It is often said that all religion is essentially the same and that Christian’s do not have any moral high-ground over Muslims as both religions have been historically responsible for atrocities. This is particularly pertinent at present with many using the name of Islam to commit a multitude of atrocities around the world.
This article provides an excellent job of explaining the obvious fact that Islam is, in fact, more violent than Christianity – The Federalist: Why Islam is More Violent than Christianity – an Atheists Guide. Interestingly, this article has been written by an atheist who has no allegiance to any particular religion – he makes some very persuasive observations that Christians are often quite shy about highlighting.
Among many points, he correctly points out that Jesus’ life was characterized by peace, forgiveness and servitude and He instructed His followers to copy His example – Jesus further taught that in living this way, the Christian life would be characterised by hardship and persecution. The opposite is true of Mohammed who taught followers to expect to rule and to impose their religion on others using whatever means necessary for force obedience.
Another interesting point raised was the difference between secular and sharia law. Christians are supposed to co-exist with the secular legal systems they live within whereas Muslims do not recognise the authority of any legal system other than the one given by Mohammed.
We expect to see an increased clamping down on ‘free speech’ and religious ‘fundamentalism’ as a result of Islamist attacks in various parts of the world (including Europe). It is very likely that Christian’s will be the prime target of such legislation as they will be seen as soft targets by authorities that are too intimidated to take on Islamic fanatics who are the real cause of the problem. There are many peaceful Muslims living in the UK who share no responsibility for the violent Islamic extremism we see on the rise but Muslims will enjoy far more protection from the authorities than Christians. Our leaders have two big problems – they don’t understand the mindset of the jihadist fanatic and they are quite simply terrified of them. They will have to be seen to do something and will most likely go after the softest target – particularly with the upcoming elections in mind.
For those Christian’s who believe the Bible means what it actually says, be prepared to lose more and more ‘freedom of speech’…
Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Colossians 4:5-6)
Good points all around. Truly apedcpiater.