To think that Islam is not the greatest threat?

[superstarheartbreaker]

Islamist extremists have given the religion a bad name. I am agnostic ( not atheist) btw and yet see religion as a deluded way of controlling the masses.
There has been some terrible Islamic extremism recently such as the recent beheadinds etc but in the past Christianity was just as violent. Northern Ireland for example.

It is religion in general rather than Islam that is a threat to reason and sanity.

I think we seriously have to ask where IS has got its weapons from. Some IS fighters are the same people who were the rebels in Syria. Just over a year ago the UK government wanted to support them on the ground against President Assad and we provided them with arms and ammunition instead of full scale military support when parliament voted against this.

IS is uniting various disenfranchised groups into a deadly army, which now holds a military airbase in Syria, though thankfully probably doesn't have the skilled pilots needed to fly those aircraft amongst its ranks. Yet.

Clearly something needs to be done, but it's a very complex situation and I'm not sure anyone has the answers.

dreamingbohemian - I may be wrong on this, but all those quotes are from the Old Testament and Christianity today follows the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament far more closely. The Abrahamic religions share many similarities - that's also part of the problem as different religions have different takes on things.

wow, I'm aware of those, but really, a bit of money lending and um, self-reliance, pales into comparison when you look at beheadings, sharia law, stoning, burkas, sanctioned hatred towards women and gay people, mass baby graves, magdalene Laundrys, child sexual abuse, enforced celibacy, and forced adoption.

dreaming, those excerpts do nothing more or less than prove that all religions are as bad as each other...

wowfudge Christian fundamentalists, such as those with great political influence in the US, do follow the Old Testament. They are always using Leviticus to support their homophobia for example. It is more moderate Christians who emphasise the NT and Jesus and love everyone and all that.

The Quran also has many messages of peace. Again, it's fundamentalists who say the more extreme passages are the most important and use them to justify their behaviour.

Should we judge religion based on its most extreme elements? There are more than a billion Muslims in the world. Only a tiny minority commit atrocities. And a lot of violence in the Muslim world has root causes in politics and poverty, not religion.

Japanese yep -- I agree with the OP, all religions have equal potential to be used for evil.

Northern Ireland was never as murderous as Syria/Iraq. As vile as the paramilitaries on both sides were, they did not bury alive children. They did not behead people with hunting knives. They did not aim at mass genocide. You can't compare the two.

Margaret - the attitudes towards Judaism are far more entrenched as it's a much older religion for starters. Distrust of Jewish people stems from the Middle Ages, Church teachings and a myriad other things.

Also the establishment of the state of Israel after the Second World War and what is perceived as taking land from other peoples in order to do that is a big part of it. The horrors of the Holocaust are still in living memory, but I reckon there are a lot of people out there who think it was so long ago, was the fault of the Nazis, etc. and Israel needs to move on. Never mind the stated aim of some is the destruction of Israel. You can understand why Israel wants to strongly defend itself, but killing Palestinian civilians is not a popular move. I'm over-simplifying, but you get the gist.

It's very complex and there are very many factors. I was trying to give some of the historical background which does go some way to explaining things.

I agree that many, many terrible wrongs have been committed in the name of religion and still are today. Tolerance and respect for others are often in very short supply. There is also a desire in humans to control things and other people.

editing last post !
Should have said - YABU!

Of course Islamic extremists are our greatest threat - if you disagree I'd like to know why?

Islamic extremists in the Middle East are not a direct threat to the UK. They don't have long-range missiles etc.

Islamist terrorists committing attacks in the UK is a threat, of course. But significant attacks are still very rare. There is a very robust counter-terrorism programme that is now going to be boosted further.

It is something to worry about but I don't think it deserves the kind of panic and 'greatest threat ever' rhetoric that is coming out now. It is a serious threat but not an existential one. It is not the Nazis.

I am more worried about Russia/Ukraine as that as the potential to escalate severely into a new cold war. The UK has NATO commitments to eastern European countries and if Russia shuts off energy supplies to Europe we will all be in big trouble.

Or Ebola getting into the UK, a disease with no cure and a 90% fatality rate.

Basically there are a lot of serious threats right now, terrorism is one but not the only one. The goal of terrorists is, well, to terrorise -- I don't think the government should help them out by freaking everyone out.

shakethetree Do you not read the news at all? The GOP are currently involved in any number of attempts to fight the legalisation of gay marriage, they are opposing the equal pay bill and they are trying (worrying successfully) to restrict women's access to both abortion and birth control. If I were on my computer instead of my phone I could post endless links for you.

No, I do not hate white heterosexual men , I'm married to one. I hate men who think they have the right to legislate women's bodies.

Annie - yes, but they're not going to blow us up are they, no one in this country will feel threatened by a political party in America, & a mainstream party at that. Whatever policies they're trying to put through they'll do so through the democratic process - they're not sword waving lunatics.

You're wrong. It is radical Islamism which is endangering us all.

By saying otherwise you're not making yourself look like a freethinking, independent liberal who is cleverer than everyone else and more broadminded and multicultural and tolerant. You're simply making yourself look foolish. Northern Irish terrorism was generally contained within the British Isles. They didn't go round other countries planting bombs because they happened to be Protestant. And the Crusades were centuries ago.

It pisses me off no end that these people are a threat to me, and my family and my friends in this country because of their twisted take on their religion.

(that was to the OP)

As someone born, bred and living in Northern Ireland, OP I find your opening post offensive in its short-sighted and politically ignorant manner.

Is a whole world of difference between all these groups killing around the world.

ISIS is evil and extremely dangerous. They are pushing a horrific interpretation of Islam which I would expect any decent person of any or no faith to reject utterly.

Saying ISIS are evil does not make anyone Islamophobic. ISIS is far, far worse than anything any other faith group.

& what HesterShaw said.

I agree Japan about the Jewish people being low key, I think you have to separate them from what is going on in Israel, in the UK most are integrated into society and want to get on with their lives.

the christians in usa may not be keen on homosexuality but they are not murdering their citizens or beheading an innocent man.

I am inclined to agree with Hester

Wow, again, I'm aware of all those aspects, and none of it stacks up to justify the holocaust (for one), nor explain why Jews are hated more than Christians or Muslims.

Especially when you consider what Islam and Christianity have perpetrated in the name of their God.

It is not the Nazis.

You tell that to the people who are being exterminated !

I grew up a Catholic, I don't follow any religion now. I love God, I don't love all the nonsense of religion, what ever the religion.

To think that the troubles in Ireland were because of religion is woefully misinformed IMO.

Religion is just an excuse. The people doing these things aren't following the religion they claim to be a part of. They are carrying out violent acts and claiming that their religion has told them to, which simply isn't true

Well I disagree, have you read any of the 'holy' books at all? In fact there religion does tell them to do these things. It is quite ignorant to claim otherwise.
Fundamentalists of all the Abrahamic religions are actually being more true to their religion than so called 'moderates'.
Most religious people are peaceful and tolerant precisely because they ignore what they are told in their holy books.
For example the vast majority of christians disagree with or ignore 95% of their bible.
The same with most muslims, who choose to follow the nice, peaceful bits.
For every 'nice' quote you give me from the bible I could give you at least 20 disgusting, extremely violent or just plain ridiculous ones. However this is even more extreme with the Koran and Hadiths. A pot more extreme, violent, exclusive and supremacist.

They are not going against their religions. Just study the books first before making ignorant assumptions.

Even when it comes to stuff not in ancient books, the current 'policies'. Take the majority of catholics in this country do not agree or have no problem going against some basic tenets of RC 'rules', like sex before marriage, contraception, divorce, homosexuality, women priests, transubstantiation ( I could go on).

Angry people needing a rallying point will attach anything that gains them more sympathizers and followers
Yes, but Islamic law and the what the Koran and Hadiths say are a perfect fit. More so than say, the bible. Just have a look a the texts before you disagree.

Most of the young men in Isis have obviously not even read the koran, because their actions are totally contrary to the teachings of Islam

Again, I would say they have probably read the Koran more than you have because their actions are not contrary to what it says. It actually tells them to do these things as their duty. Many, many times, it tells them.
Have you actually read these books? If so I guess you are just choosing to ignore most of what they say. Like the majority of peaceful and tolerant 'religious' people do.

Since Islamic State swept into Mosul, we live encircled by its dark fear

gu.com/p/4x5ye

This is today's Guardian and is worth reading. And as an asidecperhaps those on here who defend burkas et al might like to think how such defence impacts on the women in this article.

I will have a look. interestingly Mosul used to be Nineveh where Jonah was sent.