Intolerance in the Guise of Peace

Last Friday, the Capitol was the site of a large gathering of Muslims who wanted to offer up their evening prayers at the Capitol to demonstrate to the curious and the mis-informed that contrary to popular opinion, 'not all Muslims are violent and not all of them hate America'. The rally, known as Jummah Day, was hoping to draw close to 50,000 people to pray at the foot of the Capitol grounds though early estimates show that barely a tenth of that predicted number arrived to offer up prayers. Although the rally was successful in the sense that prayers were offered up at the Capitol with little problem, there were a comparitive handful of protestors who came out to protest and warn the American people of 'Islam's plan to slowly subvert and Islamisize the country and replace the Bible with the Koran.' My only reaction could be categorized as being one of dismay.

I think one of the problems is that many people out there are so uncomfortable with their religion that they feel that someone who offers up something of a more appealing alternative will be seen as a better religion. Is religious belief that shakey in this country now that we can't allow someone of another religion to offer up their prayers without accusing them of trying to peddle their religion on to the rest of us? I've mentioned in the past being propositioned on Campus when I was in college by religious zealots who had a passing knowledge of my religion and proceeded to insult my beliefs by way of false assumptions and blatant accusations of why their religion was better.

I really don't have any say in what religion someone wants to practice or what they should or shouldn't believe but I do believe that there are those who take the belief that by bringing others of a different religion to their fold then they will save the world in time. If that's what you believe then by insulting people or their current beliefs, I don't think you're going to win anyone over either. Other religions may certainly be truly superior to mine. I may be denying myself religious bliss by ignoring other avenues of worship but does that mean I should just convert because someone tells me to? I don't think so.

Many of the protestors who came out on Friday were concerned that by allowing Muslims to practice their religion on the Capitol grounds proved that there was a vast conspiracy to convert the country to Islam? Well then what about the fact that every session of Congress is opened by an invocation by a Christian priest and that the one time a Hindu priest was invited to make the opening invocation there were protests. So is the fact that this country was founded on the belief of religious freedom really supposed to mean that this country was founded as a Christian nation and that there is no true religion other than Christianity? I think people really need to go back and read the Constitution and understand what it says. Read books on other religions as well and understand what it says too.

Just as there are violent factions who follow a radical form of Islam and preach violence so too are there people of this ilk in every religion around the world. There is no religion that I can think of whose followers do not include a smattering of violent and misguided individuals. That being said then who is better to judge whom? I think the only true end to violence inspired by religion or intolerance of others would be through the adoption of aetheism. Of course that's easier said than done and yet another sign (to some of these same zealots) that its a sign of the coming of the Apocalypse but to me it would at least go a long way to ending some of the unnecessary intolerance that stems from feelings of "my religion is better than yours."