(by Barney, the purple dinosaur)

“I bomb you,
You judge me,
We are an angry family,
With a simple comic strip and a C4 from me to you,
Won’t you say you hate me too.”

(Current world)

Any of the above may spark fear and phobia in anyone of us. The fear of the unknown. That is the reason why the initiated seek out to unravel unknown frontiers in the hope that fellow brethens may be enlightened and fear no more. To be ignorant no more. Knowledge lights up as opposed to the stifling effect of darkness.

Humanity had gone through it all…every imaginable and unimaginable tragic events.

Do we have to go through them again and again? Why can’t we live honorably, peacefully, lovingly, caringly, unprejudiced and accommodatingly?

Isn’t there enough space for all of us? Why must we greed for more than what we need? Is one race more superior than another?
Is another religion greater than the other? When can we stop lording over others? When will we see the folly of our actions? When will we accept all humanity as our own brothers and sisters?That humanity is one? When can we see that the God that we are worshipping all this while is actually the One and Only God, by whatever Name we came to know? That religion is actually one?

We are living in the age of enlightenment. We have the benefit of hindsight. We have access to information and knowledge unimaginable even as close as 100 years ago. Why are behaving as if we are still living in the dark ages? Aren’t we suppose to have been ‘paradigmn-shifted’ in our mentality to be in sync with modern times?

Perhaps because of deep-set discrimation, knowingly or otherwise, that we became so ignorant and backward in our view of our surrounding and environment. Or perhaps it was due to sheer lack of learning that contributed to the current state of affair, in which case the available information and knowledge resources are not utilised sufficiently.

The constant bickering among religious groups should have been be replaced with meaningful discussion and discourse. We have to shed any prejudice that may colour our views and inclination and to move into uncharted waters. We should have the courage to accept new knowledge with grace and humility.

The world should not be allowed to cringe under the shadow of ‘Islamophobia’. It is an over-reaction to what we do not know about the religion that causes unnecessary fears. We have to confront it i.e. learn about the religion itself from authorised and reliable sources and put to rest once and for all all doubts and prejudice that we may have harboured. Same for all other religions.
We have to get down to the core of the subject to fully understand their significance and relevance in relation to place and time.

It is with this approach that it is hoped that one can see the significance of teachings which are relevant to this age and time. Progressive revealation is a concept which is worth investigating to understand the ‘development’ of religions throughout the ages.

Different era calls for different revealation and approach simply because humanity is progressing with time. We no longer write on bamboo or stone slabs. We no longer look to the medium or soothsayer to cure our sickness. We no longer thought that the earth is flat or that the sighting of the comet would bring bad luck to our community.

Let’s move on.

# undergrad2 Says: March 20th, 2008 (2 days ago) at 20: 08.55

I met a lot of whites who have a strong dislike for Jews. It is not just the Muslims. To understand some of it you need to read the Old Testament in the Christian Bible.
____________________________________________________
So the in the OT it tells the Jews to eliminate Christians, or does it tell the Christians to eliminate the Jews?
[Me not being christian, I assume you mean `whites` to be christians.]
As `a practicing Christian` surely that should be within your capabilities to answer.
Shhh nobody help him please.”

I am astounded by the lack of understanding you guys have. First thing first, in no place in the Bible OT or NT tells us to Kill JEWS. In fact the Jews are treated as in the first born child. The elder. GOD chose the Jews to be an example to the world as a holy priesthood; unfortunately not that didn’t that well. In NT the faith was open to non-Jews and from then onwards the new movement was came to be known as Christians (followers of Christ).

In times of the atrocities the massacres in the varios examples you cited were politically motivated. And the examples you cited are over 600 years ago (if that is recent by your standards). Although it was sanctioned by the Catholic Church it was wrong. In the age of enlightenment time of Martin Luther where the Protestant Christian movement was formed thats a breakaway from the political control and to follow the real teaching of Jesus Christ which is to love one another; and turn the other cheek for vengeance belongs to GOD. True Christians follow a non-violent approach to life and we do not retaliate by killing other people even if they insult our GOD (Jesus).

Even more recent, the second world war the Jews were heavily persecuted, thats still within 70 years of our lifetime (the holocaust).

First of all, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all have the same roots. All claim to worship the GOD of Abraham, and share many of the same text. Hence the three religions all are middle-eastern in nature. Not White. Today, there are more Asian Christians than White (Caucasian) Christians. A trip to Europe, you will see many abandon churches and cathedrals.

I am only explaining what we see in the world TODAY. If the muslims are so peaceful and inclusive and wonders why there’s Islamophobia they must be really blind or highly insensitive? Islam is reminiscent of the times when the Catholic Church was politically all powerful. Absolute Power corrupts absolutely, dont you agree?

Today, many “Whites” are atheist or are “New Agers” not many are Christians.

I hope that answers your sarcastic question.

Of course we know that. That comment is in the context of Undergraduate`s comments earlier.
Just as a different perspective on S.America (also related to his comment) may be found here:
http://www.groupsrv.com/religion/about46518.html

The problem is that not that there is no intelligent response to Islamphobia but rather its not being heard due to politicisation. Its actually the core of secularity argument.

Why did the US adopt such a strong separation of church and state? Due to the experience of its migrant fleeing religious persecution. They were religious people and thought the best defense against religious persecution was to remove the role of state power.

Islam is a more organized religion than well almost all others. But it fundamentally has little confidence as a religion without state power despite proof to the contrary. After all its the fastest growing religion even in the US. Why? Because its not about religion, its about power and politics and that is all too common a weakness.