Don't Kill Bill
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- May 14, 2006
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I don't agree with this post at all.I'm late to this discussion, but I thought I would add that it has not always been bad. It's been up an down a lot, but historically, for example, Muslims have been accepting towards Christians and Jews because they are also 'people of the book', as the Qu'ran calls it (in recognition of the close religious relationship).
This is apart from geopolitical strife and other social circumstances, of course. For example, it would be wrong to portray the Crusades as a deeply religious war and use it as an example of this historical strive between Christians and Muslims. (But I suppose this sort of thing may have been covered before in this thread.)
Firstly when you say that Muslims for example were accepting of other faiths of the book historically you are wrong. Those other believers were always treated as second class and were not allowed to proselytize. That's not really acceptance but the bare minimum tolerance level.
Secondly all religions are instruments of control. What is controlled is determined by religious authority. Once you are accepting of that control from that source and the same source instructs political and military actions then they are causal. For the obedience of the actors, the lack of ability and inherent right to question the actions and the determination with which it is carried out.