Earlier this month (December), the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) released a statement called ‘Islam: The Religion of Peace, Tolerance and Compassion.’ In it they said, “With the multiplicity of terrorist attacks perpetrated recently by deviant and fanatic individuals, the General Secretariat of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has noticed a tendency of a section of the media, to interpose the word “Islam” in reporting these incidences.”
This is an amazing and provocative quote. How does the OIC realistically not expect people to associate terrorism with Islam in general? The vast majority of the last few years’ worth of terrorist attacks (over 95%) was carried out by Muslim individuals with the backing of Muslim organizations. There is evidence for this all over the place. The terrorists themselves post videos and testimonies of their actions; they take credit for the acts and even revel in the death and destruction; there are public calls for the destruction of Israel, America and the West; there are also calls for the establishment of a world Caliphate, etc. This is not the creation of a bigoted West or Zionist forces; the Muslims do it and do so openly. How is it that they now deny this has anything to do with their religion? Does that make any sense to you besides being a self-serving, bold-faced lie? The perpetrators themselves make a point of tying their actions to Islam. And the bulk of the Islamic world is always silent when another terror attack is made. Little condemnation, little outrage. I was always taught that silence denotes acceptance and approval, and I truly believe the Muslim world accepts and approves of what is going on.
“Islam, the religion of peace, tolerance and compassion, that sanctifies the human soul, and whose universal message is one of mutual peaceful coexistence among all the peoples of the world, regardless of their ethnicities, race, religions, and which calls for kind reasoning and dialogue with all their fellow human beings, abhors and despises all such criminal acts and had enacted the utmost severe punishment for their perpetrators.”
This statement is even more disingenuous and you hear it all the time: Islam is a religion of peace; it is tolerant and wants peaceful coexistence. How can this be taken seriously when the Coptic Christians in Egypt (10% of the population) face increasing persecution? When the Christians of Gaza (see Gaza Christians under Attack by Jihadists) and Iraq are being driven out of those lands by the Islamists? When Christians in Turkey get assassinated and find it extremely difficult to open worship centers? When Saudi Arabia turns down a request by the Vatican itself for permission to build a church there for the several hundred thousand Christian guest workers in the kingdom? When a Christian teacher in Indonesia allegedly insults Islam during an extracurricular activity and this results in the burning down of 64 houses, 2 churches and a village hall. Is this the peace, tolerance and coexistence they are talking about?
Muslims want respect and equality all over the world but what they don’t seem to realize is that these points are not one-way streets. They cannot treat other religions and cultures as second-class citizens, cause death and destruction around the world in the name of Allah, and then expect to be welcomed with open arms in the West. So I have news for the members of OIC and any other Muslims who agree with them: you are always going to be viewed with suspicion and mistrust until your communities make open and sincere efforts at stopping the Jihadists and Islamists, and this means cooperating with any relevant authorities. Until this happens, Islam and terrorism and going to be viewed as one and the same. Do something to change that or live with it.
