The True Ugly Face of Religion

Yesterday we saw Islamic barbarism in London.  Last weekend we saw what was likely the result of Christofascist barbarism when a gay man was shot to death in New York City's West Village.   Clerics of both religions preach hate and violence.  Muslim leaders in the United Kingdom are thankfully speaking out against yesterday's barbaric murder in London.  But here in America hate merchants like E.W. Jackson, Republican nominee for Lt. Governor refuses to apologize for his extremist rhetoric.  Sadly, few Christian leaders have denounced Jackson.  The bigger question for adherents of both religions is what will they do beside talk?  Will they confront jihadists and extremists like Jackson?  Will they go on an offensive against their foul co-coreligionists?  Or will they act like the "good Germans"  and after perhaps a few words yield the field to the hate merchants?  My money is unfortunately on the latter.  It's a cynical view, but realistic when one looks at the fruits of both Christianity and Islam over the centuries: wars of religin, endless bloodshed, hatred and persecution of others.  Yesterday's murder victim is just the latest death in the countless millions who have died because of hate based religious belief.    Andrew Sullivan summarizes yesterday's horror in London:

The monster who paraded around on the street after hacking a soldier to pieces is chilling in many ways. But everything points to a religious act of terror, motivated by the same Jihadist rage that captured the Tsarnaev brothers. For these men, “our land” is not Britain; it is the land of Islam in their minds.  .  .  .  .   this was a religious sacrificial murder, authorized by God in the eyes of the killers.

Sadly, Andrew fails to acknowledge that hatred is not unique to Islam.  Here in Virginia the GOP has just nominated a trio of hate merchants motivated by religious fervor.  The face of E. W. Jackson below is different from the London murderers only by degree.  In both instances, the poison of religion is what powers the hatred and language that fuels violence.  Huffington Post looks at Jackson's refusal to rescind and of his awful statements:

The Virginia Republican Party took a post-convention victory lap on Tuesday in a parking lot outside gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli's headquarters. While the gatherers had come to propel the top of the ticket to a November victory, it was Cuccinelli's newly minted sidekick who stole the show. 

Jackson made no attempt to soften the edges on Tuesday, despite whispers from Virginia Republicans that his selection may doom Cuccinelli's chances. Instead, Jackson charged forward with gusto.

"I don't have anything to rephrase or to apologize for," Jackson told reporters. 

For those new to the blog, here are a few of the statements that Jackson feels no need to apologize for:

E.W. Jackson: Gay People Are "Perverted" And "Very Sick." In October 2012, Right Wing Watch reported about E.W. Jackson's appearance on a radio show with Peter LaBarbera and John Kirkwood. Jackson said about gays and lesbians: "Their minds are perverted, they're frankly very sick people psychologically, mentally and emotionally and they see everything through the lens of homosexuality. When they talk about love they're not talking about love, they're talking about homosexual sex. So they can't see clearly." [Right Wing Watch, 10/25/12]

 E.W. Jackson: Homosexuality "Destroys Families, It Destroys Societies; It Brings The Judgment Of God." In October 2012, Right Wing Watch reported about E.W. Jackson's appearance on a radio show with Peter LaBarbera and John Kirkwood. Jackson said: "Homosexuality is a horrible sin, it poisons culture, it destroys families, it destroys societies; it brings the judgment of God unlike very few things that we can think of." [Right Wing Watch, 10/25/12] E.W. Jackson: Homosexuality Tries To "Poison" And "Sexualize" Children. In October 2012, Right Wing Watch reported about E.W. Jackson's appearance on a radio show with Peter LaBarbera and John Kirkwood. Jackson said of homosexuality: "Look, it also attempts to poison our children, divide them from their parents and the teaching of the church and basically turn them into pawns for that movement so that they can sexualize them at the earliest possible age. It really is insidious and I agree with you, it is a super sin." [Right Wing Watch, 10/25/12]

E.W. Jackson: Gays And Lesbians "Want To Destroy" Culture; Said They Were Forcing Christians To Change Their Beliefs. In October 2012, Right Wing Watch reported about E.W. Jackson's appearance on a radio show with Peter LaBarbera and John Kirkwood. Jackson said of homosexuality: "They've got to transform the culture in order to make their lifestyles fully acceptable to everyone. I used two words to describe what they're trying to do: authoritarian and totalitarian, and I believe that. I believe that they are of a mindset that says we want to destroy in any way we need to anyone who dares oppose this agenda, that's a very, very dangerous approach.

Will there be some that take this rhetoric to heart and act?  Words can and do have consequences.

 

London Attack: The New Face of Terror - Where Are the Good Muslims?

