21.12.2010 - 03:44
5 Ridiculous Things You Probably Believe About Islam
5 Ridiculous Things You Probably Believe About Islam
By Jacopo della Quercia
A conservative commentator recently made headlines by claiming 10
percent of all of the world's Muslims are terrorists. An amazing claim,
considering that equals 150 million terrorists and if each were to pull
off an attack killing just 40 people, they could exterminate all
non-Muslim life on earth.
Either they're not all that dedicated to terrorism, or the claim is
utter insanity.
#5. If You're a Muslim Woman, You Have to Wear the Veil
For millions of people in the West, when you say "Islam," the first
mental image that pops into mind is this:
A woman covered head to toe in a burqa. The truth is, if you could
suddenly gather all of the Muslim women on the planet into one giant
room and had to throw a football to someone wearing a burqa, it'd be
next to impossible to complete that pass.
But the whole hide-them-under-a-veil thing must be pretty big among
Muslim communities, otherwise Europe wouldn't be all in in a dither over
the things, pushing for bans and whatnot. Right?
After all, we all know that Islam hates women -- the fact that Saudi
Arabia is the only country in the world that actually prohibits women
from driving, or that only predominantly Muslim countries still use
death by stoning as a punishment for adultery, proves it, right?
But Actually...
Thinking that all Muslim women have to dress like this...
...is like thinking that all Christian women have to dress like this:
That photo is from one of several small Christian sects that require
women to dress like it's Little House on the Prairie.
So for instance, in France they have about 3 million Muslim women.
French police decided to figure out how many of them wore burqas and/or
niqabs and found the number to be ... 367.
Hey, speaking of which, try this number on for size: Of the five most
populous Muslim-majority nations, four of them have elected female heads
of state.
21.12.2010 - 03:46
Dec 20, 2010
5 Ridiculous Things You Probably Believe About Islam
By Jacopo della Quercia
...
[continued]
#4. Our Founding Fathers Would Never Have Tolerated This Muslim Nonsense!
It's easy to stand on a soapbox and publicly bluster about what you
think the Founding Fathers would think about the godless, multicultural
United States today. After all, these were Christian, God-fearing men,
damn it. They certainly wouldn't put up with all this tolerance for
these terrorist religions.
It's a good thing some Americans are standing up for good old-fashioned
American values and passing laws to prohibit Islamic law from taking
over the U.S., because that's totally around the corner! Somewhere,
Thomas Jefferson is smiling in his grave!
But actually...
Even if they were staunch Christians, plenty of the Founding Fathers had
a healthy admiration for the Muslim faith. Thomas Jefferson, for
example, taught himself Arabic using his own copy of the Quran and
hosted the first White House Iftar during Ramadan.
John Adams hailed the Islamic prophet Muhammad as one of the great
"inquirers after truth." Benjamin Rush, who was so Christian he wanted a
Bible in every school, also said he would rather see the opinions of
Confucius or Mohammad "inculcated upon our youth" than see them grow
deprived "of a system of religious principles." Benjamin Franklin once
declared: "Even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a missionary
to preach Mohammedanism to us, he would find a pulpit at his service."
Even George Washington personally welcomed Muslims to come work for him
at Mount Vernon.
So, why all this Founding Father/Muslim love? Probably because Sultan
Mohammed ben Abdallah of Morocco was the first world figure to recognize
the independence of the United States of America from Great Britain in 1777.
Another reason was that the Founding Fathers were smart enough to
distinguish between terrorists and everybody else on the whole damn
planet, as demonstrated in the Treaty of Tripoli in 1797. It was in this
agreement that the U.S. declared: "The government of the United States
of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian Religion, as
it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or
tranquility of Mussulmen [Moslems]."
5 Ridiculous Things You Probably Believe About Islam
By Jacopo della Quercia
...
[continued]
#4. Our Founding Fathers Would Never Have Tolerated This Muslim Nonsense!
