Throughout the 21st century one of the most hotly debated political issues has been the western view of Islam as a \u201cterrorist\u201d supporting religion and the reaction of Muslims to \u201cdesecration\u201d of the name or memory of the prophet. While some Muslims rally in favor of bans condemning these western views of their belief system and others engage in behaviors the west considers appalling, there is frequently similar rage directed against Sikhs, Christians, Jews, and atheists in the United States. One of the most frightening, yet necessary parts of our American tradition is the freedom of speech.<\/p>\n
As each of us has learned, regardless of the religious tradition we follow, or whether we follow no religious tradition at all, there are those in this country who hate us. That hate doesn\u2019t come from who we are as individuals, but more so as to what religious tradition we have been born into. Every one of us has a history somewhere that is rife with religious persecution. \u00a0In that context the reaction of the Muslim world to supposed desecration of their prophet\u2019s name must be understood.<\/p>\n
It was not that long ago that Christians marched on Jerusalem to slaughter the Muslim infidels in a series of Crusades which were designed to end the scourge of Islam. Prior to that Christians were persecuted and murdered by a Roman empire that saw their religious movement as one which had poor political ramifications for them. As Christianity took hold, it became the aggressor religion with Torquemada\u2019s Spanish Inquisition and the Salem Witch Trials becoming de rigeur expressions of intolerance to Jews, Muslims, and those who held strange belief systems.<\/p>\n
Even in the 20th century, madmen such as Hitler and Mussolini used the power of religion to massacre millions and to direct an effort to exterminate an entire religious group. Religious intolerance fueled the Northern Ireland wars for years. The Middle Eastern conflict has been a continuation of battle between the Islamic faith and the Jewish people. We\u2019ve now thrown in land, and displacement, and water rights as complicating issues, but religion is still the core issue.<\/p>\n