Religion of Peace, You Say? Syria Says Otherwise
The recent developments in Syria are disturbing, to say the least. If rumours are true and chemical weapons are being used, then this affects every living person on the planet. Syria’s is one of the most complicated conflicts in recent years. I myself still have not grasped the whole situation, but I do know one thing: both sides are screaming “Allahu Akbar” as they kill their enemies. I am so fed up with hearing that Islam is a religion of peace. Muslims repeat this to both non-believers and to each other as if to hypnotise themselves into believing it, perhaps believing if they say it enough times it becomes true. If Islam is truly a religion of peace, you’d have thought all this peace and serenity would have rubbed off on its followers. Rather, Islam seems to actually inspire violence, as the majority of ongoing wars today are in Islamic-run countries. Whether or not they are committing these atrocities in the name of Islam is irrelevant. The question is, how can Islam be a religion of peace if so many of its followers are so quick to war?
There are currently ten ongoing military conflicts in the world with over a thousand deaths a year, and NINE of those are in Muslim-majority countries. The only ongoing conflict with kills over a thousand people a year that has nothing to do with Islam is the Mexican Drug War. If Islam was so damn peaceful you’d think its followers would shy away from bloodshed, but as the evidence shows, this is simply not true. Whether Muslims are in the wrong or right doesn’t matter because they are always in the fight. If we bring in ongoing conflicts with under a thousand deaths a year, on average Muslim conflicts jump to an even higher unacceptable number.
Muhammad, that Cheeky Fellow, Might be the Cause of all this “Peace”
Perhaps this violence ingrained into Islam comes from its main man, Muhammad. Muhammad was a warlord involved in over twenty battles, and is highly criticised for his mass murder of the men of Banu Qurayza, a Jewish tribe of Medina. He killed all the men and took the women and children as slaves. This does not sound like a man dedicated to peace, and if you base your entire lifestyle on his way of thinking then I guess that is going to bring out your darker side too. I think we all know about the other traits Muhammad had that were considered somewhat taboo. How can Muslims hold a man in such high regard knowing that if he were alive today he’d be hated across the globe? Does it say something about Islam?
One of the truly greatest men who ever walked the planet, a free thinker unrestrained by the chains of religion even in a day when such rebellion could earn you a gruesome death, François-Marie Arouet (probably better known to you as Voltaire) wrote a play about the prophet of Islam called Mahomet. The play is a study of religious fanaticism and self-serving manipulation based on an episode in the traditional biography of Muhammad in which he orders the murder of his critics. When asked why he wrote the play, he replied with a show of majestic elegance and linguistic mastery:
"It was written in opposition to the founder of a false and barbarous sect to whom could I with more propriety inscribe a satire on the cruelty and errors of a false prophet."
Voltaire was warning us about fanaticism in 1741! If only we listened...
Islam is not to Blame...Apparently
A worrying amount of Muslims (fanatical in nature, I hope), have said world peace will only be achieved once everyone on Earth submits to Islamic law. World domination is an open goal of every religion, but while most religions inspire pamphlet-brandishing followers to knock on your door at 7am, it seems to me that Islam has a unique ability to make people pick up guns and make it happen through force. I already know what the critics of this blog are going to say...
“It is all political, nothing to do with Islam.” “It is the leaders of the countries who are doing this.”
“They are not true Muslims.” “They misinterpret the Qur’ran for their own needs.”
Blah blah blah! This could be true if it was a single Islamic country in turmoil, but it is not, it is a massive amount of Muslim-majority countries that are involved in some type of violent conflict. Saying that Islam does not breed violence is like saying heroin addiction doesn’t bring STD’s—sorry buddy, the facts are against you. And please do not blame Western interference, no one can force you to plant incendiary bombs in schools or libraries; I’m not saying the west are are a bunch of goody-two-shoes, but claim some fucking responsibility for your actions and stop pointing the finger.
At best Islam is an alcoholic father. He comes home at 2am and beats his wife and children, abuses them, tortures them, sells their possessions to buy more drink and then sobbingly apologises at the end of the night and promises to take you to the zoo on the weekend, only to repeat the same violent process the next day. Yes there are slivers of light and kindness in the Qur’ran and in Islam itself, but it is drowned out by the absolute terrible violence it also encourages.
In closing, a video demonstration of the religion of peace!
Here is a video...It is a recording of dead and dying people lying on the floor while people desperately try and revive them. It is from the Syria conflict, and it is the reason I wrote this article. The bit that gets me is a young girl (she must only be about 4-5 years old) and as she was squirming around, no doubt breathing her last breaths. I could hear someone repeatedly scream “Allah Akbar” in the background. I realise that this man was obviously distraught and was crying this phrase out in frenzied and panicked heartbreak, but it just reminded me that the person who use the chemical weapon on that child probably shouted the same thing.
You can keep Islam. I can’t take it from you. There is a 0.000000000001 chance that Islam is the true faith under the true God, but in any case, don’t call it a religion of peace. Don’t insult us with such a ridiculous statement. That phrase “religion of peace” should be dropped immediately by the Muslims in charge of advertising, as people will want their money back when they see the results. A faith is only as pure as those who follow it.
