It seems you side with these people here. Did you speak out as vehemently against them (just a small example btw) as strongly as you do against the Florida Pastor? I think not.
This is what I was thinking as I read the 80 pages of posts.
The responsibility should be laid upon the people who committed the acts. Most here were assuming that the Muslims who were rioting and killing over the burning of a book half a world away had no control over their reactions, and thus could not be held accountable for them: they were demonstrating their belief that it was the West’s responsibility to make sure the Islamic world behaves in a civilized manner.
I live in Washington DC and have many friends and neighbors that are Muslim; I asked them what they thought about the burning, they said that if they met Pastor Jones "they would cut his head off". I asked them about the actions taken by the people in Afghanistan and they applauded them... Now keep in mind that these are people that Work, Live and Pray in the USA. I told them that I would have an issue calling them Moderate Muslims because of their answers. They Said that the Education and culture of Islam is that you protect Islam with your life. I was a bit shocked, so I retreated to my den to study a little about the subject. I had to ponder my own belief system growing up as a catholic but find myself today a non religious person having studied Physics and math the past 30 years. I wondered who is God what does he mean to people? So I started to search the Bible, Quran and Torah to get my answers.
Well after many nights of pouring through the religious text I find myself no closer to God than I was a week ago. So I called a college who is what I would consider a Well Educated non practicing Muslim Professor and asked him for some insight on this event and how moderate and extremist Muslims find themselves in agreement on this subject. His first comment was “do you have 20 years?” I don’t but he proceeded to tell me that Muslims are very devoted to the Political structure of Islam not to the religious aspect. Without the political structure the religion would not last because of the vast cultures that Islam is practiced from China, Indonesia, Middle East, Africa and Persia. It is the fastest growing religion in the world that spans every group, nationality and language.
We make a natural mistake in our understanding of Islamic tradition, assuming that religion means the same for Muslims as it has meant for most other religious adherents ever since the industrial revolution, and for some societies, even before that; that is: a section of life reserved for certain matters, and separate from other sections of life. This is not the Islamic world view.
Islam is a “total way of life.” It has provided guidance in every sphere of life, from individual cleanliness, rules of trade, to the structure and politics of the society. Islam can never be separated from social, political, or economic life, since religion provides moral guidance for every action that a person takes. The primary act of faith is to strive to implement God's will in both private and public life. Muslims see that they, themselves, as well as the world around them, must be in total submission to God and his Will. Moreover, they know that this concept of His rule must be established on earth in order to create a just society. Like Jews and Christians before them, Muslims have been called into a covenant relationship with God, making them a community of believers who must serve as an example to other nations by creating a Islamic moral social order. Throughout history, being a Muslim has meant not only belonging to a religious community of fellow believers but also living under the Islamic Law. For Islamic Law is believed to be an extension of God’s absolute sovereignty and God’s word written or sung is as sacred Gods own being.
