The Religion That's Not

by

       M. Richard Maxson


      When is a religion not a religion?  What is the definition? Can it be called a religion because the followers say it is and we don't want to offend them. What if  it's really a murderous cult hiding under the banner of religion that glorifies the worst in mankind and dictates that it is all done in the name of God. There is a problem within Islam, and we have to put it on the table and be honest about it. There is no true religion on earth that practices:

• Death to all who oppose or refuse to convert
• Genital mutilation of all females over the age of 9
• Murder (honor killings)
• Pedophilia
• Maiming
• Incest
• Whipping, stoning to death, and beheading

       This, and other governments, out of fear or complacency, have  continued a campaign of lies designed to subvert our understanding of how Islam, in fact, has everything to do with beheadings and other violence both in the Islamic world and in the West. Widespread, politics and mass media driven brainwashing is nothing new. The world's leaders have been relentlessly herding us in for over a decade, insisting against all reason, against all sacred Islamic texts, that "Islam is peace."

      The problematic strain within Islam is not the province of a few extremists. It has at its heart a view of religion that is not compatible with pluralistic, liberal and open-minded societies. At the extreme end of the spectrum are terrorists, but the worldview goes deeper and wider than it is comfortable for us to admit. So by and large, we don't admit it. Our presidents and secretaries of state and generals and pundits keep hammering home the big lie that Islam has nothing to do with jihad, that this so called religion of conquest is a "religion of peace,"
     
      They can't see themselves, in the modern world, as terrorists. Their warped view of humanity is best summed up by a recent Muslim protester who yelled out, “How dare you call us terrorists! We will kill you! This is Islam! There are no repudiation of Islamic terror  found in Muslim circles for at least two reasons: 1) Muslim leaders do not universally repudiate these acts, since many consider this to be a valid expression of jihad. 2) In many cases, those Muslims who want to speak out will not for fear of their lives. What religion makes it's adherents fear for their lives?
     
      No one would argue that there are multiplied millions of Muslims, perhaps several hundred million Muslims, who are peace loving, who abhor violence in the name of Islam, and who are repulsed by the actions of their peers. The question is whether these Muslims are being true to the core values of their religion. They are not.
   
       Islam's teachings are immutable; the values promoted by the Koran and other Islamic scriptures are today what they have always been and always will be. The backwardness, repression, and violent incitement against non-Muslims that hold sway in much of the contemporary Muslim world don't reflect a particularly harsh and unenlightened interpretation of Islam — they are Islam.