The story of Phillip Garrido kidnapping an eleven year old girl, imprisoning her in his back yard for 18 years, and fathering two children by her, has pushed Ted Kennedy's passing off the front page for the moment.
Surprise surprise, this horrific crime was carried out by a man who espouses deep religious convictions. If the accused was a Muslim, tongues would be clacking from coast to coast about what an evil religion Islam must be. But Phillip Garrido doesn't quote Mohammed or the Koran in his blogs, instead he quotes Biblical scripture.
An article on The Guardian's (UK publication) website includes this quote from one of the accused's blogs:
"I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago was caught up to the third heaven". (emphasis mine)
I'm not writing this in an effort to diminish Christianity, or to extol Islam...I'm no fan of religious extremists no matter what faith they lay claim to. But the simple point is that we, the thinking public, should not treat one religion any differently from another. When a Muslim is accused of committing an atrocious crime, as with the drowning of four women in the Rideau canal, many are quick to use it as an indictment of the entire Islamic faith.
What's good for the goose, if we're going to condemn Islam based on crimes committed by its adherents, then we should do the same with atrocities committed by Christians, Jews, Hindus...or any other religion.
Yeah yeah, I know the Bible thumping fundies will probably get all worked up if they read this. After all, they'll claim, their's is the one true faith...yadda yadda yadda. Spare me please. The lesson I take out of stories like this is that religion has the capacity to warp minds...and it doesn't matter whether that religion is Christianity, Islam or any other.
Thanks to you Canadian Soapbox is now listed in the Top Ten at Canadian Blogosphere. To help this blog climb even higher click on their icon, then hit the green button to vote - limit 1 vote per day per IP - thank you.
Surprise surprise, this horrific crime was carried out by a man who espouses deep religious convictions. If the accused was a Muslim, tongues would be clacking from coast to coast about what an evil religion Islam must be. But Phillip Garrido doesn't quote Mohammed or the Koran in his blogs, instead he quotes Biblical scripture.
An article on The Guardian's (UK publication) website includes this quote from one of the accused's blogs:
"I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago was caught up to the third heaven". (emphasis mine)
I'm not writing this in an effort to diminish Christianity, or to extol Islam...I'm no fan of religious extremists no matter what faith they lay claim to. But the simple point is that we, the thinking public, should not treat one religion any differently from another. When a Muslim is accused of committing an atrocious crime, as with the drowning of four women in the Rideau canal, many are quick to use it as an indictment of the entire Islamic faith.
What's good for the goose, if we're going to condemn Islam based on crimes committed by its adherents, then we should do the same with atrocities committed by Christians, Jews, Hindus...or any other religion.
Yeah yeah, I know the Bible thumping fundies will probably get all worked up if they read this. After all, they'll claim, their's is the one true faith...yadda yadda yadda. Spare me please. The lesson I take out of stories like this is that religion has the capacity to warp minds...and it doesn't matter whether that religion is Christianity, Islam or any other.
Thanks to you Canadian Soapbox is now listed in the Top Ten at Canadian Blogosphere. To help this blog climb even higher click on their icon, then hit the green button to vote - limit 1 vote per day per IP - thank you.
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