It feels dirty defending religion. A bit like justifying trashy romance novels as good literature or pretending that reality television was produced by anything smarter than a wedge of cheese. Anyone who reads my rants regularly knows that religion bugs me. But if there's one thing that bugs me more than just religion, it's one religion falsely giving the finger to another religion.
PBS recently aired a documentary called "Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet." This pissed a lot of people off because they've been brainwashed and coaxed through fear of terrorism to believe that Islam is a mean religion. Even some of my favorite thinkers and writers have become increasingly hostile toward Islam. Their beef with the documentary was that it didn't show all of Muhammad's teachings. They were quick to add that Muhammad was paranoid of nudity and that, were he alive today, he would be guilty of statutory rape and polygamy. These people like to dig through the Quran so they can recite violent scriptures.
There's no doubt in my mind that the stuff that's been found in the Quran is actually there, but it's not as if Christianity has any high moral ground here. As tenaciously as these people sought out the dirty stuff in the Quran do the Christians tenaciously ignore certain passages of the Bible. There are simply some scriptures you don't learn in Sunday school. Killing people of other religions? Oh, wait, Jesus told the good Christians to do that in Luke 19:27. A peaceful religion? "I came not to send peace, but a sword," says the Prince of Peace. And I couldn't count using my hair follicles how many times the Bible demands death for various adulterous acts.
Let's not forget that before reason and rationality reigned, the Christian civilizations weren't exactly hunky-dory. As the Christians conquered, the Dark Ages began.
I don't like religion. I'd be happy if everyone tossed down their scriptures and said, "Good fiction. Now, onto reality!" But people seem to like religion so let them indulge in it at leisure. Religion should be a hobby, like collecting shoes--something a gal can do in her spare time and recognize as something very irrational that the entire world does not need to enjoy or even understand.
The trouble is, in some countries, Islam is not a hobby. But that doesn't make it intrinsically evil. If reason did not reign supreme in our society, the religious right would be hanging homosexuals, atheists and Hollywood producers from every suburban tree.
Islam may be the vehicle by which the terrorists brought violence into our lives, but that doesn't mean it's the fuel. The fuel is fanaticism. Slapping an "evil" sticker on Islam is about as convincing as those stupid "Jesus fish" people slap on their cars. As though, as I'm driving to work, I'm going to think, "That whole evolution bit just doesn't make sense. Thanks, Mr. Jesus Fish."
But then, maybe I just don't get Creationism. After all, I'm not a wedge of cheese.
cyeates@chronicle.utah.edu
