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Friday, May 16, 2014

Boko Haram and the Dynamics of Denial: Islam is not the victim here

This post has been moved. It can be read HERE.

8 comments:

  1. Dear Dr Durie,

    I followed the link to the Fox News article by Qasim Rashid where, among other things, he states -- as you correctly quoted him:

    "Boko Haram’s claim that Islam motivates their kidnappings is no different than Adolf Hitler’s claim that Christianity motivated his genocide."

    I have a few problems with this statement.

    1. Boko Haram's treatment of the girls has significant precedent in the life of Mohammed. But there is no evidence of committing genocide in the life of Jesus. Although Hitler did make references to Christianity to justify his contempt for Jews, he wasn't able to provide an example of Jesus committing genocide because there are no such examples.

    2. Boko Haram ONLY rely on Islam as the justification for their actions. Hitler did not only rely on Christianity. Nazi philosophy differs significantly from Christian philosophy. For instance, Nazism includes views on race and racial purity that are not found in the New Testament. Nazism also draws from elements of Nietzsche, Hegel, Kant, etc. Nazism draws from various Pagan and mystical and Green philosophies. And, of course, there's the too-often obscured fact that National SOCIALISM is a form of Socialism.

    3. Boko Haram considers itself Muslim. It has great reverence for Islam and for its Prophet. Hitler, on the other hand, not withstanding the fact that he made supportive references to Christianity, also expressed contempt for Christianity.

    4. Although Boko Haram's interpretation of Islam and the life of Mohammed are not the only interpretation, there is nothing to indicate that Boko Haram are merely using Islam or mouthing Islamic-sounding ideas for now, but ultimately plan to abandon it or neuter it or destroy it. In contrast, not withstanding his public statements, Hitler privately disdained Christianity and considered it to be a deep problem from a Nazi perspective. There is much documented evidence of this.

    For instance, Goebbels wrote in 1939: "The Fuhrer is deeply religious, though completely anti-Christian. He views Christianity as a symptom of decay. Rightly so. It is a branch of the Jewish race. This can be seen in the similarity of their religious rites. Both (Judaism and Christianity) have no point of contact to the animal element, and thus, in the end they will be destroyed."

    I doubt that Boko Haram, in private, will ever be found hold to such views regarding Islam.

    In any case, their views on what is permissible are far from unique in the genuine Islamic scholarship. Qasim Rashid's perspective is far more novel than Boko Haram's.

    Thank you for the opportunity to learn more and think further on these issues.

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  2. Dear PRODOS, your arguments are sound and convincing. Indeed there is no parallel between Boko Haram and Hitler's attitudes to Islam and Christianity respectively.

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  3. Thank you for this article, Rev. Durie. When I read your writings about Islam, I always get the clean feeling I experience in the presence of an honest, objective approach to anything. You always acknowledge the wide variation of attitude and ethics among those who profess Islam today, while pointing out the actual practices of Mohammad himself. It would be hard to hate or condemn all Muslims on the basis of your writings, and yet one can see that Islam itself definitely contains the basis for the threatening version of Islam that we face today.

    Seeking out the whole truth and nothing but the truth is the way to seek solutions based on reality - solutions that are more likely to work in attaining one's ends, including the ends of stopping dedicated ideologues bent on imposing their will on others by hook or by crook or by suicide bomb.

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  4. Dear Mr. Durie:

    Thank you for your work on Islam. It reads very much like a labour of love despite the uncomfortable truths it contains. Perhaps I can suggest a strategy that you may use to help the enslaved girls.

    You have mentioned Islamic abrogation so you know about the list of Koranic verses that "no longer apply in the here and now." The why of abrogation (the existence of contradictory Koranic verses) is important, but the how (the creation of an official list of "suspended" verses) is equally important. Because once such a mechanism for officially suspending Koranic verses has been created, the question which naturally arises is: shouldn't abrogation be used to officially suspend Koranic verses that regulate the institution of e.g. sex slavery, or slavery per se, or aggressive jihad?

    The Islamic clerical establishment need to be put on the spot by having someone ask them what is keeping them from expanding the list of abrogated verses to include the worst Koranic verses.

    Westerners do not know about abrogation, so they think that the most the Islamic clerical class can do regarding the worst Koranic verses is preach for moderation. But they can do more: they can abrogate. So let's hold them accountable for refusing to do so... no? Verses are not responsible, people are.

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  5. Islam is the same religion as all the rest are just radical branches that bring many problems to everyone.

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  6. Religion is very important for everybody. We must know all details about this. This article gives an opportunity to read about the most important facts. Thanks, dear.

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  7. Radical branches exist in almost every faith because there are groups of people who cover up their crimes by the fact that all this is done in the name of faith.

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  8. Many people do not know that the basics of Islam are very similar to Christianity, there are many different branches that resort to radical actions.

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