Most people in the world are laid back about religion and do not get too upset when other religions say and do things that drives that particular faith. But over the past 2 years or so the Muslim faith has infringed on non Muslims in less than passive ways, and all this tends to add fuel to the anti Muslim fire.
For many people who are starting to give retirement a more serious look, the first time they heard about the aggression of some Muslims was in 1988 when an author named Salman Rushdie wrote a book called “The Satanic Verses” that was critical of the Muslim faith. Because of that he was branded and marked for death for blaspheme. Seeing that few had read the book as yet, there was little more than a passing interest with the assumption that something truly horrible was said.
As terrorism continued to rise, the connection with the Muslim faith was becoming more pronounced although it was mostly limited to the extreme views of some Muslims. They were for the most part anti other people and not limited to a political group. All of this contributed to today’s mind set about the Muslim faith. For the most part people felt insulated from the terrorism threat and were comforted with the thought it was happening some place else, but that is now starting to change.
If you are reading this then you are probably reading it online and not a printed copy. There is also the likelihood you can access Google, Twitter, Facebook with one or 2 mouse clicks. For many people those Internet companies have become part of their daily lives. So when someone in the name of the Muslim faith starts to attack people who use those services, the feeling of being disconnected from the influence of the Muslim religion suddenly seems much less if not totally removed. Things are now in people’s faces that should not be there, particularly so if they are not Muslim.
For Americans the Constitution provides for separation of religion from state, as well as freedom of expression. But with the Internet now reaching deep into the strongholds of Muslim extremist views, they are lashing out at all that do not share their extreme views and that is now having an effect on others. Looking at some of the things that are setting these extreme Muslims off, people who never read “The Satanic Verses” by Salman Rushdie are wondering just how bad or tame it was.
The Muslim Attack on Facebook for a contest to re-create the likeness of the prophet Mohammad has caused people to connect just how different and violently enforced these views are. If someone was to re-create a likeness of Jesus on the cross, it would be accepted and showing respect and honor for the Christian faiths. For Muslims it is considered blaspheme punishable by death.
Because the Internet brings the world together in real time the extreme negative views of some Muslims are seen in real time as well. They are now substantiating the negative views people are starting to have about Muslims as a whole. This is particularly so when it is now more so In your face and is not in some far off land anymore. The person who decided to have the contest of re-creating the likeness of the prophet Mohammad probably did so from the comfort of their own home surrounded by friends and family with all the best intentions, but now they are marked for death by the Muslim extremists. With Facebook being Facebook, the identity of that person is already known and that brings things a lot closer to home. So what Salman Rushdie did can now be recreated from the comfort of home wearing only a bath robe and house slippers with all the death threats and other fallout included.
The reality of this is clearly breaking through the politically correct fantasy bubble some people have. The threat from Muslim extremists who look to genuinely kill people who they see have committed some violation of the Muslim faith goes way past the politically correct fear of hurting someone’s feelings. This is a taste of what the real world is all about, and it also feeds the anti Muslim views as it is not just ‘over there’ anymore. With some governments actively screening the Internet for anything they deem anti Muslim simply infringes on other people who have a different view, and that also feeds the anti Muslim view showing their intolerance for others.
