Violence is not unique to Islam.

Printer-friendly versionSend to friendPDF versionYou seem to think that Violence and killing of non-believers are unique to Islam but fail to point out that Judaism, the forerunner to both Christianity and Islam, had similar commandments too. I agree that the Bible recounts of terrible acts of violence committed by Moses and Joshua and most religions have violence in their annals. All religions the cause disunity and they are the source of hatred and bloodshed.  The fact that other religions incite hate does not mean we should justify the hatred that Islam invokes. We must not tolerate violence in one religion because  other religions also have violent histories. Two wrongs do not make one right, and tu quoque is a logical fallacy. It is as if the religious people are vying with each other in bigotry. It is as if each group is encouraging others to dig deeper into their ignorance. Muslims, when face the dismal status of women in their religion, console themselves with the fact that other religions also have discriminatory teachings about women. This is absurd. Other religions are not the standard. We have to compare the teachings of our religion with the modern humanistic concepts of equality.   Furthermore, other religions have reformed. Women in all religions have acquired equal status. Islam is the only religion that has not and cannot reform.  It is the only religion that in this day and age still treats women as chattel. It is the only religion that regards the followers of other faiths as second class citizens.