A little over a week ago, political comedian Bill Maher made some pretty controversial remarkssurrounding Islam on his HBO show, “Real Time with Bill Maher.”
Maher has been heavily critical of organized religion throughout his career, concentrating particularly on Islam. In his view, Islam is an inherently oppressive faith, which violates human rights and stands as an affront to liberal values.
Quite frankly, much of what Maher has said and believes is simply false.
The debate over Islam continued this past Friday when actor Ben Affleck appeared on “Real Time.”
The conversation between Maher, Affleck and the other panelists got quite heated. It was apparent that the actor was offended by Maher’s views and some of the remarks made by other guests on the show.
In Affleck’s opinion, Maher’s views on Islam are “gross and racist.” He contends that it’s wrong to make generalizations about a religion with over one billion followers. Indeed, Affleck is correct.
Most Americans knew little to nothing about Islam prior to 9/11. While the tragic events of that day certainly fostered increased interest in the faith, it’s evident that many people still have a lot to learn about Muslims.
The rise of ISIS has seen a resurgence of misperceptions and stereotypes surrounding Islam, as the terrorist organization adheres to a distorted and fundamentalist interpretation of the religion.
Despite the fact that these extremists represent a minority within Islam, individuals like Maher seem determined to paint all Muslims as violent radicals.
This is wrong, and dangerous. It is precisely this kind of intolerance that leads to the type of oppression that Maher wishes to condemn.
Here are 6 things that people often get wrong about Islam:
1. Islamophobia doesn’t exist.
Islamophobia can be defined as “an irrational fear and hatred of Muslims categorized as an identifiable group.” It is real, and it’s a major problem. It leads to hate crimes against Muslims, and breeds intolerance.
Moreover, a large part of the reason terrorists, like ISIS and al-Qaeda, are able to recruit is that they claim the West is at war with Islam. When people in the media, like Maher, condemn Islam and describe it as one of the world’s greatest evils, they are fueling the propaganda of terrorists.
2. Islam is inherently violent.
Islam does not promote violence.
Some might argue that the Quran, the holy book of Islam, condones violence. Yet, in many ways, the Bible is far more violent than the Quran. Thus, most Muslims, like Christians and Jews, try to take contextual, rather than literal, interpretations of their holy book.
In fact, Islamic texts, including the Quran, specifically prohibit the killing of innocents.
You cannot condemn an entire faith because a minority within it takes a radical approach. This is precisely why Muslim leaders from around the world have called ISIS an offense to Islam.
3. All Muslims hate America and the West.
Muslim people do not automatically hate Americans and the West. This was an apparent perception following 9/11, which has obviously continued.
The fact of the matter is, however, that some Muslims are likely frustrated by American involvementin the Middle East. When it comes down to it, they have every right to be.
The United States has habitually supported dictatorships in the region, and has been at war in Muslim countries quite frequently over the past two decades or so.
Likewise, as the foreign policy expert Fareed Zakaria puts it, “It’s not an Islam problem but an Arab problem.” Simply put, animosity towards the United States from Muslim countries in the Middle East is political and cultural, rather than a product of religion.
4. All Muslims are jihadists (terrorists).
A majority of Muslims do not support terrorism. In fact, extremism is one of the Islamic world’sgreatest concerns.
Likewise, Muslims have decidedly negative opinions of terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda and ISIS. One only has to look at the #NotInMyName movement as an example of this:
5. All Muslims have the same values.
There are 1.6 billion Muslims around the world, that’s about 23 percent of the world’s population.
Islam is a very diverse religion in terms of demographics, which also translates into differences in values.
Believing that all Muslims have the same values and traditions would be like claiming Catholics and Protestants are basically the same, or that Eastern Orthodoxy isn’t different from other Christian denominations.
Muslims reside in multiple countries across the world, and some do not really adhere to traditional Islamic values whatsoever. For example, Islam prohibits the consumption of alcohol. Azerbaijan is a majority Muslim country, but the people there drink like fish.
6. Our values (Western values) are better than Muslim values.
Part of the reason Maher condemned Islam is that he believes the religion promotes the violation of human rights.
While it’s true that certain majority Muslim countries have less than stellar records in regards to civil and human rights, it’s wrong to assume that Western or liberal values are that much better.
After all, the United States is guilty of immense human rights violations, such as the use of torture during the War on Terror, and its continued use of targeted killings with drone strikes.
America also has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Furthermore, as the events in Ferguson revealed, this country is obviously still struggling with racism and police brutality.
Likewise, values and morality are ultimately subjective, it’s wrong to assume that we know better than the rest of the world. This is an imperialistic mentality, and extremely problematic.
It’s important to promote civil and human rights, but this can’t be done by making generalizations.

lies!... why are all terrorists Muslims?

