Is Islam a Religion of Peace?

[Whitney]

NPR Intelligence Squared Panel Debate makes people think no.

A team of experts argued both sides of the motion "Islam Is a Religion of Peace" in a recent Intelligence Squared U.S. debate. Two argued in favor and two against.

Before the Oxford-style debate at New York University's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, the audience voted 41 percent in favor of the motion and 25 percent against. Thirty-four percent were undecided. After the debate, however, 55 percent disagreed that "Islam Is a Religion of Peace," 36 percent supported the motion and 9 percent were still unsure.

Full audio available at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =130516428

[Cecilie]

If people blow themselves (and others) up because of their religion, that religion doesn't seem very peaceful to me.

[Will]

Anyone saying that Islam is a religion of peace is either uninformed or is being deliberately dishonest. There are numerous instances of violence and calling for violence in the Qur'an. That said, it's not a religion of violence, either. It's just a religion. Some Muslims are violent, the majority are not.

[terranus]

I would argue that no Abrahamic religion is a religion of peace.

[Whitney]

Anyone saying that Islam is a religion of peace is either uninformed or is being deliberately dishonest. There are numerous instances of violence and calling for violence in the Qur'an. That said, it's not a religion of violence, either. It's just a religion. Some Muslims are violent, the majority are not.

I agree with this.  Could just as easily say some Christians are violent, the majority are not.

The more I think about it the more I don't think violence would subside if religion fell by the wayside.  Perhaps it is the bad people who express themselves through religion and if it weren't religion it would be politics.  However, it's also hard to accept that so many people would do bad without the push they find in certain religious texts (or politics for that matter).

[The Magic Pudding]

If someone wants me to risk my life endangering someone else's life they better provide a good reason, because dead is dead.
Religion is helpful in dehumanising the other, making the killing easier, but we can always think of some other reason.
I don't recall religion being much of an issue in the US Civil War, WW1, WW2, Korea, or Vietnam.

[Thumpalumpacus]

With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.

[Ihateusernames]

With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.

Although that might be a clever turn of phrase, I suppose, it isn't very philosophically honest.  Here let's think about it backward:

"With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for evil people to do good things, that takes religion."

Sounds equally as accurate.  Atheist or not I think we could agree that some "evil" people withhold evil because of religious teachings. (and as a side note doesn't Christianity have something to that extent at it's core?)

Sorry but clever quotes like that from both sides are a pet peeve. : f

-ihateusernames

[Thumpalumpacus]

Yeah?  Well, philosophy is a pet peeve of mine.

[Guardian85]

We should also consider the possibility that Islam is simply a younger religion then the other two abrahamic delusions.
If we look at the history of christianity and compare it's timeline to that of Islam, Islam is still in the middle of it's "dark ages".
Since both faiths have the same basis (old testament), maybe they have a  similar progression or development process.
Reverse crusade, anyone?

[Whitney]

We should also consider the possibility that Islam is simply a younger religion then the other two abrahamic delusions.
If we look at the history of christianity and compare it's timeline to that of Islam, Islam is still in the middle of it's "dark ages".
Since both faiths have the same basis (old testament), maybe they have a  similar progression or development process.
Reverse crusade, anyone?

I wouldn't consider Judaism or Christianity a religion of peace either....they too have violent teachings in their holy texts.

Imo, social maturity is what causes religions to become peaceful, not the religions themselves.

[Thumpalumpacus]

We should also consider the possibility that Islam is simply a younger religion then the other two abrahamic delusions.
If we look at the history of christianity and compare it's timeline to that of Islam, Islam is still in the middle of it's "dark ages".
Since both faiths have the same basis (old testament), maybe they have a  similar progression or development process.
Reverse crusade, anyone?

An excellent point, especially when you consider that Christianity was cured of mass religious war by the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), which was the bloodiest war in man's history until WWI; it is estimated that between 10 and 15 million Germans alone died in this struggle between Protestantism and Catholicism.  Such a massive bloodletting made a deep cultural impression on these two main branches of Christianity.  Thereafter, they generally eschewed large wars, although they do inflict small-scale violence,

Islam, on the other hand, went through nothing of the sort in its schisms.  It is true that the Sunni-Shia split was accompanied by war, but it was not nearly so sanguinary.  I think that because they do not have such a dreadful warning from history in their religion's history, some imams may be less inhibited in calling for jihad than Christians are to call for crusade.

Additionally, tribalism in Islamic lands was much longer-lasting than in much of Christendom, and the forms of tribalism in many of what are now Islamic lands was a rough and unforgiving form.  And much as Christianity adopted the ritual of paganism in order to ease its acceptance, so did Islam adopt these tribal morés, including ideas about violence and loyalty.

This is not to say modern Muslims are affected by these influences to the extent that Islam itself is.  I have yet to meet a Muslim who applauds the jihadi efforts in Afghanistan or Iraq.

[Thinkbigger]

Humans are born amoral and possess the potential for all manner nasty behavior. Violence is a human trait. The family and the general culture one is raised in largely determines their adult behaviors. The killing of non-believers is encouraged in numerous passages in the Quran. This belief system offers enticements to martyrs who kill the infidels. Muslims are commanded by Allah to kill the enemies of God. I've often wondered why Allah just doesn't up and do it himself. I mean really.. if he hates us so much then why doesn't he just blink us out of existence? Oh that's right.. he's a figment of the imagination.. so I guess we're safe. Or are we? Hmm...

[LegendarySandwich]

Humans are born amoral and possess the potential for all manner nasty behavior. Violence is a human trait. The family and the general culture one is raised in largely determines their adult behaviors. The killing of non-believers is encouraged in numerous passages in the Quran. This belief system offers enticements to martyrs who kill the infidels. Muslims are commanded by Allah to kill the enemies of God. I've often wondered why Allah just doesn't up and do it himself. I mean really.. if he hates us so much then why doesn't he just blink us out of existence? Oh that's right.. he's a figment of the imagination.. so I guess we're safe. Or are we? Hmm...

Now, if you just take this sort of thinking and apply it to the Bible...

[terranus]

With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.

Although that might be a clever turn of phrase, I suppose, it isn't very philosophically honest.  Here let's think about it backward:

"With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for evil people to do good things, that takes religion."

Sounds equally as accurate.  Atheist or not I think we could agree that some "evil" people withhold evil because of religious teachings. (and as a side note doesn't Christianity have something to that extent at it's core?)

Sorry but clever quotes like that from both sides are a pet peeve. : f

-ihateusernames

Exactly. Which is why I am now a Machiavellian. Took me forever to realize the only reason I wasn't being myself was because of the constant threat of hellfire and eternal damnation. But when you don't have that threat hanging over your shoulder, you can finally be yourself.