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The root cause of most Muslim violence is that most Muslims actually believe the claims that the Quran makes about reality. Here is a sample of such quotes dir
by theheck 11y ago
The root cause of most Muslim violence is that most Muslims actually believe the claims that the Quran makes about reality.
Here is a sample of such quotes directly from the Quran:
"Believers, if you yield to the infidels they will drag you back to unbelief and you will return headlong to perdition. . . .We will put terror into the hearts of the unbelievers. . . . The Fire shall be their home" (3:149-51)
"Believers, do not follow the example of the infidels, who say of their brothers when they meet death abroad or in battle: ‘Had they stayed with us they would not have died, nor would they have been killed.' God will cause them to regret their words. . . . If you should die or be slain in the cause of God, God's forgiveness and His mercy would surely be better than all the riches they amass" (3:156).
"God will not forgive those who serve other gods besides Him; but He will forgive whom He will for other sins. He that serves other gods besides God is guilty of a heinous sin. . . . Consider those to whom a portion of the Scriptures was given. They believe in idols and false gods and say of the infidels: ‘These are better guided than the believers'" (4:50–51).
Yes there are also some quotes in the Quran that contradict these quotes (like all religious texts, it's highly contradictory), and some people may be animated by charismatic individuals who distort the text, but Muslims who commit violence in the name of Allah need not believe anything more than the specific claims that the Quran makes to rationalize their violent actions.
The solution to this problem is like asking, "What's the solution to someone who still believes in Santa Claus at the age of 30?"
If you encountered such a person, would you let them continue to believe in Santa Claus or would you empathetically attempt to communicate to that person that they need to deeply examine their beliefs and ensure they're based in reality, based on evidence that can be readily observed.
But when most atheists and agnostics encounter a Muslim (or a Christian, or a Jew, or any religious person), they simply roll their eyes and shrug it off because they don't "want to get into it with them."
I'm not saying you have to go around trying to prove everybody wrong all the time, that's a recipe for ensuring everyone hates you. But religious beliefs are dangerous and they are the direct cause of violence -- not just Muslims of course, the Crusades are an obvious example of Christianity being the direct cause of violence.
The solution is to be empathetic, but not apologetic about the fact that their religious beliefs are not rooted in reality, and all beliefs should be.
TL;DR -- When you encounter a religious person, be empathetic, but not apologetic when communicating that their beliefs are based on a made up story rather than rooted in reality (as all beliefs should be).
- rtl49 11y agoI've encountered this explanation before (most notably from Sam Harris), and I don't feel qualified to disagree with it, but I wonder how you account for the difference between the actions of Muslims and those of other religious traditions whose holy texts contain comparable passages. If language advocating violence in a religion's scriptures were in itself sufficient to motivate its adherents to commit acts of violence, I would expect comparable levels of violence from these other religions. Given that this is clearly a problem unique to Islam in the modern age, it seems that the proximate cause can't be the Islamic scriptures alone. Even if I'm not convinced, I disagree that you deserve to be downvoted. You've voiced an unpopular opinion, but it isn't rude or inflammatory (except possibly for the Santa analogy) and doesn't advocate inhumane behavior toward Muslims.
- insoluble 11y ago> it seems that the proximate cause can't be the Islamic scriptures alone. My hypothesis is twofold: (1) The people doing the violence have been sold on these passages of the scriptures by others; and (2) The people doing this selling are acting for another reason. Hence, the scriptures are serving as a justification, not a cause in and of themselves. There were plenty of times in history where Christians used passages to justify their actions, while the actions themselves were motivated by completely different desires. Essentially the people in discussion here are using scriptures in the same way that lawyers use legal code -- not as a reason to sue, but as a justification of why suit is permissible. It's all too easy to point a finger at the justification being used. In fact, the ego loves doing so since it helps one to remain willfully ignorant of the actual reasons behind the occurrences. Religion is not the cause; Religion is the justification. Without looking at the cause, one cannot answer the why, nor can one know how to resolve the issue without jumping on the "It's all the religion's fault" bandwagon. The ego loves the path of least resistance.
- rtl49 11y agoI think this is a reasonable interpretation, but those who disagree with you might point to a large number of instances where extremists' political grievances are only intelligible in the context of religious beliefs derived from the Quran. For example, the Tsarnaev brothers were born in Kyrgyzstan and raised and educated in the West, yet they committed acts of violence against the United States in retaliation for its foreign policy in Afghanistan and Iraq. What would have motivated them to commit these acts on behalf of Afghanistan and Iraq, countries to which they had no personal attachment, except for their religious belief that jihad was justified after the invasion of Muslim lands? In other words, what renders a person susceptible to "being sold" Islamic demagoguery other than the content of Islam itself?