4 comments

• Walter Walkie

  June 16, 2011 at 1:38 pm

  yes when you decide suicide bombing is a good idea you take things to a whole other level .. oh btw :

  my rap song about suicide bombers

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTNDtrqxERQ
• jeff

  June 17, 2011 at 2:27 am

  17,000 acts of terrorism as defined by your source is a number tallied by what appears to be an anti-Islamist website dedicated to documenting violence in the Arab world and attributing its terror count solely on the basis of religious motive. It does not contextualize each purported act of terrorism, nor does it account for the volatility of that region, the lack of basic human needs and services, the illiteracy rate, or even the pervasive and overwhelming socioeconomic instability that has historically been the number one cause of systemic violence. Instead, this website just makes the uneducated leap that because horrific things happen in that part of the world, Islam equates to terrorism. By that vague standard, any act of violence could be considered terrorism. Christians have had their times of uncertainty and they did not come out of it smelling like roses (lest you forget The Crusades – well over 17,000 documented cases of terror on that front).

  I am no atheist and harbor no ill will toward Christians or their beliefs, but Muslims, Christians and Jews have been doing irrational and violent things toward one another for a very long time, ironically while praying to the same God. Despite the Christian church’s history of cruelty and violence, as individuals and communities they have also been compassionate and kind in infinite ways. That is the duality of the human condition.

  It is very easy to examine the complexities of this strange paradox in terms of our beliefs, or more importantly, within ourselves. Yet it has never been easy to make those same exceptions for those who we have less in common with. Even worse is to hear the same criticisms about ourselves that we impart on others.
• Chris Kirkendall

  June 17, 2011 at 2:59 pm

  Critical mistake, Jeff – you equate what Christians did hundreds of years ago, and what all true Christians today acknowledge was a horrically twisted interpretation of God’s word, with deliberate acts of terror done in the name of Allah, not hundreds of years ago, but as we speak! No believing Christian today would ever condone such acts, and in fact, they’d be roundly condemned – not just by SOME, but by ALL true Christians. But apparently, Islam has not evolved one iota in its thinking since its founding in 600 AD. Also, understand this: Allah is NOT the same God we worship…

  What acts of terror can you cite committed by Christians today? What acts of terror can you cite from Jews? And please don’t tell me that Israelis defending themselves from constant attacks from Hamas, Hezbollah, the Palestinians, etc. are “acts of terror”. In fact, what is the religion of 99% of those continually attacking Israel? ISLAM ! ! Let’s face it – the problem of terror is almost exclusively confined to radical Islam. To be fair, I’m not saying ALL Muslims are responsible for this or participate in it. But there is a rather disturbing lack of concern among a fairly large percentage of Muslims over this issue. After 9-11 we heard, repeatedly, so-called moderate Muslims saying that while they didn’t approve of the acts on 9-11, they “understood” why they were committed. Can you imagine any Christian or Jew saying such a thing if one of theirs committed some horrific act like that? Wouldn’t happen…
• John M. Egan

  June 18, 2011 at 5:53 pm

  Where are the Moslem leaders condemming acts of terrorism? I understand- silence means consent!