Islam and peaceful co-existence

[whiffey]

Do you belive that Islam can exist peacefully alongside other faiths and cultures, respecting their beliefs ?

My own answer is, no, it cannot, and will not.

And herein lies the future.

[wizard69]

Salman Rushdie, fatwahs, twin towers, london bombings, flag burnings, bhurkas, etc......enough said!

[Theland]

Moderate muslims are moderate in spite of the koran, not because of it.

Google Brigitte Gabriel, " American Congress For Truth," and learn what this Lebanese born Lady is trying to warn the West about.

Read Melanie Philips's book, "Londonistan."

I think your question is excellent, and so relevant, and will maybe get a few ABers thinking seriously about the threat we under.

[luna-tic]

I don't know whether it is the peoples religion alone that conveys their ideology, or corruption within their society that together with the media has now labelled anyone that either practices Islam, has a middle eastern appearance or looks a bit shifty wearing a rucksack could be considered dangerous.
As long as there is a threat to peoples lives and the purveyors of death as terrorists are said to be Muslim, we will always make that connection.
The true faith of any people should be peaceful but during the human habitation of this planet, the religious beliefs of individuals has sadly resulted in many conflicts. I personally think that the twisted,brainwashed suicidal fanatics have nothing to do with the meaning of Islam or the Koran.

[Lonnie]

There are some Muslims who would live in peaceful co-existance if they could, but its the fundamentalists, they take the Koran at face value, and want to either convert the world to their version, or conquer it.

To give you a straight answer, No, it can never happen, If yopu haven't read the Koran, you should, and you'll see what I mean, its got some of the most beautiful passages, but at the same time, it preaches death to all non believers.

[Theland]

Lonnie - The last line of your post says it all.
Allah is NOT the God of the Bible.

[noxlumos]

Yes of course Islam can co-exist with other religions, and does all over the world every day without event. You sieze on the loony extremists who bomb and kill and hate and pretend that they are the majority. I have never found this to be so and frankly fundamental Christians frighten me a hell of a lot more. You are all so quick to jump to inappropriate conclusions about any religion or belief system that contradicts your own ideas and you are all so frightened.Fear breeds hate. That's appalling.Your God is not necessarily THE God, although you'll argue it until the day you die, so stop labelling, stop panicking and just understand YOU are not the way anymore than I am or anyone else. We all have a right to live and practice our beliefs as we see fit without being subject to bigotry, so how about actually treating these people as your brother and not some sneaky enemy waiting to get you at any opportunity. I personally think your god would be ashamed of such behaviour.

[wizard69]

Theland ... you havnt read the passages in the bible where God orders the death of non believers then? (passages available on request)!

[dawkins]

Far more Muslims are persecuted and killed by christians than the other way round and correct me if i'm wrong, but this has always been the case. Perversely, most posters find it simple to condemn a disparate group of people (islam) for the actions of fundamentalist terrorists yet fail to make the same connection when fundamentalist christians with all powerful armies kill and maim innocent people in Iraq on an industrial scale.

Theland, what if you were born in Baghdad, do you think you would still be a Christian? What then if some foreign countries started reigning bombs on your neighbourhood just when you are getting the kids off to bed. Think about that when you start your preachy, preachy about some book promoting violence

[dawkins]

That's right Fender, the coalition skipped into Iraq without hurting anyone, peaceful good guys that they are. Its a wonder where they spend their 2 trillion dollar military budget what with not using any ammo. And things are so much safer for ordinary Iraqis since they got rid of Sadam.

[whiffey]

I didn't post this question to stir up any hatreds. My view is very simple, Islam is an unyielding culture that will grow and grow in Britain, while others decline. That's just the way it is. Eventually it will predominate, and its stance on non-believers is plain. The future of Britain is Islam.

The Bush/Blair/Iraq-war bashers amuse me. Comfy in an armchair no doubt. Now you can't vote Blair/Brown, you can't vote Tory of course, Liberal is hardly a realistic option - leaves you little except..... well what ? Tree-hugging maybe. The imams will give you special dispensations.

[jno]

as I recall, Revelations suggests you torture non-believers for five months. Face it, no religion can live peacefully alongside another. Ask any crusader. Nonetheless, Christianity has changed from the vicious, murderous creed that set off on the Crusades to a reasonably tolerant one that only goes to war on Islam once every 10 years or so. Maybe Muslims will change the same way.

[jump79]

Whiffey, muslims do live peacefully alongside other faiths in many places, its just that the troublemakers get the news coverage most of the time and that is what you get to see on your tv whilst lounging about in your armchair.

Also, its a little hard to live peacefully and not be paranoid when Bush keeps babbling on and on about "a crusade" and the "axis of evil" etc etc. With this fool in charge, do you really expect muslims to carry on living without fear or paranoia when he makes it so obvious that his agenda is inluenced more by religion (and religious domination) than common sense.

For one faith to coexist peacefully with others, other faiths have to be willing to do the same otherwise it won't last.

[Opiates]

You need to be more aware of POLITICS, and the ideals that our own governments have and those that came before them.
In order for them to secure the future of resources and capital they have allied and are carrying out their plans. they created an enemy to give them an excuse to attack, and made us believe it, they still have no proof, they created these radical organisations if you think about it - let them exist, funded them etc - yes they did.

Think CIA, drug money, money for the state, think Iraq, weakening nations with Oil and those close to them. PEAK OIL. be aware, i say DRUGS because AFGHANISTAN was bombed down to secure the OPIUM crop, they supply the US with 70% of their illegal drugs, the government them use this money to invest in FTSE and they have largely corrupt business, they use it to diminate not only their county but ours too. It is very unusual that you believe that these incidents are just 'religion', why was this not a problem before 9/11? it was created, fear was created and you cannot get away with telling the truth. those buildings collapsed, demolition style and they created the damn 'alqaeda' they named it US, they found nothing in Afghanistan, no nuclear stuff in Iraq, they went to weaken the nations. they are still doing it, they went to kosovo and so on, they will move out, until they get their pipes.

russia and china, they are not 'friends' of the usa, they have nuclear warheads pointted directly at them. globalisation gets you somewhere to some point, but it also gets you enemies. why is noone attacking africa, is it because they are poorer? no, it is because they are not involved in much of world trade that will affect them and their world power in ranks, they would rather their people live how they are then have these issues, although it is causing alot of pain and sufferring too.

Why is the UK involved, we also need the oils!!

It's about world domination.

[zubair]

I say we can bt many people are becoming racist nowadays and it's getting tough day by day. Yh islam respects other peoples beliefs we don't mind but what the holy Qur'an has told us to do 'spread islam' many people are acting upon that and other people who believe in different religions take it in a wrong way.

[dawkins]

So Whiffey, to paraphrase your considered arguments:

Can Islam exist peacefully alongside other faiths?

Whiffey: No it cannot. Islam is taking over Britain. I don't wish to stir up negative feelings, I just felt compelled to come on the internet and tell Answerbank users that the Muslims are going to take over. If you don't agree with me you are a tree hugger and you make me laugh.

You amuse me Whiffey.

[Theland]

Dawkins is RIGHT.