Religious Disparity: Is it really that simple?

2015-05-06T07:09:38-04:00

Religious Disparity

As of late we have seen terrorist acts on US soil. The suspects were of a particular faith that has so often came under attack as a whole. We are at war with extremists and ideologists. Do they speck for everyone of their faith? So often people come out and bashed a faith for the acts of some.
Let’s look at the objectivity of this. Some defend the ones that are blatantly curse and damning a faith if the faith is bashing is not Christianity.
There have been so many times there were attack on the US and the faith of the individuals really never came into question or they were brushed off simply being a fringe group. So prominent in this are the Westboro Baptist Church. Has anyone said that those Christians are crazy? They protested the funeral of US Soldiers killed in combat. How low is that? But now says that. Did anyone blame Christianity for the Wisconsin Sikh Temple massacre? If they did I didn’t hear it. Even on a larger scale was the Centennial Olympic Park bombing and the Centennial Olympic Park bombing. When some blamed the military Timothy McVeigh being a soldier in his past we all immediately distanced him from the military and only held him responsible. Did anyone blame his faith? It was the biggest domestic terrorist attack in the US.
I can’t recall any of the attack on abortion clinics that wasn’t led by a Christian. But I don’t blame Christians. That is just foolish to me.
Worse yet, do we do this with ethic groups? Do we blame a whole race for the actions of some. The US did this. I hope we can all agree that they Japanese Internment Camps were wrong. How is locking up every person of Japanese descent for the actions of the Japanese Empire going to help the war effort? Is this similar to what we are doing today?
I work with Muslims everyday. There are Islamic soldiers in the US Military. Are they terrorists too.
If they are then Cpl. Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, Spec. Rasheed Sahib, Maj. James Ahearn, Cpt. Humayun Khan must all be terrorist then right. Regardless that they all died wearing the US Army uniform in Iraq as Soldiers. But should we trust them? They were Muslims. Should we question them of their faith or should we treat all groups equally and go after the terrorists and not another.

Response by CH (MAJ) William Beaver made May 6 at 2015 7:17 AM

2015-05-06T07:17:33-04:00

"Westboro Baptist: masking our own twisted psychosis through protesting since 1980."

Response by CH (MAJ) William Beaver made May 6 at 2015 7:21 AM

2015-05-06T07:21:41-04:00

Just remember: the chicken who squawks the loudest will lay the biggest egg.

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made May 6 at 2015 7:34 AM

2015-05-06T07:34:54-04:00

The short answer is simple. NO.

As said previously the loudest get the attention.

I would also caution that those who distort what their religion says e.g. radical muslims and westboro baptist church should really not even be given credit for being members of what they claim to be. i.e. muslims or christians (baptists)

Thanks for pointing out the good folks you have known, whose voice is not heard in the media.

Response by Cpl Jeff N. made May 6 at 2015 8:00 AM

2015-05-06T08:00:32-04:00

CPT Private RallyPoint Member. LT, you sound as though you are concerned that people might believe that every muslim, everywhere is bad. I am not sure there are too many that believe that to be the case. Do they exist, sure, just as though there are muslims who believe all non muslims are bad.

I think the heart of the matter is that islam has a radical streak in it (and a large streak) that is willing to kill, rape, pillage, burn, oppress, torture etc. to advance their cause. Are there bad Christians (or people that profess it) out there? Yes there are. There is not a radical branch of Christianty doing anything like the radical islamists. Even the Westboro group, as bad as they are, are one small group. What they do is wretched but as far as I know, they have never turned to violence.

A radical islamist and perhaps a very traditional islamist would likely not take a US Military oath as the radicals can serve only allah, no one else. I think the oath would be an affront to them.

Unless you know something I do not, we have interred no muslims or people from the middle east, period. Actually, we have bent over backwards not to offend them in many ways (an over reaction to possible discrimination). People of good faith that want to live peacefully and fulfull their American dream are welcome to do so (as long as they do it legally).

Perhaps I am missing your central concern.

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made May 6 at 2015 8:08 AM

2015-05-06T08:08:07-04:00

You make some good points, CPT Private RallyPoint Member. I agree that stereotyping and saying that all "fill-in-the-blank" people are terrorists is wrong.

However, to stick our collective head in the sand and ignore the fact that Islamic extremists are causing a lot of trouble for the USA these days would, in my opinion, not be prudent (to quote President GW Bush).

I'm not saying that all Muslims are extremists, but I am saying that Islamic extremists are causing trouble. Just as we all agree with many of your assertions above, we also likely agree that ISIS extremists doing their dirty deeds in the name of Islam are thugs and need to be snuffed out.

Response by TSgt Joshua Copeland made May 6 at 2015 8:15 AM

2015-05-06T08:15:55-04:00

"Christian" that really is not a very descriptive word when it comes to religion. It is more of an "umbrella" term describing thousands of different sects of faiths with a common core but vastly different views on theology, dogma and religious practices.

The same goes for just about any religious group that has more then a couple of centuries under it's belt. Due to this, using the "umbrella" term to describe an individual or group is really just bad form and misleading. If you MUST use a term, it is correct to narrow it down to the specific group the individual/group is a part of and that their actions expose the religious tenets of that specific group.

For instance, I would only identify Westboro Baptist Church as exactly that. I would not label them "Baptist" as they are independent of any of the Baptist Conventions, and certainly not solely as "Christian."

