Though I do agree that it’s cowardly for leaders to deploy troops, I mean terrorists to murder innocent civillians, the terrorists themselves are no more than a product of their indoctrination. They spent years believing and not questioning and being actively encouraged not to question to the point where they would do anything that their leaders dictated. Were Jim Jone’s follower’s cowards, or victims? Fanaticism may not be bravery, but I don’t think it’s cowardice either. It’s just fantaticism.

Now the thing about good Christians and good Muslims and their interpretation of these texts, is that that it will always be interpretation—there isn’t a Christian or Muslim that can 100% agree on what those words are supposed to mean, either literally or in spirit, so understanding those words (in some cases a third, or even fourth hand translation) or the intention of those words is extraordinarily subjective, as it should be. If we all decide that we understand what those words mean and how to interpret them, and all agree that there’s only one way to “understand” them, we’re no better than the fundamentalists. Unfortunately it’s also this subjectively that prevents the mutual understanding that you’re proposing.

Though I do agree that it’s cowardly for leaders to deploy troops, I mean terrorists to murder innocent civillians, the terrorists themselves are no more than a product of their indoctrination. They spent years believing and not questioning and being actively encouraged not to question to the point where they would do anything that their leaders dictated. Were Jim Jone’s follower’s cowards, or victims? Fanaticism may not be bravery, but I don’t think it’s cowardice either. It’s just fantaticism.

Now the thing about good Christians and good Muslims and their interpretation of these texts, is that that it will always be interpretation—there isn’t a Christian or Muslim that can 100% agree on what those words are supposed to mean, either literally or in spirit, so understanding those words (in some cases a third, or even fourth hand translation) or the intention of those words is extraordinarily subjective, as it should be. If we all decide that we understand what those words mean and how to interpret them, and all agree that there’s only one way to “understand” them, we’re no better than the fundamentalists. Unfortunately it’s also this subjectively that prevents the mutual understanding that you’re proposing.

Well, to that I say some of us are going to have to agree to disagree. As a nation, we should neither forget nor forgive this sickening act of cowardice, but if we are to survive as a human race, we have to fully embrace the gift of survival and reach out to our Islam brethren to achieve some semblance of peace in the future.

The al-Qaeda cowards who bombed the towers and the Pentagon, and those who planned this tragedy (Osama bin Laden included) are no better than members of the Ku Klux Klan. Just as the KKK have twisted and sullied the intent of Jesus Christ, so too have these Middle Eastern extremists crapped all over the message of Mohammad and the Koran.

If you know good Muslims like I do, you know that the true intent of Isalm is to promote and enrich a devotion to their Creator, Allah and a peacefull society. The al-Qaeda nuts will never listen…Good Christians who truly understand the message of Jesus need to reach out to good Muslims who understand the word that Mohammad preached. Only then will things start to change.