It's easy to stand on a soapbox and publicly bluster about what you
think the Founding Fathers would think about the godless, multicultural
United States today. After all, these were Christian, God-fearing men,
damn it. They certainly wouldn't put up with all this tolerance for
these terrorist religions.
It's a good thing some Americans are standing up for good old-fashioned
American values and passing laws to prohibit Islamic law from taking
over the U.S., because that's totally around the corner! Somewhere,
Thomas Jefferson is smiling in his grave!
But actually...
Even if they were staunch Christians, plenty of the Founding Fathers had
a healthy admiration for the Muslim faith. Thomas Jefferson, for
example, taught himself Arabic using his own copy of the Quran and
hosted the first White House Iftar during Ramadan.
John Adams hailed the Islamic prophet Muhammad as one of the great
"inquirers after truth." Benjamin Rush, who was so Christian he wanted a
Bible in every school, also said he would rather see the opinions of
Confucius or Mohammad "inculcated upon our youth" than see them grow
deprived "of a system of religious principles." Benjamin Franklin once
declared: "Even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a missionary
to preach Mohammedanism to us, he would find a pulpit at his service."
Even George Washington personally welcomed Muslims to come work for him
at Mount Vernon.
So, why all this Founding Father/Muslim love? Probably because Sultan
Mohammed ben Abdallah of Morocco was the first world figure to recognize
the independence of the United States of America from Great Britain in 1777.
Another reason was that the Founding Fathers were smart enough to
distinguish between terrorists and everybody else on the whole damn
planet, as demonstrated in the Treaty of Tripoli in 1797. It was in this
agreement that the U.S. declared: "The government of the United States
of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian Religion, as
it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or
tranquility of Mussulmen [Moslems]."
21.12.2010 - 03:47
Dec 20, 2010
5 Ridiculous Things You Probably Believe About Islam
By Jacopo della Quercia
[continued]
#3. "Muslim" Equals "Arab"
Remember that crazy lady with the Einstein hair who asked John McCain if
Barack Obama was an Arab? No? Well, let us refresh your memory:
We're willing to bet there's more than a 20 percent chance this woman
meant to say "Muslim" but accidentally said "Arab" because same thing,
right? And even if you're not in the tea party camp, where you're
convinced "Arab" and "Muslim" are interchangeable, you've probably
operated under a similar assumption: that non-Jewish Middle Eastern
people are Muslim and that most Muslims live in the Middle East.
But actually...
Only about 20 percent of the entire world's Muslim population is Arab or
North African. For comparison, about 22 percent of the global Christian
population is African, yet when somebody says "Christian," you don't
immediately picture a dude from Africa. Equating "Muslim" with "Arab"
makes just as much sense.
While we in the West have been conditioned to associate Islam with the
Middle East, a whopping 61.9 percent of all Muslims -- aka a
supermajority -- don't live in the Middle East at all; most Muslims live
in the Asia-Pacific region. Indonesia alone is home to more than 200
million Muslims, and India and Bangladesh together have roughly a
half-billion Muslims.
It works the other way, too. For example, if you think being Arab
guarantees you being Muslim these days, well, we are sorry to
disappoint. As much as 10 percent of the world's Arab population is
Christian (that's more than 14 million people). That means there are 1
million more Arab Christians than, oh, we don't know ... the world's
entire Jewish population..
5 Ridiculous Things You Probably Believe About Islam
By Jacopo della Quercia
[continued]
#3. "Muslim" Equals "Arab"
Remember that crazy lady with the Einstein hair who asked John McCain if
Barack Obama was an Arab? No? Well, let us refresh your memory:
We're willing to bet there's more than a 20 percent chance this woman
meant to say "Muslim" but accidentally said "Arab" because same thing,
right? And even if you're not in the tea party camp, where you're
convinced "Arab" and "Muslim" are interchangeable, you've probably
operated under a similar assumption: that non-Jewish Middle Eastern
people are Muslim and that most Muslims live in the Middle East.
But actually...
Only about 20 percent of the entire world's Muslim population is Arab or
North African. For comparison, about 22 percent of the global Christian
population is African, yet when somebody says "Christian," you don't
immediately picture a dude from Africa. Equating "Muslim" with "Arab"
makes just as much sense.
