your-god-is-too-small May. 2016 | Page 126

Islam: A Religion of Peace? Do Not Insult My Intelligence! By - James Lawrence Religion of Peace, You Say? Syria Says Otherwise The recent developments in Syria are disturbing, to say the least. If rumours are true and chemical weapons are being used, then this affects every living person on the planet. Syria’s is one of the most complicated conflicts in recent years. I myself still have not grasped the whole situation, but I do know one thing: both sides are screaming “Allahu Akbar” as they kill their enemies. I am so fed up with hearing that Islam is a religion of peace. Muslims repeat this to both non-believers and to each other as if to hypnotise themselves into believing it, perhaps believing if they say it enough times it becomes true. If Islam is truly a religion of peace, you’d have thought all this peace and serenity would have rubbed off on its followers. Rather, Islam seems actually to inspire violence, as the majority of ongoing wars today are in Islamic-run countries. Whether or not they are committing these atrocities in the name of Islam is irrelevant. The question is, how can Islam be a religion of peace if so many of its followers are so quick to war? There are currently ten ongoing military conflicts in the world with over a thousand deaths a year, and NINE of those are in Muslim-majority countries. The only ongoing conflict with kills over a thousand people a year that has nothing to do with Islam is the Mexican Drug War. If Islam was so damn peaceful you’d think its followers would shy away from bloodshed, but as the evidence shows, this simply is not true. Whether Muslims are in the wrong or right doesn’t matter because they are always in the fight. If we bring in ongoing conflicts with under a thousand deaths a year, on average Muslim conflicts jump to an ev