What to think about Islam?

I am not a Muslim. I am a Christian. 

Thus - for obvious reasons - I do not know the intimate details about having a religious affiliation to Islam as I do as to Christianity. 

However, I do have an education in the study of religion and do read the newspapers and follow steadily in the news. And I do see the different profiles we, talking from a Danish point of view, are fed up with about Islam and how we are being told how to think about Muslims. 

Now, talking from a Christian perspective, I do have some fingers to point towards the things I think people have too much attention on and too little. For instance, I think Christians are generally too concerned about getting a family and very little concerned about those who don't. We talk too much about "Of course you will find the one" and too little about "What if I don't?". Or, what about the subject of sex?! I refuse to believe that the ones trying hardly to keep up the facade as the "I waited until marriage" that they did not in any way have sexual feelings towards their husband before they married! How about we talk a little more about that instead of having yet another "so this is how I am as a parent/husband"-reference in yet another sermon. (I will admit that I might have had a little too much bottled up here and some of the examples maybe can only be followed by fellow Christians, but I hope you get the point). 

Therefore, I am a Christian, that do find faults in the Christian milieu I tend to move within. Because in the end I believe we are all human. We all make mistakes. I believe that if we could be perfect among one another, God didn't have to interfere. But enough about what I believe and back to the "society critics" I am supposed to be doing in these Monday blogs. 

I find that society today tends to point a little too much on the Muslims as terrorists, radicals and dangerous. So, when Pope France stood up and refused to point his finger at fellow Muslims, I believed he pointed towards a general flaw in our society. A flaw in the way things are moving regarding compassion for other human beings despite religious, political or cultural affiliation. I found his comments relevant. Because, I know some politics wants me to believe that everyone who affiliate with Islam are dangerous, because Islam is a violent religion - but the thing is, I have met a lot of muslims that acted and believed in peaceful co-existens between Muslims and Jews in Israels. So why is it we cannot have the same main idea in Europe? Why is it that Muslims should be to blame for a violent culture, when Europe was the one that have destroyed tribes and cultures in the Middle East and Africa historically? What about all the crusades that took it to be their mission to take back Jerusalem? Haven't Christianity been a violent religion too? 

I do not believe that religion is to blame for war. I believe we as selfish, discriminating human beings is - and I believe we sometimes use religion as a way to authorise religion. But I also think that we sometimes use religion to authorise a certain view on a group of people who doesn't necessarily have a violent world view. 

Sometimes I can't help but wonder if this view that the media and the politicians often feeds us with is the very reason that some Muslims do come to regard a violent world view as the only way to make us respect them - a common respect I believe we all have the right to have. 

The Effects of Government and Media Reaction

These days the Danish government is yet again making tightenings regarding radicalised young people. The reason why it is yet again a part of the media as well as the Governments awareness is due to a resent police response the Danish Security and Intelligence Service made where some young people were arrested and charged within the so-called Danish terror-paragraph.

It is rather common that radicalisation in a context such as this makes the media overflow with articles that hints fear and begins a sense of hostility among the Danish people. I must admit that the anger regarding the rather one-sided cover of the so-called "muslim radical" that makes it seem that all muslims are radical may overflow my judgement and make my arguments in this respect rather generalised. However, The governments ideas to tighten the law regarding these so-called Syrian-warriors. The medias eternal cover of radicalisation in more or less direct connection with Islam and muslims. It makes me so furious that it is the action of a few people that may have an affect of how the Danish people regard the rest of those Danes who confess to Islam and are actually well integrated and participate in the Danish society and pay their taxes.

On one hand, I understand that it is of the governments interest to show the Danish people that it takes action against possible terror-threats. In a time like these where Europe seem more of a terror-target than ever, it would on one hand seem too laid back if the government did not react. On the other hand, I find that the reaction has really gone overboard. The fact that the Danish Security and Intelligence Service actually manage to do the job they exists to do, makes me wonder why we need another government "over"-reaction. The part of our society that exists to deal with the terror-threats works. They have done a rather good job in the prevention of terror in Denmark - a thing that is rather difficult to prevent. The only reaction another government intervention will create is that the media attention will yet again make muslims the villains and it will create even more hostility among the Danish people that will make sure that the Danish people will to a lesser degree help the war-inflicted people who really do need our help by for instance demanding a complete closure of our borders towards people who have experienced trauma, war and terror in ways we will never be able to understand.

If the government instead let things work, the way they are ment to, I would respect the government if they react in a rather respectful way towards the system that have been created in Denmark. It would possibly create more peace and instead of letting the fear cloud the Danish peoples judgement, it might make room for more compassion.

Even though, many Danish people have worked against the Danish governments views of the refugees who have more than ever escaped to Europe, the fact that a refugee-hostile party as the Danish People Party who have gained more support than ever shows me that there is a great deal of fear and hostility that needs to be dealt with in Denmark.

We keep saying to each other that fear and a limitation of our everyday life is what terror wants to create. Even though we keep telling ourselves and each other that it is important to live life as we would usually do and not be affected by the terror. Maybe, terror is slowly creeping into our conscience and have slowly affected the way we think about the world and the way we react towards people who truly needs our help. Or the way we react towards the diversity that obviously exists in our society.

Showing compassion and helping other are indeed a more difficult road towards destroying terror and what it creates among the people affected by it. But I believe that the long and difficult road is the better road to take than fighting with the same means and tools as the "enemy" does. Have we, the rich part of the world forgotten that our previous actions hostile and mean actions may have had a role in creating the anger, hostility and the "us" and "them"-mentality that terror springs from? Maybe it is time to react differently than we usually have done since a war on terror obviously haven't worked?