While we in the West have been conditioned to associate Islam with the
Middle East, a whopping 61.9 percent of all Muslims -- aka a
supermajority -- don't live in the Middle East at all; most Muslims live
in the Asia-Pacific region. Indonesia alone is home to more than 200
million Muslims, and India and Bangladesh together have roughly a
half-billion Muslims.
It works the other way, too. For example, if you think being Arab
guarantees you being Muslim these days, well, we are sorry to
disappoint. As much as 10 percent of the world's Arab population is
Christian (that's more than 14 million people). That means there are 1
million more Arab Christians than, oh, we don't know ... the world's
entire Jewish population..
21.12.2010 - 03:49
Dec 20, 2010
5 Ridiculous Things You Probably Believe About Islam
By Jacopo della Quercia
[continued]
#2: Western Cultures Are Far More Humane Than the Bloodthirsty Muslims
Even before the whole terrorism thing, Islam had a reputation in the
West for violence. Part of it has to do with how abruptly Islam was all
up in everyone's face. For instance, while Hinduism took about 1,000
years to spread through India, and Christianity took about 400 years to
go from persecuted cult to the state religion of the Roman Empire, Islam
went from one guy's epiphany to the dominant political and religious
force in the Middle East and North Africa in about 100 years.
So a lot of people have reached the conclusion that the religion spread
like holy wildfire for one reason: the sword. The next logical leap from
this viewpoint is that as a people, Muslims must be violent and barbaric
conquerors. Even before 9/11, you saw this portrayal in popular culture
all the time:
But actually...
Muhammad laid out some pretty progressive rules of warfare, and medieval
Muslims out-niced the Christians in battle by a landslide. Especially
since Muhammad personally issued "a distinct code of conduct among
Islamic warriors" that included:
* No killing of women, children or innocents -- these might include
hermits, monks or other religious leaders who were deemed noncombatants;
* No wanton killing of livestock or other animals;
* No burning or destruction of trees and orchards; and
* No destruction of wells.
In short, Muhammad wanted his armies to fight like freaking hippies.
During the fucking Dark Ages. And they did.
But the biggest territorial gains were made after Muhammad's death,
right? Maybe that was when Islam earned its bloodthirsty reputation? Not
exactly. His successor codified the existing rules and made them the
standard for his army. Which probably explains why the Muslim army
conquering Europe "exhibited a degree of toleration which puts many
Christian nations to shame," in the words of one expert.
So while Christian crusaders were beheading enemies and tossing their
heads like oversized hacky sacks, their Muslim counterparts had a whole
honor code that led them to feed the armies of their defeated enemies.
5 Ridiculous Things You Probably Believe About Islam
By Jacopo della Quercia
[continued]
#2: Western Cultures Are Far More Humane Than the Bloodthirsty Muslims
Even before the whole terrorism thing, Islam had a reputation in the
West for violence. Part of it has to do with how abruptly Islam was all
up in everyone's face. For instance, while Hinduism took about 1,000
years to spread through India, and Christianity took about 400 years to
go from persecuted cult to the state religion of the Roman Empire, Islam
went from one guy's epiphany to the dominant political and religious
force in the Middle East and North Africa in about 100 years.
So a lot of people have reached the conclusion that the religion spread
like holy wildfire for one reason: the sword. The next logical leap from
this viewpoint is that as a people, Muslims must be violent and barbaric
conquerors. Even before 9/11, you saw this portrayal in popular culture
all the time:
But actually...
Muhammad laid out some pretty progressive rules of warfare, and medieval
Muslims out-niced the Christians in battle by a landslide. Especially
since Muhammad personally issued "a distinct code of conduct among
Islamic warriors" that included:
* No killing of women, children or innocents -- these might include
hermits, monks or other religious leaders who were deemed noncombatants;
* No wanton killing of livestock or other animals;
* No burning or destruction of trees and orchards; and
* No destruction of wells.
