The face of Islam at this point in history is bad. Riots over cartoons, Sunnis and Shiites killing each other in Iraq, a Palestinian parliament lead by the terrorist group Hamas (motto: destruction of Israel), and Sept. 11 evil mastermind Osama bin Laden are what we think of when we think about Islam.
Many claim that Islam is just a violent religion that advances the idea of holy war and violence throughout the world and has done so since its inception.
They are right, except for the last part. Only in the last 125 years or so has Islam been a religion prone to violence and extremism.
Since its inception in 610 up to the 1880's, Islam was a tolerant and peaceful religion. Under the Islamic empires of that time, only a small head tax was placed on non-Muslims living there by its religious rulers. Otherwise, Jews, Christians and any others were free to worship as they pleased.
In fact, Islamic scholars contributed greatly to the fields of mathematics, astronomy, medicine and philosophy centuries before Western scientists reached that level of intelligence. Jews and Muslims often had to unify to fight a common enemy: Christianity.
I hate Christianity. There, I said it. Since its creation, it has mostly caused violence and death, despite espousing the doctrine of compassion and love.
The list of Christian persecutions of other faiths and peoples is painfully long: nine major crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the spread of Christianity throughout Europe (involving massacres of pagan peoples), the colonization of the Americas (involving even more massacres of native populations) and the Salem Witch trials, just to name a few.
The number of deaths cause by Christian persecution far exceeds the number of innocents killed in Islamic terrorist bombings and Sept. 11 combined.
As a Jew, I have always been taught to respect and tolerate other religious beliefs. And for the most part, I do. But I draw the line at Christianity.
First of all, the concept of Jesus dying for "the sins of humanity" is ridiculous. I am responsible for my own actions, and I am angered at the thought of someone being killed for them before I was born.
Second, any religion that tries to convert others to "save them," whether by force or by passive means is not a real religion. Worry about yourself and your family, but leave everyone else alone. If they want to convert, fine. But don't come knock on my door and explain to me that I'm going to hell because I don't believe in Jesus.
Last, those who practice the religion disregard its principles at every turn. Christianity preaches "love thy enemy as thyself" and "turn the other cheek." Someone must have forgotten that when the Crusades happened.
As for modern times, what ever happened to "judge not lest ye be judged?" The modern Christian Right obsesses over telling people how to live: Whether they should have abortions, take an elderly person off of life support or teach that evolution is only "unproven theory."
I do not hate those who practice Christianity. Most were born into it and are decent people. Only Christian extremists who attempt to impose their religion on others and forget one vital fact: before there was the scourge of Islam, there was the wrath of Christianity.
Jared Sax is a McCormick freshman. He can be reached at
j-sax@northwestern.edu.
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