Iraq: Fighting for Truth, Justice and the Islamic Way

02/12/2004

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by Moderator @ 07:36 PM CST [Link]

Replies: 5 comments

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Posted by rick foster @ 02/13/2004 09:29 AM CST

I am a Buddhist. I don’t think Islam is aggressive in its nature. You should not oppress too much your counterpart, or you may not oppress your counterpart anyway because he/she is your friend anyway. Anyone oppressed will do everything possible. If, just in case, Japan is invaded, I would do everything without thinking of myself.
I see the most aggressive religion in Christianity. Jesus cannot be said to be aggressive. He opposed the ruling at that time and persuaded people to live just as they were convinced of history and ordinary life. Christianity has a lot of good side. But, it came up just like a wandering child who eagerly pursued a power in this real world along with purity. It ignored others, then became so aggressive that it called other who resisted it aggressive. There is a very, very little opportunity today that Christianity can change itself by itself. Yesterday is not today. Everything changes. But, I don’t think Christianity is brave enough to change. We can just make efforts to give conditions for Christianity to change. I can last more than hundred years. Well, we’ll see. Take care of yourself in order to live another hundreds years. It could be just hundred years, or nine hundred ninety nine years. We have to accomplish our attempt in thousand years.

Posted by Hiroshi Iida @ 02/13/2004 07:35 PM CST

Dear Hiroshi Lida,
My commentary had nothing to do with the aggressive or non-aggressive nature of Islam or Christianity. You can find our views (mine and that of "Analyst") at Facing "enlightened" racism.

While I do intend to pursue the question of fundamentalism and its misuse by racists in future posts, that was not the question at issue here at all.

Western-style democracies require separation of church and state. This principle was a cornerstone of the French republic and likewise of the United States. I believe the wording in the constitution is "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." Now the dilemma of the US is 3 pronged it seems:
1- USA committed itself to establishing what Americans consider to be democracy in Iraq - that was the promise. It is also probably a necessity if the Middle East is going to turn to the path of sanity and peaceful development.

2- In the current reality it is not possible to have a secular democracy in Iraq apparently.

3- Bush himself is supported by a number of fundamentalist Christians like Pat Robertson who aren't exactly happy about separation of Church and State in the USA. In fact, while you may not know it, though the provision was written into the US constitution and though the US never exactly had an established Church, it took many years to eliminate religious discrimination in legislation and religious practices from most aspects of American life. At one time you could be fined for washing your car on Sunday. The Supreme Court also ruled that it was unconstitutional to have prayers in public schools and to force children to pray to God. That began the long fight about "putting God back into the public school system." Presumably, God can put himself wherever He wants, without the help of the USA Supreme Court or Congress.

As for the problem of aggressiveness, the Islamic fundamentalists like those in Iran, claim that they are a most aggressive religion against any who are not of their faith. That is their claim, and you can read the speeches of Osama Bin Laden or Ayatollah Khomeini to see that what they think. Though some people exaggerate the case and say that all Muslims believe that way, that is not our position.

That is as good a summary as I can give here.

Thank you for visiting MidEastweb. Visit us again soon. Something is always happening here.

Ami Isseroff

Posted by Moderator @ 02/13/2004 11:04 PM CST

thank you for this site keep the good work up

Posted by allan massey @ 02/15/2004 12:05 AM CST

It consistently amazes me that we have misread the statement in the Constitution that says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." What does that mean? I think Ammi Isseroff is correct in implying that we don't want the US, or anyone else, to decide what others should believe. That is a freedom of ALL people. The US was established with the ideals of freedom of religion. Many of those who settled this land came from England, where, like so many other nations in history, the government held a heavy hand in the placement of religious leaders. If that is what the new Iraqi Constitution is doing, we are going against the very tennants of our own organization. But it is also important to see that most Americans don't even understand the "seperation of church and state". Our US forefathers (most of them- but clearly not all) were devout religious men. Their biographies and beliefs are simply amazing! Many of their own statements were given to explain that our government could not work without basic Christian ethics. But all too often, we read "seperation of church and state" and the wording of our Constitution to mean that we must not let religion get involved in our government. To the contrary - the wording was intended to mean that the government would not influence or control our religion, and not the other way around. The elimination of moral/church ethics and ideals are a must if we or anyone are to survive.

Posted by Stan Zurcher @ 02/16/2004 07:10 AM CST

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