In short, Muhammad wanted his armies to fight like freaking hippies.
During the fucking Dark Ages. And they did.
But the biggest territorial gains were made after Muhammad's death,
right? Maybe that was when Islam earned its bloodthirsty reputation? Not
exactly. His successor codified the existing rules and made them the
standard for his army. Which probably explains why the Muslim army
conquering Europe "exhibited a degree of toleration which puts many
Christian nations to shame," in the words of one expert.
So while Christian crusaders were beheading enemies and tossing their
heads like oversized hacky sacks, their Muslim counterparts had a whole
honor code that led them to feed the armies of their defeated enemies.
21.12.2010 - 03:50
Dec 20, 2010
5 Ridiculous Things You Probably Believe About Islam
By Jacopo della Quercia
[continued]
#1. Islam Is Stuck in the Dark Ages
There are really three big negative stereotypes about Islam -- that it
hates women, that it's violent and that it hates any kind of scientific
progress. We've covered the first two already, but how can you argue
against the third? Their governments are based on ancient religious
texts! And what diseases has Iran cured?
But actually...
In the same way that not all Christians are Young Earth Creationists,
plenty of modern Muslims see room for interpretation in the Quran. In
fact, 45 percent of American Muslims in one poll said they see evolution
as "the best explanation for the origin of human life on Earth," which
isn't so shabby, considering only 24 percent of evangelical Christians
believed the same. The percentage of Muslims embracing the scientific
explanation for the origin of life was about the same as Americans as a
whole (48 percent).
And historically, they have a hell of a track record. Science and math
as we know it wouldn't even exist without Islam. The Islamic Golden Age
caused a revolution in virtually every field of human thought, during
which they fucking invented algebra -- and advanced everything from
geography and exploration to the arts, architecture, philosophy, urban
development, medicine and health.
The Muslims actually came pretty damn close to sharing all this
brilliance with the truly ass-backward kingdoms of Christian Europe,
since the Islamic caliphates blanketed every country they conquered with
schools, libraries, public works and the most comprehensive system of
social welfare on the planet. In fact, the case has been made that if
the caliphates succeeded in conquering all of Europe an Italian
Renaissance would have been unnecessary.
All right. Now we look forward to a completely civil and logical group
of article comments.
5 Ridiculous Things You Probably Believe About Islam
By Jacopo della Quercia
[continued]
#1. Islam Is Stuck in the Dark Ages
There are really three big negative stereotypes about Islam -- that it
hates women, that it's violent and that it hates any kind of scientific
progress. We've covered the first two already, but how can you argue
against the third? Their governments are based on ancient religious
texts! And what diseases has Iran cured?
But actually...
In the same way that not all Christians are Young Earth Creationists,
plenty of modern Muslims see room for interpretation in the Quran. In
fact, 45 percent of American Muslims in one poll said they see evolution
as "the best explanation for the origin of human life on Earth," which
isn't so shabby, considering only 24 percent of evangelical Christians
believed the same. The percentage of Muslims embracing the scientific
explanation for the origin of life was about the same as Americans as a
whole (48 percent).
And historically, they have a hell of a track record. Science and math
as we know it wouldn't even exist without Islam. The Islamic Golden Age
caused a revolution in virtually every field of human thought, during
which they fucking invented algebra -- and advanced everything from
geography and exploration to the arts, architecture, philosophy, urban
development, medicine and health.
The Muslims actually came pretty damn close to sharing all this
brilliance with the truly ass-backward kingdoms of Christian Europe,
since the Islamic caliphates blanketed every country they conquered with
schools, libraries, public works and the most comprehensive system of
social welfare on the planet. In fact, the case has been made that if
the caliphates succeeded in conquering all of Europe an Italian
Renaissance would have been unnecessary.
All right. Now we look forward to a completely civil and logical group
of article comments.
23.12.2010 - 16:59
#6 Islam is peaceful.
24.12.2010 - 16:25
On Dec 23, 10:590am, "Jo Baggs" <j...@says.shaddup> wrote:
