Dear World,
I have Muslim friends, I have seen Muslims walking about freely in public. I have nothing wrong with either of those things. I don't hate members of the Islamic faith and have nothing against Islam itself. But it is the moment one of them suddenly perverts their beliefs to commit an act of mass murder or terrorism when my hatred is incurred.
However, now, after Orlando, you want to heap the blame upon Christians or Republicans for inducing an atmosphere of hatred towards gays. You want to blame us for making Mateen into what he was on the night he committed that atrocity, even despite all of the revelations about him, his extremist views of Islam, his devotion to ISIS, and being gay himself! Yet people think America and its "Christian Right" are orders of magnitude more hostile to homosexuals. That is simply not true and it is quite offensive. Why do you feel we deserve the blame?
We Christians, conservatives or Republicans were not the source of his hatred, his own faith (or possibly just his own interpretation of it) was. Mateen probably knew that the Salafist interpretation of the faith was hostile to his homosexuality, so he chose that course of action; perhaps in an attempt to cleanse himself of his sin and atone for his "transgression". I've been reading through the Qur'an and Hadith myself, and they seem to have verses/quotes that are extremely hostile to homosexuality.
But just like in Christianity, there are practitioners of Sharia, scholars and theologians debating whether or not Islam allows for homosexuality. Both the Qur'an and the Hadith are littered with verses/quotes condemning homosexuality. Most especially in the Hadith, which is supposed to be the written account(s) of The Prophet Muhammad's life. In the sahih and hasan Hadith, Muhammad condemned homosexuality repeatedly, calling for the death of the two practicing it or familial banishment. The Qur'an is less specific, however. Though, from what I can tell, the mainstream belief is that homosexuality is seen as an act of rebellion against God (Allah).
Of note, there are, today, 57 countries that are predominantly Muslim or have governments influenced by the teachings of Islam. Of those, 20 have decriminalized homosexuality. In the 37 other countries, homosexuality is a punishable offense with penalties ranging from imprisonment to death.
I won't presume to know the complexities of the Islamic religion, but it seems to me that a convergence of hostile attitudes within Mateen's own faith toward homosexuals led to his actions. And just out of curiosity, if Islam is indeed more tolerant of homosexuality than Christianity, then why are there gay Muslims hiding their homosexuality from their families and friends? I would wager out of a fear of punishment or harm. Just saying.
It is a pity that you will continue willfully ignoring how hostile Islam is to homosexuality, though, as if you need Christianity as an outlet for the blame.
Sincerely,
a "Right Wing Christian"
(P.S. Link and citations are here: Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Homosexuality - WikiIslam)
I have Muslim friends, I have seen Muslims walking about freely in public. I have nothing wrong with either of those things. I don't hate members of the Islamic faith and have nothing against Islam itself. But it is the moment one of them suddenly perverts their beliefs to commit an act of mass murder or terrorism when my hatred is incurred.
However, now, after Orlando, you want to heap the blame upon Christians or Republicans for inducing an atmosphere of hatred towards gays. You want to blame us for making Mateen into what he was on the night he committed that atrocity, even despite all of the revelations about him, his extremist views of Islam, his devotion to ISIS, and being gay himself! Yet people think America and its "Christian Right" are orders of magnitude more hostile to homosexuals. That is simply not true and it is quite offensive. Why do you feel we deserve the blame?
We Christians, conservatives or Republicans were not the source of his hatred, his own faith (or possibly just his own interpretation of it) was. Mateen probably knew that the Salafist interpretation of the faith was hostile to his homosexuality, so he chose that course of action; perhaps in an attempt to cleanse himself of his sin and atone for his "transgression". I've been reading through the Qur'an and Hadith myself, and they seem to have verses/quotes that are extremely hostile to homosexuality.
But just like in Christianity, there are practitioners of Sharia, scholars and theologians debating whether or not Islam allows for homosexuality. Both the Qur'an and the Hadith are littered with verses/quotes condemning homosexuality. Most especially in the Hadith, which is supposed to be the written account(s) of The Prophet Muhammad's life. In the sahih and hasan Hadith, Muhammad condemned homosexuality repeatedly, calling for the death of the two practicing it or familial banishment. The Qur'an is less specific, however. Though, from what I can tell, the mainstream belief is that homosexuality is seen as an act of rebellion against God (Allah).
Of note, there are, today, 57 countries that are predominantly Muslim or have governments influenced by the teachings of Islam. Of those, 20 have decriminalized homosexuality. In the 37 other countries, homosexuality is a punishable offense with penalties ranging from imprisonment to death.
I won't presume to know the complexities of the Islamic religion, but it seems to me that a convergence of hostile attitudes within Mateen's own faith toward homosexuals led to his actions. And just out of curiosity, if Islam is indeed more tolerant of homosexuality than Christianity, then why are there gay Muslims hiding their homosexuality from their families and friends? I would wager out of a fear of punishment or harm. Just saying.
It is a pity that you will continue willfully ignoring how hostile Islam is to homosexuality, though, as if you need Christianity as an outlet for the blame.
Sincerely,
a "Right Wing Christian"
(P.S. Link and citations are here: Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Homosexuality - WikiIslam)
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