kittykollinxx:
A little over a week ago, political comedian Bill Maher made some pretty controversial remarkssurrounding Islam on his HBO show, “Real Time with Bill Maher.”
Maher has been heavily critical of organized religion throughout his career, concentrating particularly on Islam. In his view, Islam is an inherently oppressive faith, which violates human rights and stands as an affront to liberal values.
Quite frankly, much of what Maher has said and believes is simply false.
The debate over Islam continued this past Friday when actor Ben Affleck appeared on “Real Time.”
The conversation between Maher, Affleck and the other panelists got quite heated. It was apparent that the actor was offended by Maher’s views and some of the remarks made by other guests on the show.
In Affleck’s opinion, Maher’s views on Islam are “gross and racist.” He contends that it’s wrong to make generalizations about a religion with over one billion followers. Indeed, Affleck is correct.
Most Americans knew little to nothing about Islam prior to 9/11. While the tragic events of that day certainly fostered increased interest in the faith, it’s evident that many people still have a lot to learn about Muslims.
The rise of ISIS has seen a resurgence of misperceptions and stereotypes surrounding Islam, as the terrorist organization adheres to a distorted and fundamentalist interpretation of the religion.
Despite the fact that these extremists represent a minority within Islam, individuals like Maher seem determined to paint all Muslims as violent radicals.
This is wrong, and dangerous. It is precisely this kind of intolerance that leads to the type of oppression that Maher wishes to condemn.
Here are 6 things that people often get wrong about Islam:
1. Islamophobia doesn’t exist.
Islamophobia can be defined as “an irrational fear and hatred of Muslims categorized as an identifiable group.” It is real, and it’s a major problem. It leads to hate crimes against Muslims, and breeds intolerance.
Moreover, a large part of the reason terrorists, like ISIS and al-Qaeda, are able to recruit is that they claim the West is at war with Islam. When people in the media, like Maher, condemn Islam and describe it as one of the world’s greatest evils, they are fueling the propaganda of terrorists.
2. Islam is inherently violent.
Islam does not promote violence.
Some might argue that the Quran, the holy book of Islam, condones violence. Yet, in many ways, the Bible is far more violent than the Quran. Thus, most Muslims, like Christians and Jews, try to take contextual, rather than literal, interpretations of their holy book.
In fact, Islamic texts, including the Quran, specifically prohibit the killing of innocents.
You cannot condemn an entire faith because a minority within it takes a radical approach. This is precisely why Muslim leaders from around the world have called ISIS an offense to Islam.
3. All Muslims hate America and the West.
Muslim people do not automatically hate Americans and the West. This was an apparent perception following 9/11, which has obviously continued.
The fact of the matter is, however, that some Muslims are likely frustrated by American involvementin the Middle East. When it comes down to it, they have every right to be.
The United States has habitually supported dictatorships in the region, and has been at war in Muslim countries quite frequently over the past two decades or so.
Likewise, as the foreign policy expert Fareed Zakaria puts it, “It’s not an Islam problem but an Arab problem.” Simply put, animosity towards the United States from Muslim countries in the Middle East is political and cultural, rather than a product of religion.
4. All Muslims are jihadists (terrorists).
A majority of Muslims do not support terrorism. In fact, extremism is one of the Islamic world’sgreatest concerns.
Likewise, Muslims have decidedly negative opinions of terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda and ISIS. One only has to look at the #NotInMyName movement as an example of this:
5. All Muslims have the same values.
There are 1.6 billion Muslims around the world, that’s about 23 percent of the world’s population.
Islam is a very diverse religion in terms of demographics, which also translates into differences in values.
Believing that all Muslims have the same values and traditions would be like claiming Catholics and Protestants are basically the same, or that Eastern Orthodoxy isn’t different from other Christian denominations.
Muslims reside in multiple countries across the world, and some do not really adhere to traditional Islamic values whatsoever. For example, Islam prohibits the consumption of alcohol. Azerbaijan is a majority Muslim country, but the people there drink like fish.
6. Our values (Western values) are better than Muslim values.
Part of the reason Maher condemned Islam is that he believes the religion promotes the violation of human rights.
While it’s true that certain majority Muslim countries have less than stellar records in regards to civil and human rights, it’s wrong to assume that Western or liberal values are that much better.
After all, the United States is guilty of immense human rights violations, such as the use of torture during the War on Terror, and its continued use of targeted killings with drone strikes.
America also has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Furthermore, as the events in Ferguson revealed, this country is obviously still struggling with racism and police brutality.
Likewise, values and morality are ultimately subjective, it’s wrong to assume that we know better than the rest of the world. This is an imperialistic mentality, and extremely problematic.
It’s important to promote civil and human rights, but this can’t be done by making generalizations.

I agree with everything except the part in bold.

Western values are far superior to values from the Quran.

You mention racism as if it is only the West that has a problem with racism or police brutality.

You don't need an herbalist to tell you muslims are violent in nature who tend to flare up in anger at any slight provocation.. Have you ever wondered why world terrorist causing violence and chaos are muslims ? E.g Boko Haram, Osama Bin Laden, Sadam Hussain and so on

Though asked to be as meek as sheep, if christians fail to live by the word, one could be pushed by happenings around into worse violent actions.

Of course, there are peaceful Muslims but Islam as a moral code is inherently evil. A brief review of islamic theology & history quickly exposes the deadly roots of this evil ideology....

