A Muslim friend asked me this question so he can debate it with non Christians. Please help me give him some debate points that cannot be refuted.


Why is it that today, Muslims are the only people using religiously based violence on a large, worldwide scale?

I try to answer this with the answer that it is because of the underlying social, economic, and political issues that fuel the fighting but there are other religious groups with the same problems. And I'm not talking whether Islam itself is peaceful. I can easily debate that and show Islam is no more violent itself than say Christianity. I'm talking Muslims themselves as people. People desecrate crucifixion pictures all the time yet it is Muslims that protest violently about cartoons portraying Muslims as violent. And I'm not talking past. I know the violent histories of the major religions. But why in the present, Muslims are the only ones fighting on a global scale? All the answers I come up with don't work because there are people from other religions that are in the same situation yet do not react violently.
 

The only answer I can come up with is that Muslims today are the only people that feel targeted because of their religion. And they react violently and illogically to that feeling.
 

Answer
 

Assalam alaikum,

This is the no-win kind of question from which there is no escape and for which there is no easy answer...if you step into the question as framed and try to answer it. The above is also the kind of question that best describes the question posed to your Muslim friend ('Why is it that today, Muslims are the only people using religiously based violence on a large, worldwide scale?').
 

A similar proposition is the 'fact' that of all the places where there are wars or rebellions currently, almost all of them are Muslim. Thus, Muslims are violent and murderous by their faith and nature.
 

This surgical isolation of Muslims (in the bogus question) appears to be devised with the main thought of entrapping Muslims to indict themselves by leaving them without an answer.
 

In Poll data-gathering, this is called driving the answer with a carefully-crafted question; one could come up with a similar and also bogus, thrust and drive the answer by asking:
 

• Why is all the violence in Africa being conducted only by Blacks? (Blacks are therefore, naturally prone to slaughter)

• Why are so few Jews, winners of so many Nobel-prizes? (Jews are hard-working geniuses)

• Why have Whites killed so many tens of Millions of people in the 20th century (Whites can only live by slaughter)

• Why did Christians slaughter millions of Jews in WWII? (Christians are still seeking revenge for the blood of Jesus)

If you want a specific answer, you must first devise a specific question.
 

Of course, going back into history does not help, because the question has been framed in the present.
 

Similarly, comparing the actions of the US (for example) in Iraq or Afghanistan, is also not a convincing response because THAT, they say, is not based on religion but based on other things (oil, asset-control, strategy etc.,)
 

Basically, if we step into the frame outlined by the question, we are trapped...almost.
 

The question has several false assumptions behind it and they have to be addressed before one can establish the validity of the question.
 

 Are you concerned about violence by Muslims only, or violence in the name of a philosophy (Islam, 'Democracy', 'Freedom', Judaism, Christianity etc.,)?
 

 Some of the violence being (now or recently) conducted is indeed, by Muslims:
 

Indonesia against the People of East Timor and Acheh
 

Sudan against the people of Darfur and the Southern peoples.
 

Algeria against itself
 

Turkey against the Kurds
 

 Many of the so-called global violence statistics are not Muslim-instigated violence issues even though they involve Muslims:
 

*All the Muslim Chechens wanted was freedom (our own much-heralded banner) for which Russia committed a massive genocide that continues to this day. Being a friend of the United States, Russia convinced the US to include Chechens on their list of terrorists.
 

*All the Muslim Uigurs wanted was self-determination, for which China has declared war on them and being a friend of the United States, China convinced the US to include Uigurs on their list of terrorists.
 

*All the Muslim Moros wanted was self-determination for which first the Spaniards, then the Americans and now the Philippines have declared war on them and they are on the list of terrorists.
 

*All the Muslim Bosnians and the Muslim Kosovars wanted was independence (like Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro and Macedonia), for which the Serbs declared war on them and at first, got the US to declare them as terrorists and finally came to their aid but only after massive genocide had been committed against them by the Serbs and the Croats.
 

* All the Muslim (and Christian) Palestinians wanted was their own right to their lands and to be treated justly for which Israel launched a genocidal war on them and  and being a friend of the United States, Israel convinced the US to include Palestinians on their list of terrorists.
 

* All the Muslim Kashmiris want is the right of self-determination for which India launched a genocidal war on them and  and being a friend of the United States, India convinced the US to include Kashmiris on their list of terrorists.
 

*Iraqi Muslims never declared war on the US, it was the other way around. Yes, there is Muslim-on-Muslim mayhem in Iraq but that responsibility according to Geneva Conventions, lies with the occupying power.
 

*Afghan Muslims never declared war in the US; the US had decided to invade Afghanistan and refused to take the diplomatic route to have Ben Laden handed to them by declaring that any such attempts would be a waste of time.
 

*The Somalis never declared war on Ethiopia; the US encouraged, funded and provided for the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia, because the US could not countenance an Islamic, Sharia-based country (Somalia), succeeding where they faced defeat and humiliation.
 

 Many of the violent events have nothing to do with Muslims:
 

*The Tamils of Sri Lanka are not Muslim
 

*The Nagas of India are not Muslim
 

*The North Koreans are not Muslim
 

*The Mozambique rebels are not Muslim
 

*The Rwandans are not Muslim
 

*The Congolese are not Muslim
 

*The Ugandan Government conducting slaughter is not Muslim
 

*The Lord's Army of Uganda is not Muslim
 

*The Sierra Leonis are not Muslim
 

*The Liberians are not Muslim
 

*The Chadians are not Muslim
 

*The Basques of Spain are not Muslim
 

*The Serbs of Serbia are not Muslim
 

*The Serbs of Republika Srpska are not Muslim
 

*The Shining Path guerrillas of Colombia are not Muslim
 

*The Government of Argentina were not Muslim
 

*The Government of Chile under Pinochet were not Muslim
 

*The Government of Honduras was not Muslim
 

*The Government of Colombia conducting a genocide of their Indians are not Muslim
 

*The Americans (involved in so many wars) are not Muslim
 
 

No Muslim government, not even the ones who practice it, has ever, openly embraced torture like the non-Muslim US has.
 

 If we re-examine the question in light of the above examples (I may have missed some), we will see that the 'religiously based' bit of crafting, makes the question so specific that it almost forces the answer to involve only Muslims. However, if one takes the biasing factor out of the question and tries to focus on 'GLOBAL VIOLENCE', we come to entirely different conclusions as to who is committing violence across the globe.
 

 

Humoring the original question. if we only take 'religiously based' violence, we will see that we also have to include Serbia and Croatia who declared war on Muslim Bosnia and whose leaders stated on many occasions, that their aim was to 'remove the evil of Islam from the heart of Christian Europe' while the West stood by and not only watched it happen, but allowed the supplying of weapons to Serbia and Croatia while imposing an embargo on Bosnia.
 

We must also include Israel that takes pride in being a nation founded and based, on a land for Jews only.
 

A lot of the violence that is aided and abetted by states on India, against Muslims, is also 'religiously based' violence.
 

This answer does not directly respond to the original question but, I believe trying to answer the question as stated, would be a mistake because the question is based on false premises.
 

 The other issue brought up by you and perhaps, not by your Muslim friend, was about the so-called 'freedom of speech' issue brought up by the so-called 'cartoon controversy'. This is also a deep subject which I will be happy to address at a later time, should you so wish.

 

Regards,