I will admit that I am hard on those I call the "good Christians" - those Christians who silently stand by and never speak a word of condemnation against far right Christians who spew nothing but hatred towards others.  They are akin to the "good Germans" who stayed silent as the Nazi regime rose to power and who later denied any knowledge of the horrors done by Hitler, et al, including the wholesale murder of Jews.   In London today a horrible murder occurred and now, I am waiting for Muslims around the globe to rise up out of silence and condemn the horrible deed and also condemn clerics who preach such hate and violence.  Bad things happen when good people remain silent.  And silence ultimately translates into complicity.  I am an equal time critic of fundamentalist  religion and the evils which seem to be its principal fruits.   I expect nothing less from "good Muslims" than I do of "good Christians."   The Daily Beast looks at events today in London when a soldier was attacked and beheaded by apparent Jihadists.  Here are highlights:

A blood-splattered jihadist with a meat cleaver in one hand declaring to a bystander’s smartphone camera “Allahu Akbar” and “we will always beat you” in a pronounced south London accent?  While waiting twenty minutes for the police to arrive after he’s taken part in what seemed like a ritual assassination of a British soldier?  Exactly what terrorist profile does this conform to?  None.

And that’s what concerns British terrorism officials. Is this bizarre episode the beginning of a new, unpredictable pattern of loners operating without any organized backing behind them, or a one-off?

The two assailants could, indeed, just be a couple of deranged freelancers. But the guidance British ministers have been giving reporters assumes something much graver, a form of terrorism so unsophisticated and amateur that it can’t be detected by existing surveillance methods.

The fact that the wild, bloodied harangue to camera was delivered by a black man with no trace of a foreign accent – indeed, in an accent that seemed to originate in south London in particular – suggests homegrown militants, perhaps men radicalized via the Internet, through a form of widely dispersed propaganda rather than targeted brainwashing.

Many witnesses saw two men in a car deliberately run down the off-duty soldier, then hack away at him with a meat cleaver, apparently attempting to decapitate him.

The BBC has been reporting that one of the attackers was a Nigerian known to have had connections with the Somalia-based terrorist group Al-Shabaab, from as far back as 2003.

Fundamentalist religious belief to me is a form of sickness or, better yet, a form of mental illness.  How else to explain the hate and savagery that seems to go with it?  But, this judgment doesn't apply to all members of faith groups. That said, I have a number of Muslim clients who are decent, respectful individuals.   Unfortunately, they and others will be painted with a broad brush if Muslim leaders do not immediately condemn this atrocity in the strongest means possible.   Fundamentalist religion of all faiths is a dangerous evil that needs to be eradicated from the face of the earth.  Once again I find myself believing that a world entirely without religion would be a far better place.

Bhutto's Assassination Needs a Real Investigation

As this blogger - who is the author of "Profiles in Terror:A Guide to Middle East Terrorist Organizations" points out (http://terrorwonk.blogspot.com/2007/12/bhuttos-assassination-needs-real.html), a true investigation to determine who was behind the assassination is important for many reasons. Not least is that depending on who the responsible parties are, it has significant foreign policy implications. Here are some highlights for the post:

Facts about Benazir Bhutto’s assassination are in short supply. Unfortunately that is unlikely to change. There is a long tradition of failure to investigate political murders in Pakistan. This cannot continue if Pakistan is to become a stable democratic state that serves its people and exists at peace with the world. The first step is that Musharraf invite the international community to advise in the investigation into Bhutto’s death. The investigation will be politically expensive – it may not reach Musharraf himself but it will reach deep into the civilian and military elites running Pakistan. Broad, tough international engagement is essential to seeing this forward – the stakes are very high.

While the Islamists are the most likely suspects, they certainly hated Bhutto as a secular female politician – Bhutto had many other enemies. As I noted after the October attempt on Bhutto’s life:

"In courting Western support for her return to Pakistan, Bhutto promised that the International Atomic Energy Agency would receive access to A. Q. Khan, father of the Pakistani nuclear program and head of an international clandestine nuclear proliferation ring, who is currently under house arrest. It is inconceivable that Khan carried out his operations without substantial assistance from figures in Pakistan’s military and intelligence services."

A thorough investigation might be a first step to countering the rot pervading Pakistani politics. But if the murderers and their backers can get away with this murder Pakistan’s downward spiral will only continue.

Bhutto was a grand historical figure, talented but flawed. She died in the cause of a secular, moderate Pakistan. If a thorough investigation into her murder helps move Pakistan towards becoming a moderate Muslim democracy her death will not have been in vain.

As Andrew Sullivan notes (http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/12/the-immediate-a.html):

If Islamists within the military or ISI did this, then we have the possibility that this is the beginning of something more ominous than the surface event. The collapse of Pakistan into a Jihadist nuclear power is the great nightmare. Here's hoping that however grim this news, the worst isn't yet to come.