Christianity Vs Islam

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the term Muslim is a religious tag, it does not pertain to race, and the line between racism and religious discrimination is often blurred (Allen & Nielsen, 2002). Muslim Americans are often perceived as a monolithic group (McCarus, 1994; Nyang, 1999), or a religious minority thought to act, think, and behave similarly despite wide ethnic differences that exist within the Muslim American community (Abu-Ras & Suarez, 2009; McCarus, 1994; Pew Research Center, 2010).

It is clear Muslims in America face discrimination from today’s society, more so after the 2001 September 11 attacks. The passing of the Patriot Act has law enforcement to profile Muslims as terrorists as well as socially accepting this discrimination. The media and government also play a role in society’s perceptions in regards to their views on Muslims (Comino & Lattin, p.151). While we grant religious freedom, like we do here in the United States, but we can’t grant religious tolerance, because we can’t control the beliefs of everyone; we can’t tell everyone that they have to be okay with every religion out there. People, naturally hold prejudices against others based on all kinds of things, including religion.

Christianity in the Middle East (STOPPED HERE ON FRIDDAY NIGHT)

In countries outside the United States, citizens may not enjoy the luxury of freedom of religion. In the Middle East especially, those countries each have their own, individual religions in which they live their daily lives. With the influx of sectarian violence and terrorism, countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran live by way of religion; either you accept that religion and live there according to it, or you don’t move there to begin with. There is very little religious freedom in the Middle East, making it very difficult to have religious tolerance.

Islam as a religion has been regarded with suspicion and received condemning remarks from almost every corner of the world because of the association of terrorism to Islam. Subsequent terror attacks perpetrated by Muslim jihadists in various parts of the world have also raised suspicion on anyone who professes Islam as a religion. These forms of violence have resulted in worldwide misconception of the beliefs and values of the Islamic religion (Curtis, 2010). The fact that Islam, just like Christianity and Judaism, is not only founded and practiced in the Middle East, as commonly believed by most Americans. There are many other parts of the world where the Islamic religion is practiced and these include Africa, Asia, Europe, America and many Arab countries. In such regions and countries, Islamic teachings have helped to shape different cultures while simultaneously being shaped by these cultures.

Internal Muslim Conflicts:

In several Muslim nations, most notably Saudi Arabia, the militant terrorists have bombed buildings. As the militants get less scrupulous about killing Arab civilians, they are becoming more scrupulous in their outrage against pragmatic rulers who make deals with the west. Thus, a civil war between pragmatic rulers and militant purists may be in its early stages. Many traditional Muslims are in an agony about whether to support the rulers or the indigenous radicals.

There is a Shia-Sunni conflict that has been raging on for generations. It started within a few decades of Prophet’s death. There is a lot of irrationality in the interaction between these two major sects. This is primarily the reason why there is such a lack of unity among Muslims. It’s not that these two sects don’t agree with each other. They dislike/hate each other. A lot of terrorist events have been exchanged between the two groups including assassination of popular figures as well as bombings. The general lack of unity contributes to most unstable Muslim countries.

This is not to say that religion is the sole source of the problem. It is, however, to recognize that in far too many places religion is at least part of the problem. Patterns exist around Swiss priest-theologian Hans Küng’s lecture “No Peace Among Nations Until Peace Among Religions.” The sad status of freedom of religion in the world and especially for religious minorities is not something that can be improved by some magic formula. Nevertheless, Professor Küng’s point is very important. All believers need to recognize how our own traditions have helped fuel conflicts. Each of our traditions has been at one time or another not only a victim but a victimizer. We then need to work courageously within and between our traditions to build a world in which freedom of religion is not merely an idea but a reality.

Consequently, religious tolerance, though it has improved greatly over time, can never fully be reached. Due to the nature of religion; its nature to be conflicting, religious tolerance won’t ever be completely possible in the world.

References

Armstrong, K. (1993). History of god: The 4,000-year quest of judaism, christianity and islam. Place of publication not identified: Diane Pub.

Abbas, Ali. "The Islamic View of Creation." Idolphin. N.p., 1 Aug. 1995. Web. 5 May 2015. <http://www.ldolphin.org/islamcreat.html>.

Abu-Ras, W. M., & Suarez, Z. E. (2009). Muslim men and women’s perception of discrimination, hate crimes, and PTSD symptoms post 9/11. Traumatology, 15, 48–63.

Aziz-Us-Samad, Ulfat. Islam and Christianity. 1st ed. Pakhtoonkhwa: University of Peshawar, 2012. Print.

Basic Beliefs of Christians and Muslims. (n.d.). Retrieved September 23, 2016, from http://www.islam101.com/religions/christianity/christ_islam.html

Baqi-Aziz, M. A. (2001). ‘Where does she think she is?’: On being Muslim, an American, and a nurse. American Journal of Nursing, 101, 11–12.

Council on American-Islamic Relations [CAIR]. (2001). American Muslims: Population statistics. Washington, DC: Council on American-Islamic Relations Research Center.

Cimino, R. P., & Lattin, D. (1998). Shopping for faith: American religion in the new millennium. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.