Thursday, September 24, 2015

Symbols of huge gulf of civility between two of the world’s largest religions…

Contrasts between the Islamic Hajj and the visit of the Catholic Pope

This week we witnessed two great religious events:  The Islamic Hajj in Saudi Arabia, and the first time the current Catholic Pope visited the United States.

If there is one prominent and unmistakable characteristic demonstrated by Muslims in Islamic nations – and in many other places around the world - it is their psychotic behavior.  Whether it is their wild shooting of their weapons into the air during their “celebrations”, their well-practiced skill of beheading those with whom they do not agree, or their vengeful spirit of intolerance of those who “insult” their “prophet” (and other psychotic behaviors too numerous to mention), they behavior can without rreservation be called “psychotic.”

Muslims and their supporters may call it “spirited”, or “devout” or “pent-up rage.”  But the result of their psychosis is evident in the frequent headlines of Islamic atrocities and uncivilized behavior.

The most recent indication of Muslim psychosis is the over 700 killed by an out of control human stampede during their Hajj – their annual trip to visit Mecca. More HERE.  Even the arguably insane and iconic “running of the bulls” sees only a handful of injuries and rare deaths. 

This many devout Muslims killed during a trip to their holiest site should tell us something about their religion, the nation that coordinates that activity, and the lack of respect for human life held by the Islamic culture.  They were not killed by a natural disaster, by a foreign invasion, or even their own well-practiced violent jihad or terror attack.  They were killed by other worshippers of their faith.

Contrast this with the visit of the Pope to Washington DC and New York City – a first time, highly anticipated, and exciting event.  Hundreds of thousands longed to get a look at the Pope during his first ever visit to this country.  Some pushing and shoving was certainly part of the effort to view him.  The event was entirely peaceful despite at least half of our population disagreeing with the Pope’s political agenda for this nation.  New York, a city with a population of over 8.4 million souls, had an even larger turnout to see the Vicar of Christ.  How many injured and dead in this similarly holy and spirited event?  Zero.

What are the differences between the Hajj and the Pope’s visit?  Answer:  The civility, or lack thereof, engendered by each religion, the Catholic and Islamic, respectively.  Islam, from its inception, has practiced violence, mistrust, and raw emotional behavior throughout the majority of its 1,400-year existence.  Catholicism, and all Christian sects, on the other hand, especially as practiced in the US, has demonstrated civility, patience and reverence. 

The cultural history of the United States is based primarily on the teachings of Christianity.  The cultural history of Saudi Arabia and most Middle Eastern nations is based primarily on the teachings of Islam.  If cultures are informed by religion, then the behaviors of the people in these two parts of the world demonstrate a stark difference in civility born of their two predominant religions.

How Islamic do we want the United States to become?  For me the answer is self-evident.

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