I watch Bill Maher every weekend. I enjoy the commentary
from various people. I like it when multiple brains are involved and therefore
multiple perspectives. But a common position that Maher takes is that Islam is
an evil. He believes that the religion of Islam is the root cause of terrorism
perpetrated by Muslim extremists, and he is certainly not alone in this belief.
But one has to remember that Bill Maher believes all religion is dangerous, and
to his credit any religion can become so. Any religion can be used to justify
abuse, declare war, or justify human rights violations. But to say that Islamic
terrorism is an “Islam problem” is a falsehood, and here’s why.
Let’s start with holy books, and not just the Qu’ran. Islam
is one of the youngest world religions and is still well over a thousand years
old. Have you ever noticed that the Torah depicts slavery under the Egyptians
and war with the Hittites, while Christian gospels frequently reference the
Romans? We have to remember that a lot of what goes into the recording of these
holy books is cultural and influenced by historical events of that time. Why
does the Qu’ran even mention war and fighting? Because war occurred between the
cities of Yathrib (Medina) and Mecca during Mohammad’s time, just as the
Hebrews had to fight for Israel after the Exodus. One would be surprised how
much of what is to be taken as religious law was simply influence from the
environment at the time of the compilation of these books. My point is
this: if you were to take all holy books
literally, the Bible would have you enslaving pagans, beating your wives,
stoning sinners, and screwing your brother’s widow when you die. You’d go to
hell for getting a new TV just because your neighbor got one or because you ate
too much at Golden Corral.
But people do often take their holy books literally.
Sometimes it’s harmless, and sometimes it leads to hurting others. It’s one
thing to not get a tattoo because you believe it to be a sin. It’s another
thing to disown your son for being gay, or worse, subject him to harm because
you view him as an abomination. One thing that we should consider is where we
might find the vast majority of people who take the Bible literally. In the US,
that would be rural areas somewhat isolated from places that gather more
diversity thus experience a higher degree of social dynamics. I’m not saying
that rural living is bad. I quite enjoyed my rural upbringing. But I can tell
you from experience that there is a lot more taking the Bible literally in the
country than there is in the cities and suburbs. There, people generally
approach their religion thematically. Rather than getting hung up on
commandments, deadly sins, and details about who you can love, there is more of
an emphasis on general, positive themes like looking out for your neighbor,
helping the helpless, loving your family, faith, salvation, and being moral.
Never mind the details and scripture quoting. And with most of the people in
the US living in those areas, I’d venture to assume that most Americans
approach religion this way. I think this keeps Americans somewhat civil about
religion. We typically don’t impugn one another over faith.
Now, look at Islam. The Qu’ran actually says that a Muslim
is to adopt the laws and customs of the place in which they live. Every Muslim
I’ve ever known in the US has done this. Some of the women choose to wear a hijab, which is not required by the Qu’ran, though
it is encouraged as a degree of decency. All of them follow the law as closely
as any non-Muslim. They seem to approach Islam as thematically and generally as
most Christians do with their religion. So why is it that we find Muslims in
other parts of the world killing liquor store owners and subjugating women? Why
to so many openly advocate for killing someone who strays from the religion? I
bring you back to the issue of taking one’s religion literally. The Middle East
as a whole has been highly isolated for most of human history, mainly because
of the barren, desertous geography. It has not experienced the social changes
in real time with the rest of the world. Basically, much of the Middle East
still exists in the middle ages, in a time when women were second to men and
stoning a person to death was common. Much of their religious book took on the
culture of seventh century Arabia, and even now in the twenty-first century,
much of these areas still bear those cultural standards. Men still hold control
over the status quo, and so do Muslims. Outside influences are shunned. When
terrible things happen in the name of Islam, it isn’t because the religion is
evil. The religion contains broad themes of helping the impoverished and even
the exaltation of women as largely equal to men. But the places where Islam is
dominant often bear an ethnic (not religious) culture where women are
mistreated, non-Muslims are hated, and extremist groups come to be. This is a
result of isolation and literal interpretation of the religion. It stands in
resistance of changes in human rights and progressive thinking.
Islam is not more the perpetrator behind atrocities and
terrorism than Christianity is the culprit behind hate crimes against gays.
Either the religion is misunderstood, perverted, altered by cultural standards,
or people are outright using the religion to justify their hateful intentions
and actions. It isn't fair to demonize an entire religion, especially when all other religions have had hateful fundamentalists, themselves. And it isn't fair to single out Muslims for their faith and force them to take responsibility for the wrongs of others.