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made May 6 at 2015 8:22 AM

2015-05-06T08:22:21-04:00

There are radicals in every sect of religion. I agree with Cpl Neely - the majority of people do not believe that ever Muslim is a radical killer, nor do they believe that every Christian is an extreme protestor like the Westboro folks. People are crazy and do crazy things either because they feel like their religion wants them to, or in spite of what their claimed religion believes. And not every terrorist is linked to a religion. Judgement should be made on an individual basis based on an individuals actions.

Response by COL Jason Smallfield, PMP, CFM, CM made May 6 at 2015 8:30 AM

2015-05-06T08:30:07-04:00

Some thoughts:
- Not all Muslims are terrorists but recently all terrorists have been Muslim.
- I do not recall any foreign Muslim leaders, let alone American Muslim leaders, publicly condemning the recent terrorist attacks we are seeing. Boko Haram kidnapping of hundreds of girls, ISIS various attrocities, the killing of Christians in Libya, the drowning of Christians within the Mediterranean Sea, etc. The silence is deafening.
- Westboro Baptist Church is a good example of an extreme Christian organization that should be and is condemned for what they say and do. Not trying to defend this group but I am not aware that Westboro people have killed anyone. Their actions are despicable but generally non lethal. Using Westboro as an example of "Christians do it to" is a classic example of comparing apples and oranges.
- There is a double standard in America when it comes to religion. Someone places a Christian cross in urine and it is called art and accepted. An organization holds an event asking for cartoons of the prophet Mohommed and they are called provocateurs. The difference is the offended Christians will not kill the "artist" but some offended Muslims will try to kill the "provocateurs".

Response by TSgt Christopher D. made May 6 at 2015 9:09 AM

2015-05-06T09:09:22-04:00

Except in instances where people are mentally ill (not drunk or high on drugs by choice), people are responsible for their actions. I don't care if someone says God told them to shoot up the abortion clinic, or if someone says Allah told them to plant the IED. All-powerful beings, by definition should not require the assistance or effort of human beings. People CHOOSE to do the good and bad they do, so individuals are responsible for their actions.

What you don't find in the US are the stories of militant Christians in Africa slaughtering Muslims... but it happens. I wish people would quit using their faith as an excuse or justification for committing atrocities.

Response by CPL Brendan Hayes made May 6 at 2015 10:48 AM

2015-05-06T10:48:33-04:00

Correlation does not imply causation.

Just because the recent terrorists (individuals and groups) are of one faith does not mean all individuals of that faith are terrorists.

To imply otherwise is a logical fallacy.

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made May 6 at 2015 11:12 AM

2015-05-06T11:12:12-04:00

If we take a quick look around the globe, we have religious people killing people of other religions all over the globe. Sometimes different sects of the same religion killing each other.
Muslims, killing Jews, Christians, and Buddhists; Jews killing Muslims, Christians killing Muslims, and Buddhists killing Muslims. Usually it's the religious majority killing a minority.
In the US Muslims are a minority, so they get the short end of the stick.

There are over One Billion Muslims on the planet, how many are radical extremists? 0.1%, 100,000 people that make up and help the major terror groups. It's probably the same percentage for any way you group people, religion, race, height, favorite color.

Response by TSgt David Holman made May 6 at 2015 11:19 AM

2015-05-06T11:19:31-04:00

To quote your question "Has anyone said that those Christians are crazy?", no. I don't know many people who are Christians who would claim that church or its members to be Christian. "But Dave" you say, "they are a Baptist Church" they must be christian. No, to be Christian means to be want to be like Christ.

The actions of this "cult" (I'm tired of hearing them referred to as a cult) are absolutely appalling. Most everything they say in protest is directly contradictory to the Bible. The Bible even says that anyone who knowingly misleads Gods children are in for a world of hurt, and that it would be better that they had not been born (obviously a paraphrase).

This is another example of where "Freedom of speech vs. Inflamatory speech" is definitely questioned.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 6 at 2015 8:44 PM

2015-05-06T20:44:09-04:00

Everyone hates Westboro Baptist Church. These are a bunch of morons with obnoxious posters. Nothing more.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made May 6 at 2015 8:47 PM

2015-05-06T20:47:02-04:00

These people do not represent Christians and as outrageous as they are, most Christians are too busy with jobs, bills and church picnics and softball games. Be careful of major media depicting this a-holes as Christian.

Response by Sgt Ramon Nacanaynay made Jun 15 at 2015 10:07 AM

2015-06-15T10:07:59-04:00

Well said. Are you a Veteran For Peace, Pax Christi, or other peace group member?

Response by Lt Col Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 17 at 2015 7:26 PM

2015-06-17T19:26:59-04:00

I think the biggest reason we as a nation do this is because it is pretty easy to see a large cross-section of leadership from various Christian denominations immediately condemn these attacks and demonstrations as the work of lone nutjobs. Now, it is possible that it is just confirmation bias, but I don't recall seeing the same reaction very often from Muslim groups. Perhaps it is happening, and the media doesn't cover it. Or perhaps it isn't happening that regularly. I don't know.

I do think it's kind of dumb to judge the whole religion on the acts of a few extremists.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 24 at 2016 4:17 PM

2016-02-24T16:17:25-05:00

McVeigh, et al. were not motivated by their Christianity.
All 'faith groups' are not equal. Everyone here seems to be eagerly signaling how progressive and open-minded they are while ignoring the elephant in the room.