Historical injustice leads to Islamic violence? Bullshit!

A few days ago, I received a comment from Maidak stating that historical injustices cannot be ignored when viewing Islamic violence. He goes on to state other examples that reflect our dual-standards and therefore asks me to temper my views based on those points.

Firstly, I want to thank Maidak for his reason-based criticisms. They are far more respectable than dogmatic outbursts. However, I profoundly disagree with each and every one of his points and I will dedicate this post to refuting those.

Historical Injustice

I do not deny that historical injustices occurred and  I do not condone them. However, when an attempt is made to draw a line of causality from those injustices to the frenzied violence we see in the Islamic world, I find it feeble and disingenuous at best and deliberately dishonest at worst.

At various points in history most communities have suffered loss and subjugation at the hands of another. The Native Americans were marginalized in their native land. The tibetan buddhists have been deprived of not just their territory but also their cultural heritage at the hands of a regime with far fewer scruples than Israelis. The hindu untouchables have been deprived of basic human dignity for millenia. The list of oppressed is long and diverse. Are any of these communities planting bombs in railway stations and bazaars? Are any of these communities contemplating jihad? Are any of them striving for spiritual salvation by spilling infidel blood?

Islam is unique in its ability to harness discontent, wrap it up in self-righteousness and channelize it towards brutal violence. To characterize the Palestinian issue as a territorial one is to not understand it at all. Listen to the Islamic clerics recite the relevant Quranic verses and you will realize that territory is irrelevant. The destruction that is demanded by the Quran is not of Israel – but of Jews themselves. Israel did not exist at the time the Quran was written and yet it is replete with murderous exhortations to slay Jews.  Your kind sensibilities may inhibit you from entertaining this idea, but I hope you will be persuaded by evidence. See this video-clip I have embedded on my blog. Or this one. And this one.

Disproportionate Funding and Poverty

Yes it is true that Israel receives enormous funding. Why do you think the Palestinians do not (or could not)? The US and European Union regularly fund the PA but the money evaporates within the irredeemably corrupt officials. Egypt is kept afloat with the help of US funds. The same goes for Pakistan. Why do you believe that the US is obliged to cradle Islamic nations? Why can the Saudis, Kuwaitis and Iranians not fund the impoverished Palestinians? They are sending enormous sums to fund Jihad. Why can they not help their starving Palestinian brothers? Answer: The Koran promises Jannat (heaven – replete with 72 virgins) most lavishly for Jihad. With the power of the purse and prestige that Saudi Arabia commands, Palestinians could be well-educated and prosperous even in their dire circumstances. Unfortunately Islamic salvation does not lie in prosperity. Salvation lies in adherence to Quranic doctrine and martyrdom! See the specific verses from the not-so-holy Quran that deal with God-sanctioned intolerance and violence.

Islam-specific bias.

You ask a good question about whether we would be equally dismayed at Amish people’s peculiar traditions as we are about Islamic womens’ veils. Let me hazard a response. Nobody is denying the right of Amish people to live like 17 century throwbacks. Similarly, nobody is denying the right of muslim women to wear the veil, the hijab, the chaddor, the riddha or the burqa. The difference lies in the fact that an Amish person could choose to renounce his Amish heritage and traditions and join mainstream society without risking a public beheading or flogging. An Islamic person who rejects or renounces his/her faith and its injunctions can expect to be beheaded for his/her insolence – not because the Taliban is cruel – but because the Koran EXPLICITLY DEMANDS it. The Bible also demands pretty gruesome penalties but secular society has placed controls on such barbaric impulses. This is not the case in the Islamic world. This is the CRUCIAL difference. When you see dismay at the Muslim veil or hijab, it is not because its a fashion faux pas but because it is symptomatic of the viciousness of the underlying philosophy (i.e. Islam and its institutionalized barbarism).

Regarding christian missionaries and their forcible conversions….. If this is indeed happening, then they are just as reprehensible as the Islmic Jihadists and no apologies / excuses should be entertained for this. However, the world I see today is one where (a predominantly christian but secular) Europe and US fought a war with Serbia (Slobodan Milosevic) to put an end to the genocide of ethnic Albanian muslims. Contrast that with the fact that Sudan’s government is willfully permitting genocide in Darfur where millions of Christians are being slaughtered by muslim thugs and NOT A SINGLE Islamic country  has even issued a censure.  On the contrary, they are organizing asylum to for the Sudanese President Bashir if he were to be apprehended by UN forces. If you notice, whenever a Jihadi act occurs, Islamists are quick to give excuses and feeble explanations – but they are never too eager to repudiate Jihad itself. This remains true whether the act is a massacre in Mumbai or Madrid.

Admittedly the west in general and the US in particular is not completely blameless and should not be excused for its misadventures – but we should also not overlook the  flagrant violations and transgressions that are par for the course in the Islamic world.

In conclusion.

You make some interesting points and they reflect your gentle sensibilities – but they do not withstand closer scrutiny. All religions have their share of lunatics and extremists. But it is irrefutably evident that Islam is today’s biggest source of bigotry and blood-lust. Our (relatively) rational thinking, cannot explain this level of insanity and so we convince ourselves that there is some serious and peculiar injustice that is meted out to the muslims which explains the rabid neurosis. A closer examination of the facts as well as of the Koran will show you that the Root cause of Islamic terror is Islam itself!