Islam a Religion of Peace? Actions Say Otherwise.

At the 3:40 point of this AT video entitled "Obama Promoting Islam," President Barack Hussein "kill list" Obama says, "Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism; it is an important part of promoting peace."

Saying "that Islam embodied a religion of peace, fairness and tolerance," Obama then commented "that the religion was being 'distorted' by a few extremists."  He made that statement in Mumbai, India, on November 7, 2010, at St. Xavier's College.  In the irony department, St. Xavier's College is a short distance from Chhatrapati Shivaji railroad terminal, where, in November 2008, Islamic terrorists killed 173 people and injured 308 people.

When asked by a St. Xavier's student, "What is your take or opinion about jihad?"  Obama stumbled (I guess he was sans teleprompter), then continued, "Well..."  Then he paused.  "You know, uh..."  He paused again, then, leaning on a  cliché about the "Great Religions of the World, " said:

The phrase jihad has a lot of meaning within Islam and is subject to a lot of different interpretations, but I will say that first Islam is one of the world's great religions.  More than a billion people practise [sic] Islam and an overwhelming majority view their obligations to a religion that reaffirms peace, fairness, tolerance.  I think all of us recognise [sic] that this great religion in the hands of a few extremists has been distorted by violence.

Further, Ethel C. Fenig said at AT in September 2009, in her article, "Islam, a religion of peace?": "While President Barack Obama (D) was busy praising Islam as a religion of peace worthy of "mutual interest and mutual respect" to foster engagement at a dinner in honor of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan[.]"

There can be little doubt that Obama considers Islam a religion of peace.

So, with Obama's thoughts and actions as a backdrop, let's see what leaders of Islam have said and done lately:

• In April 2010, in the United Kingdom, Anjem Choudary, an Islamic radical, said, "You can't say that Islam is a religion of peace, because Islam does not mean peace. Islam means submission. So the Muslim is one who submits. There is a place for violence in Islam. There is a place for jihad in Islam." He also said, "The Koran is full of, you know, jihad is the most talked about duty in the Koran other than tawhid - belief. Nothing else is mentioned more than the topic of fighting." Choudary, by the way, has also praised the 9/11 attackers.
• In August 2012, Hamas leader Sheik Ahmad Bahr, on Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV, said, "... if the enemy sets foot on a single square inch of Islamic land, Jihad becomes an individual duty incumbent upon every Muslim, male or female." Bahr continued, "Oh, Allah, destroy the Jews and their supporters, and the Americans and their supporters. Oh, Allah, count them one by one, and kill them all, without leaving a single one."
• The Holy Month of Ramadan began on the evening of Thursday, July 19, 2012, and ended on the evening of Saturday, August 18, 2012. It was a time for Muslims to purify their souls, refocus their attention on God, and practice self-sacrifice. Muslims worldwide spend their daylight hours fasting, and were supposed to re-evaluate their lives in light of Islamic guidance, to refrain (sawm) from evil actions.

That having been said, let's look at what actually happened during Ramadan.  There have been 404 deaths in Iraq during Ramadan.  "There has been at least one bombing or shooting on every day of the holy month but one."  At least 54 people were killed in Baghdad, Iraq, in a series of attacks on Thursday, during the four-day Eid al-Fitr holiday, which comes at the end of Ramadan.

We can, therefore, conclude that killing is not, in Islam, an evil action, and is in accordance with Islamic guidance.

• On August 18, 2012, in Sanaa, Yemen, at least 20 people died as al-Qaeda was suspected of attacking a Yemeni intelligence headquarters building. That coordinated attack came on the last day of Ramadan.

But let's be fair, as Obama likes to say.  George W. Bush, while he was president, also said that Islam is a religion of peace.  In November 2002, Bush said, "Islam, as practiced by the vast majority of people, is a peaceful religion, a religion that respects others."

Islam may, indeed, be a peaceful religion, but recent actions suggest otherwise.  If there are billions of peaceful Muslims, then they had better clean up Islam's act.  And they had better act immediately.

Dr. Beatty earned a Ph.D. in quantitative management and statistics from Florida State University.  He was a (very conservative) professor of quantitative management specializing in using statistics to assist/support decision-making.  He has been a consultant to many small businesses and is now retired.  Dr. Beatty is a veteran who served in the U.S. Army for 22 years.  He blogs at rwno.limewebs.com.