We just saw an episode of 30 days in which a white american practising christian goes and lives for 30 days in Dearborn MI with a muslim family on the condition that he must live like them and answer the call to prayer 5 times a day.
The program was really eye-opening. First, I learned that Islam, Judaism and Christianity come from the same religious lineage. I think I knew this somewhere deep in my brain, but it was nowhere near top of mind so wasn’t a part of my daily ruminations. But the real debate this program raised in my mind is this: What should the 1.4 billion muslims in the world be doing about the actions of terrorist’s who are taking innocent people’s lives in the name of their god?
Should they feel somehow responsible? Do they have a special duty to severaly condemn the terrorist’s actions? Or are they the victims themselves? How must they feel now that their very core beliefs and their beloved religion of Islam is now being thought of as a breeding ground for fundamentalism and terror? Even open minded, liberal folks today are drawing the conclusion that Islam must be part of the problem here. After all, it can’t be mere coincidence that a huge proportion of the ever-increasing number of terrorist incidents are planned and executed by muslims.
What do you think?
November 9, 2008 Addendum
I really think this issue and question applies to all religions. I have seen a huge rise in religious fundamentalism (really across many/all religions) in my life, and in many religions violence is “justified” in the name of god. What should other more peaceful followers of the same religions do? How do they separate themselves from the fundamentalist minority (yes, it is typically a minority) who taint the image of others in their religion through their actions?
