For the second year in a row, the Rev. Marc Monte of FaithBaptist Church in Avon used his pulpit to address the "evils" ofIslam on the Sunday before Sept. 11.
In an interview with the Indianapolis Star, Monte called Islam"dangerous and hate-promoting." He compared the Quran to KKKliterature and Hitler's "Mein Kampf," adding, "I ... smelled astinking, bloated, dead rat on every page."
It seems that, on the second anniversary of the Sept. 11tragedy, we still don't understand that Islam isn't the enemy --religious extremism is.
Islam doesn't promote hate or violence; the very word means"submission." Religious extremism promotes both, but members ofother faiths have also been known to wrap their political goals insuch fanaticism.
Just ask an Irishman about the IRA and the Ulster Volunteersduring the Troubles.
Christianity hardly has a clean record -- countless people havebeen killed in its name. Jesus was pretty hard on hypocrites, soit's strange that some who claim to follow him feel safe condemninganother faith on the grounds of violence.
Arrogant attacks on mainstream Islam only make it easier forextremist groups like al-Qaida to recruit new members, and by usingreligion to promote hatred, Monte has lowered himself to the levelof Osama bin Laden. He is as far removed from most Christians asthe Sept. 11 hijackers are from most Muslims.
The Quran itself says that Allah does not love those who exceedthe limits in fighting (2.190) and that there should be nohostility except against oppressors (2.193).
So what did Monte see that scared him so much?
Perhaps it was this: "When you march up to attack a city, firstoffer it terms of peace. If it agrees to your terms of peace andopens its gates to you, all the people to be found in it shallserve you in forced labor. But if it refuses to make peace with youand instead offers you battle ... put every male in it to thesword."
No, wait, that couldn't be it. That's from the Bible(Deuteronomy 20:10-13).
Guess you can catch a whiff of "rat" in any religious text ifyou try hard enough.
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