The
Sabbath-Breaker Stoned, Gouache, c. 1896-1902.
If the Jews Gave
up Stoning, Can Muslims Give Up Beheading? (Trouw, The Netherlands)
"To use
Jews as an example for Muslims might be upsetting to some people, but I do it
anyway because it is instructive. In the sacred books of the Jews, gross,
uncivilized passages are also to be found. Four types of death penalties are
described, depending on the violation. Jews who fail to observe the Sabbath,
for example (and perhaps work on that day) should, according to the Torah, be
stoned. … But not a single Jew anywhere in the world today would get it into
his head to apply this Toranic precept. Even the most
religious Jews realize that that such a thing would be utter nonsense."
It's time to face the
facts: Islam does not at all preach peace and needs to modernize, says
professor of integration and naturalization David Pinto
For a long time it was still somewhat possible to posit that
the problem of Islamists concerned only small, exceptional extremist terrorist groups
like Hezbullah and Hamas. Now with BokoHaram, al-Qaeda, IS [the Islamic State],
the al-Nusra Front and many others, this "minority"
argument is no longer valid. It is further undermined by the horrifying news coming
out of sovereign Muslim states, i.e.: The actions of "ordinary Muslims"
- not terrorists or extremists.
Recently, it became known that a Pakistani police officer chopped
a "blasphemer" to pieces with an ax. The dead man is said to have
ridiculed the Prophet Muhammad. For the same reason a Christian couple in
Islamabad was tortured, lynched and burned by a frenzied mob 2,000 Muslims
after rumors emerged that they had burned a Quran. How can one continue to
defend the notion that Islam preaches peace as Barack Hussein Obama repeatedly
asserts? We simply have to recognize that the current Islamic ideology has a
very negative impact. Hate against homosexuals, women, Jews - and actually hate
against everything that isn't Islamic.
Denial
Many will posit that Muslims will never ever change or
improve. As a born optimist, I see a way out - very far in the future and with
great difficulty. But I can imagine it. It will be very difficult, even impossible
to achieve such a solution if Muslims continue to deny the essential facts, as
listed above, and continue to cry out in unison: "That isn't true, you're
a racist!” The only problem one cannot solve is the problem of denial.
Posted by Worldmeets.US
This recognition or acknowledgement is therefore a
prerequisite for a solution. One should note that it is a doctrine that has
emerged at a time, environment and under circumstances very far removed from contemporary
Western Judeo-Christian morality. At the outset, as happened in Morocco in the eighth
century, it is a doctrine imposed on peoples by means of violence, death and
destruction based on writings full of cruelty, hatred and belligerence.
Out of recognition of these facts, an improvement may come.
If, however, people continue to deny that there is something wrong with Islam with
critics continuing to be labeled "racists," then the problem will not
be resolved and instead, a new problem will be created. Not only do the
problems continue to fester within Islamic doctrine - they remain taboo. The
question is simple: how can Islam be interpreted to
give rise to a doctrine that fits with Western civilization's modern view of
humanity?
Four kinds of death
penalties
To use Jews as an example for Muslims might be upsetting to
some people, but I do it anyway because it is instructive. In the sacred books
of the Jews, gross, uncivilized passages are also to be found. Four types of
death penalties are described, depending on the violation. Jews who fail to observe
the Sabbath, for example (and perhaps work on that day) should, according to
the Torah, be stoned.
But not a single Jew anywhere in the world today would get
it into his head to apply this Toranic precept. Even
the most religious Jews realize that that such a thing would be utter nonsense.
Judaism, Christianity and many other religions have adapted and have dropped
their sharp edges. Islam can and should follow suit. It is high time for a
thorough review and modernization so Islam can have a place in Western
civilization.
*David Pinto is director
and professor of integration and naturalization at the Inter-Cultural Instituut
