Undoubtedly you've heard the term "Judeo-Christian values". It's trumpeted by the right wing as the basis for, well, everything. While they're yelling about Jewish and Christian history they're conveniently forgetting that Islam is Christianity's fraternal twin. Both are offshoots of Judaism, both have their own book that adds to the Old Testament; both offer salvation through a once-human savior who is expected to return any day now, both admit to worshiping the same god, etc.
The three religions are actually stunningly close to one another if you look at them deeply. Of course that hasn't stopped untold millions from killing each other over those slight differences and more that they've invented out of thin air. Islam, as written in the Koran is no less peaceful than Christianity straight out of the New Testament. And you can no more paint Muslims with the Al Queda brush than you can say all Christians are members of the Klan. The fringe (or worse) do not define the group. Now, it is up to the core to repudiate the radicals and, admittedly, Islam hasn't done as good a job of that as they could lately, but then again it took the Pope until 1964 to admit that the Jews didn't kill Jesus, so their track record is spotty at best.
So the next time you hear someone ranting about Judeo-Christian values remind them the proper term is "IslamoJudeoChristian".
Then stand back or you're likely to be spatted with gray matter.
That's my job: showing you how to take absurdity into your own hands.
You're welcome.
My imaginary god can beat up your imaginary god!
ReplyDeleteI love this post! Beautifully articulated.
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