there is still more to come. The Jewish nation as a people are Gods chosen people and will have His Devine intervention and protection with Jerusalem as there home land. Christianity should be very greatful to the Jewish people for their part in establishing Gods word the Bible.
I am not sure I have ever heard this conflict put so succinctly as in your last three lines, Don, and could not agree with you more.
Thanks.
Bob
Bob:
I cannot say against Jews in particular.
G-d believes that evil should be eradicated completely.
This is why you have the story of Sodom and Gemorrah and G-d was displeases with Samuel, or Saul, that he didn’t wipe out all the livestock, too.
Evil is a cancer which must be eradicated from its roots.
This is the wrath of G-d which many new agers seem to not comprehend.
G-d, according to Chasiduc Judaism, has 2 main attributes; Chesed (kindness) and gevurrah (severity).
The kindness gets great PR, while severity is seemingly overlooked.
Observant Jews believe Israel was given to the Jews – eternally.
The Arabs have a hrll of a lkot more land to dole out.
Netanyahu’s view of the Arabs was accurate in my opinion.
If we lay down our arms, there is war.
If they lay down their arms, there is peace.
That is because Jews believe the Arabs and Palestine have a right to exist.
Arabs believe neither Jews or Israel should exist.
With that kind of framework, we are dealing with pure evil, and eradication is the ultimate consequence.
Shalom,
Don Levit
Thanks for your remarks, Don. Coming from the political side of the argument I am curious, how does Judaism conceptualize the fate of those who carry out atrocities, particularly against Jews?
Regards,
Bob
Samuel wrote:
Those who do not believe in Him will be judged for thei
or unbelief.
Sounds reasonable, except for 2 items:
1. Belief and unbelief cannot be separated. Its intensity on both sides, grows and lessens over time, and in certain situations. Faith and doubt are opposite sides of the coin.
The coin does not have one side.
2. Judaism believes everyone goes to heaven. At most souls have to go thru an 11-month cleansing process before their arrival in heaven.
Jews are here for Tikkun Olam – to repair the world – with little concern or writings about the world to come.
The reward for a good deed is the good deed itself,. One does not get a gold star, or become more likely to enter heaven.
And, one certainly does not go to hell – which does not exist in Judaism – for their unbelief.
That is just as much beheading a person thru duress as it is when Muslims carry out this atrocity in this life.
Shalom,
Don Levit
At least we can give Muslims credit for being equal opportunity killers. As much as militant groups abhor Christianity and the West, they don’t have a problem killing each other when they have the chance. The Sunni-Shia rift will keep stacking up bodies until the end of time or the end of Islam, whichever comes first.
When we speak of freedom of religion, one must ask the question as to who is the leader (Deity) of that religion. In the Muslim religion, Allah is who they worship and he died long ago as all people die at some point in time. The Quran teaches that anyone who is not a “Muslim believer” should be put to death. That is the main difference with Christianity in that Jesus Christ was resurrected after His death and is alive and has been seen by many. He will proclaim the final judgement on all man kind. He wants all people to believe in Him and live in heaven after they die. Those who do not believe in Him will be judged for their unbelief. Christianity is the basis for this country and that is why the USA has been the most successful country of all time. Christianity allows for all to live on earth regardless of their belief, where as Islam is that you must be a Muslim or be killed. God made man to have his own free will, which makes the real difference. Remember Adam & Eve who disobeyed God by the choice of their own free will.