Prophet Muhamed was a 7th century murdering warlord who rose to power on a river of blood surrounded by thugs and gangsters using intimidation, violence, deception and trickery to expand their criminal empire while mercilessly suppressing and killing their opponents and enriching themselves on stolen booty.

The koran is a collection of sayings and speeches by this diabolical madman claiming divine guidance from some mythical sky-god which has inspired generations of crazed fanatics to abhorrent behavior resulting in history's worst ever crimes against humanity starting 1400 years ago and still continuing even today.

Islam is just another fascist totalitarian ideology used by power hungry fanatics on yet another quest for worldwide domination and includes all the usual human rights abuses & suppression of freedoms.

Thanks for the post

boombay:
lies!... why are all terrorists Muslims?

Not all terrorists are Muslims. There are Christian terrorists too.

tosyne2much:
You don't need an herbalist to tell you muslims are violent in nature who tend to flare up in anger at any slight provocation.. Have you ever wondered why world terrorist causing violence and chaos are muslims ? E.g Boko Haram, Osama Bin Laden, Sadam Hussain and so on

Very myopic thinking. This is the BS you get when folks like you refuse to read.

There are more Latino and Jewish terrorist attacks than Muslim terrorist attacks.

There are also Christian terrorist attacks

There are politically motivated acts of terrorism blamed on Muslims.

Muslim trying to cover their as* since AD600

Working hard to paint the face of islamic fundamental terrorist as saint for them to be able to destroy the world with their evil. Abeg make we hear word joor even musiwa95 and cramjones can do better than that

In my own opinion, I don't think there is any religion that encourages innocents to be slaughtered anyhow. so I really don't think Islam is what it seems to be now. However what I think is the reason for all the wicked acts of the Islamic extreemist is that fact that they are being misled and wrongly taught. From my little knowledge of Roman Catholic history, there were times when some Popes of old were commiting terrible acts that could have been as worse as the Islamic exteemists of today had there been technological advancement of this present age then. What is worth noting is that those Popes were commiting such actrocities then by brainwashing people claiming to have the sole knowledge of the whole bible because the bible was not as it is today and was written in Aramaic, Hebrews and greek, until the era of protestants when bible became available in different languages that people could read and understand, at least the basics ( because major parts of the bible require the help of the holy spirit to understand). Similarly, the terrorists today are also being brainwashed because they are being told what is in the Quran. It is written in Arabic which they only recite. Those who can read and understand the Quran always say the Quran doesn't support what these terrorists are doing. I once asked an Alfa about the Quran written in English, he told me that it is only a summary of Quran, so reading it can't free any of the followers from the lies being told by the bad leaders.
Just my opinion...

To open-minded people only.

You see, OP, I'm a Christian and virtually all my friends are Muslims including my best friend. The major problem of Islam isn't Islam itself but Muslims. The problem is about attitude. Let me give 2 instances.
1. There was a religious war in a town some years ago. Muslim youths destroyed churches and my mum almost lost her life that day. Christians never attacked a single mosque, they only defended their churches. That didn't change my mind about Islam.
2. The way muslims are silent is also a problem. When Boko Haram first came, MANY muslims were nonchalant because Christians were worst hit then. A guy once told me,( he didn't know I'm Christian because I move with muslims), he was happy Boko Haram is wiping Christians. It is recently that BH now kills everybody that Muslims are now saying BH is not Islamic etc The same with ISIS. ISIS has been around for a long time and I told some peeps, they were like "none of my business"

So the attitude of an average muslim towards conflict resolution and welfare is very bad. That's the major problem.

JakeII:
In my own opinion, I don't think there is any religion that encourages innocents to be slaughtered anyhow. so I really don't think Islam is what it seems to be now. However what I think is the reason for all the wicked acts of the Islamic extreemist is that fact that they are being misled and wrongly taught. From my little knowledge of Roman Catholic history, there were times when some Popes of old were commiting terrible acts that could have been as worse as the Islamic exteemists of today had there been technological advancement of this present age then. What is worth noting is that those Popes were commiting such actrocities then by brainwashing people claiming to have the sole knowledge of the whole bible because the bible was not as it is today and was written in Aramaic, Hebrews and greek, until the era of protestants when bible became available in different languages that people could read and understand, at least the basics ( because major parts of the bible require the help of the holy spirit to understand). Similarly, the terrorists today are also being brainwashed because they are being told what is in the Quran. It is written in Arabic which they only recite. Those who can read and understand the Quran always say the Quran doesn't support what these terrorists are doing. I once asked an Alfa about the Quran written in English, he told me that it is only a summary of Quran, so reading it can't free any of the followers from the lies being told by the bad leaders.
Just my opinion...

I agree. That's another problem. Dogmaticism. If the Quran is made 'accessible' to all without need for translation or special teachings, things would be better. Unlike the bible, you see church member criticising the pastor's teachings after service. You see many comedians making jokes about it too. There is need for more open-mindedness and full translation of the Quran for all to read and understand without being subjected to another man's translation.