Opaque Lucidity

Good Ol' Religion of Peace

You may have seen the story this week about the Muslim man in Italy who was baptized a Catholic by Pope Benedict XVI. As one might expect, this "moderate" Muslim (more on that later) has received death threats because, as a journalist, he has publicly expressed his support for Israel, among other things.

There are people, I'm sure, who do not blame these sort of threats on Islam itself, but on the cruel interpretation of Allah's message. Fair enough. But where are the Muslims who condemn such threats? Where are the Muslims saying that while they certainly don't agree with his conversion to Catholicism, Allam has the right as a free human being to follow any religious practice he desires? And where are the Muslims questioning why support of Israel translates to a death sentence?

As harsh as this may sound, I am more and more convinced that there are no moderate Muslims; there are just Muslims. They may not act on their beliefs, but the feeling is there. You can talk about abuses in Christianity, but you can point to things like the Protestant Reformation and see where Church leaders have at least tried to address wrongs. There is no central authority in Islam---each region of the world has it's own imam and his word carries the weight of gospel to believers. His political views become his adherents' political views, regardless of logic and apparent lunacy. If this doesn't sound like a cult to you, you need to pay closer attention.

It's time that Western nations begin treating Islam as a cult. Imagine the Pope issuing a death warrant on any Catholic who leaves the Church. The uproar would be so loud you would not be able to hear yourself think. Yet this happens nearly every day in the Islamic world. Why do we tolerate it? Is it all in the name of political-correctness? If so, then many people will one day die with thoughts of the "religion of peace" burned into their frontal lobes.