Dear John Lockhart,
You’re welcome. :)
I do feel concerned about the extremist exponents of the Islam, mind you. But I also feel we’re only feeding those emotions by condemning the Islam and the Islamic community as a whole.
I myself refuse to give up my humanity. I refuse to become aggressive as long as my own life and beliefs are not in danger.
As for Mr. de Ruyter, I have not put any research into him, but as I have understood he (like many other Dutch ‘heroes’) has fought most of his fights far from home. Christians in general have a long tradition of ‘liberating’ the world by force themselves. In that respect Christians are no better (nor worse, mind you) than Muslims. They have spread all over the world to bring enlightenment and they haven’t hesitated using violence to do so. I assume that I don’t have to point out the situation in Northern Ireland.
This is another reason for my rejection of the three religions (Christianity, Islam and Judaism): they all propagate peace, yet throughout history people have murdered each other without regret in the name of god.
From what I have gathered, Jihad is one of the most controversial concepts of the Islam. It can be interpreted in many ways and moderate Muslims consider it to be the battle against evil within. So, rather than fighting other people, it is the fight against the bad thoughts and emotions any human being has.
Again, the Bible too envisions a social framework which is out of date. The Bible too can be read as propagating the suppression of women. In fact, there a re plenty of Christian communities (even political parties in the Netherlands) where women are not allowed to participate.