Islam and Christianity: Equivalent Traditions?Thatevangel ical Christi ans do not commit these acts is one clear indica tion that
not all "fundamentalisms" are equivalent_ Contrary to the
deconstructi onist views that prevail on college campuses today, religions
arenot si mpl y ra w mat eri al th at ca n be fa shi one d int o abs ol ute ly an y-
thing by believers.There is considerable overlap inthebehavior of reli-
.
gious people in all traditions- For example, they pray, meet together, and
per for m cer tai n rit ual s. Som eti mes the y eve nco mm itvio len ce in the
nam eof their religion.But thefrequencyand commonality of such acts of
violence—and how close they are to each religion's mainstream—is determ ine d
to a grea t degr ee by the actu al teac hing s of each reli gion , Islamic apologists
like to point to Timothy McVeigh and Eric Rudolph as examples of Christian
terrorists, but there arethree reasons whyMcVeigh and Rudolph are not
equivalent to bin Laden and Zarqawi:
1 They did not even attemp t to justi fy their action sby refer-
ence to Christian Scripture or tradition,
2 They were not acting on mainstream Christian teachings. 3
There are not largeChristiangroups around the world
dedicated to implementing the same teachings.The difference between Osama bin Laden and Eric Rudolph is the difference
betweenaberrant acts and aberrant teachings, :any human being with a belief
system can do abominable things.Butabominable acts are more likelyto come
in greater numbers and frequency when they are encouraged andperpetuated by
religious texts and those who teachfromthem.
But surely you're not saying that Islam is the problem?
What is the alternative to the Ridley Scott view that "fanaticism" is causingall
our troubles today? It's a viewthat PC types just can't understand:
The problem iswithin Islam andwillnot goaway,or be neutralized,
until this fact is recognized.