So We Are Not At War With Islam?

"No religion is responsible for terrorism, people are responsible for violence and terrorism."  So says the Muslim-sympathizer a majority of American elected president. 

It almost sounds like "guns don't kill people".  I wonder if Obama is going to join the NRA. 

In that a "religion" is a set of beliefs and practices that forbid or condone certain activities and by which people define their culture and identity, that is a false statement.  It is true that creeds do not behead people of other religions.  Since the worship of Zeus or Baal has pretty well died out, the associated religions are not going to attack anyone.  The acts of religions are all the acts of those who hold the beliefs.

Jimmy Swaggert was/is a Christian, but he was also a pervert.  Jim Bakker and many, many other Christian ministers, some of whom I know personally, have gotten involved in scandals.  Christianity doesn't commit adultery, but many Christians do.  In the case of Christians involved in immoral behavior, we are clearly talking about something that the Bible, Christians of all makes and models, as well as our traditions, creeds, and confessions identify as wrong and openly condemn.

But, if some church builds a Christian school and, in science class, insists on teaching "young earth creationism", even though I, as a devout believer in Jesus Christ and God as Creator, think that is not a valid interpretation, I would hardly be correct in denying that it is a Christian school. 

I disagree with YEC, but it is a belief held by some Christians, and it certainly does not mean the people who hold that belief are not Christians.  Now, it is often the case that YEC adherents will say that people like me are undermining Christianity or that we are not, perhaps, true Christians.  Again, the YEC Christians are still Christians and virtually no other Christian would deny that they are part of the faith.  We may question their interpretation and understanding of that passage in Genesis, but if they acknowledge the deity of Christ Jesus, His virgin birth, sinless life, atoning death, bodily resurrection, and so on,  they are Christians.

It seems to me it would be the same with Islam, jihad, and the caliphate.  There are many Muslim believers, perhaps the majority, who reject the violence, the brutal tactics, and the methodology of ISIS.  Nonetheless, the stated goals of ISIS, to create a new Islamic state, a caliphate, through jihad does not contradict the teachings of Islam in the same way that similar violent acts on the part of Christians would violate the teachings of Christ.

Obama is correct in that we are not at war with the words in the Koran.  Further, at the moment, we do not appear to be at war with anyone.  Rather, those who hold to certain interpretations of the Koran are at war with us, with Israel, with the secular nations of Europe, with Christians, and with more secular Muslims in the Middle East and North Africa.

I would be more than a little defensive if the prime minister of Turkey or even the prime minister of Israel told the world that Pentecostals or Catholics or Presbyterians or the people who attended Jeremiah Wright's church are not really Christians (OK, maybe not that last one).  It's one thing for the Pope or the president of the Southern Baptist Convention to say what it means to be a Christian -- and those two are going to have some disagreement.  It's another thing for a non-Christian to tell us whether we meet the criteria or not.

The thugs in ISIS who are trying to build themselves a nice little oil-rich, anti-Israel Islamic state where they can institute Sharia and be in charge are doing so in the name of their deity, their religion, and their prophet.  Obama is an apologist for Islam.  Brendan explained why a couple of weeks ago: 

Slander in Islam, unlike the west, is not necessarily saying something that is untrue about someone, simply saying something they dislike is considered slanderous even if it is true.

If you go one step further and say something about Islam that Muslims in general dislike, then you have slandered not just one Muslim but up to 1.6 Billion Muslims on the planet.

Essentially what we have here is Obama denying something that is obviously true to anyone -- including Obama -- whose IQ exceeds that of a turnip because to acknowledge that truth, i.e., that the ISLAMIC State is ISLAMIC, would be disliked by the Muslims of the world.  

We are in a mess.