-By Don Boys, Ph.D.
The “peaceful” Muslims in the streets of Denmark, Paris, London, etc., have displayed their true character (or lack thereof) whenever they perceive a wrong done them proving President Bush and other panderers completely wrong in their assessment of Islam. Most U.S. politicians just don’t get it. Traditional Muslims are barbarians by nature because Mohammed and the Koran promote barbarism. Plus, every traditional Muslim school and mosque promote barbarism since they teach the Koran.
Koranic Muslims (those who really believe the Koran) draw their sword before they put their brains in gear. Muslims have every right to be unhappy, angry, hurt, dismayed, etc., at what they perceive as mistreatment, even sacrilegious treatment of their prophet. However, they can’t fathom freedom of press, religion, association, speech, etc. They are still sixth century barbarians right off the desert! Proof of that is seen in today’s report of a court in Saudi Arabia confirming the beheading sentence of a man who cursed Allah!
Yes, the cartoons were impudent and rude, but so what, and the recent film was precise and powerful but historically accurate. So, why all the yelling and threats? That is what freedom is all about. I suggest that Muslim leaders educate their people in civilized behavior. If they want to live among decent, civilized people, they should drag themselves off the Arabian dessert, dress normally, lighten up, and realize that most of us are not going to agree with their theology nor seek to emulate the sayings and actions of their prophet. We have a culture and theology of our own, thank you.
That brings me to fundamental and evangelical Christians. We are often caricatured in the press, accused of being uneducated, closed minded, bigoted, and even haters. Almost weekly, the media accuse us of being homophobic because we don’t believe homosexuality is normal, desirable, or acceptable. Nor should it be legal! Because we take that position, we are said to be haters. And we are accused of fearing homosexuals, hence the non-word, “homophobic.” I don’t fear or hate anyone or anything!
Look, I don’t hate anyone. I’m a lover; however, I believe that homosexuality is perversion and there are not enough change agents, civil rights mind-adjusters, third rate psychologists, homosexual lawyers, state and federal agents, and prosecutors of “hate” laws to change my mind. Period.
Now, because most of the media are too unfair or too slow to understand something so simple, should I instigate a riot to teach the dummies a lesson? Should I fly a plane into a building to express my anger? Maybe I could get Jonathon Falwell, Bob Jones, Pat Robertson, Franklin Graham, Jim Dobson, and a few hundred Christians to race through Washington streets overturning cars, burning buildings, and harming innocent people? I think not. You see, Christians don’t act like that. Muslims do.
However, maybe Christians should be a little more vociferous in defending our positions and demanding fairness or at least honesty in reporting. Another “documentary” will be released this month concerning Jesus and Mary’s alleged marriage without an iota of historical or biblical support. Media moguls should hear from us en mass and advertisers should be the first to feel the heat (so they will see the light) when such visual garbage is produced.
The PBS show, “Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet” was a farce and did not even attempt to be honest, let alone balanced. It was filled with errors and assertions that were simply erroneous. And what was left out made it an embarrassment to any decent, honest media person. But there was very little outcry from Christians. Hopefully that is because sane, sensible people seldom watch PBS.
Bush tells us that Islam is a peaceful religion that has been hijacked by extremists. He has Muslim leaders in the White House and generally panders to the Muslim street, but we Christians still claim him as one of our own without demanding an explanation or evidence of repentance.
Whenever Muslim terrorists kill innocent people anywhere in the world, pandering politicians stumble over each other to get to the television cameras to assure the world that Islam had nothing to do with the atrocity. And dumb Christians adjust their easy chair, open another soft drink, and nod in agreement.
When my book, ISLAM: America’s Trojan Horse! was published, the Chattanooga Times Free Press asked for a copy and agreed to do a review the day I was to do a book signing at the local Barnes & Nobles. The paper, one of America’s best and most conservative, backed out of the review although they had reviewed two other books of mine positively. They danced all around the issue, but simply did not want to offend local Muslims.
The same paper permitted a local Muslim to accuse Cal Thomas of bigotry comparing him to Jew-haters in Nazi Germany! What chutzpa! A Muslim “spokesperson” accusing a Christian journalist of bigotry! That’s like a skunk accusing a rabbit of having bad breath! I wrote in defense of Cal but the editors refused to publish it.
Later they ran a cartoon showing an “Evangelical Zealot” standing on the chest of a hapless and helpless Muslim as the “zealot” crams “Fundamentalist Christian Dogma” down his throat. For those who did not understand the cartoon, they were informed that the gist of it was “Converting the Muslims.” Again, I came to the defense of Truth but the editors refused to make a correction.
I called the editors and publishers and challenged them, pointing out historical truth but they refused to budge. One editor did admit that the cartoon was a mistake but they didn’t have enough paper and ink to permit me to make a correction. It was a matter of courage or lack thereof.
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Dr. Don Boys is a former member of the Indiana House of Representatives, author of 13 books, frequent guest on television and radio talk shows, and wrote columns for USA Today for 8 years His most recent book is ISLAM: America’s Trojan Horse! His websites are www.cstnews.com and www.Muslimfact.com.)
Boys’ columns are copyrighted and may be republished, reposted, or emailed providing the person or organization doing so does not charge for subscriptions or advertising and the column is copied intact and the tag at the end in parentheses is included intact.
I’m certainly no apologist for politically-correct politicians or members of the media, but Dr. Boys’ assessment here is absurdly short-sighted. Really, Dr. Boys? We should characterize an entire religion based on the way radicals have chosen to pervert it? Do you really want Christianity judged by the same method of evaluation?
What would your assessment of Christianity be if you ignored the hundreds of millions of peaceful practitioners and focused only on the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the long-term and widespread persecution of Jews, Catholic/Protestant warfare, persecution of Mormons, and the general intolerance that pervades more fundamentalist forms of the Christian faith? These were not isolated or minor deviations for people proclaiming themselves to be followers of Jesus. To the contrary, tens (if not hundreds) of millions of Christians participated in this sort of atrocity. Christians are fully capable of the same kind of barbarism displayed by radicals of the Islamic faith, and it is either ignorant or thoroughly disingenuous to suggest otherwise.
The core values of a religious perspective are not always demonstrated by the adherents of that faith. Sure, it’s terrible that there is such widespread acceptance of violence in the Muslim world today. But it was also terrible when violence was an accepted facet of “Christian” behavior as well. Dr. Boys should abandon this religious demagoguery and recognize that this sort of violent behavior is far more linked to radicalism than it is to any one religion.