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A few prefaces: first of all, I understand that not everyone on the left is sympathetic towards Islam. Second, this thread isn't an attempt to troll; it is an honest question I have wondered for years. Third, this thread is not intended to be a place to debate the merits of various religions. My purpose is to solicit the opinion of people self-identified to the left of center as to how and why they have developed their positions regarding Islam.
Why is it that the political left is often so sympathetic to Islam? From the research I have done about Islam (several college courses including three semesters of Arabic, numerous books, documentaries and being a news junky) the political left and Islam have virtually nothing in common. In fact, many of the tenets of Islam are diametrically opposed to the values held by the left (homosexuality, women's rights, pacifism vs. violence, the role of religion in government, etc.). When there is an issue in the news that pits Islam against Christianity or Judaism, the left sides with Islam the vast majority of the time.
The left has condemned the Paris tragedy, but these condemnations usually include qualifiers about how not all Muslims are bad (which we already know) or how not all terrorists are Muslims (even though the VAST majority of modern terrorists are Muslims). Instead of talking constructively about ways to reduce Islamic fanaticism, liberal media outlets seem to spend more time sympathizing with a group that perpetrates violence in response the the values the left holds most dear.
All insight is appreciated. As someone that is not left-wing, this is something that completely baffles me.
Islam is a religion, just like Christianity. All Muslims are not extremists any more than all Christians are.
Saying that all Muslims should be considered evil because of 9/11 ans Al Quaeda is like saying all Christians are evil because Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols, and Adolph Hitler were Christians.
Liberals are not particularly for or against either group. We recognize that fundamentalists from any religion are interchangeable and that all of them are dangerous, especially when they attract followers who are as nutty as they are. We support justice and human rights for all people regardless of their belief systems. Personally I don't subscribe to any of them. Religion is just another wedge used to separate people.
A few prefaces: first of all, I understand that not everyone on the left is sympathetic towards Islam. Second, this thread isn't an attempt to troll; it is an honest question I have wondered for years. Third, this thread is not intended to be a place to debate the merits of various religions. My purpose is to solicit the opinion of people self-identified to the left of center as to how and why they have developed their positions regarding Islam.
Why is it that the political left is often so sympathetic to Islam? From the research I have done about Islam (several college courses including three semesters of Arabic, numerous books, documentaries and being a news junky) the political left and Islam have virtually nothing in common. In fact, many of the tenets of Islam are diametrically opposed to the values held by the left (homosexuality, women's rights, pacifism vs. violence, the role of religion in government, etc.). When there is an issue in the news that pits Islam against Christianity or Judaism, the left sides with Islam the vast majority of the time.
The left has condemned the Paris tragedy, but these condemnations usually include qualifiers about how not all Muslims are bad (which we already know) or how not all terrorists are Muslims (even though the VAST majority of modern terrorists are Muslims). Instead of talking constructively about ways to reduce Islamic fanaticism, liberal media outlets seem to spend more time sympathizing with a group that perpetrates violence in response the the values the left holds most dear.
All insight is appreciated. As someone that is not left-wing, this is something that completely baffles me.
I've pondered the same question. The best I can come up with is the modern liberal has grown up intellectually believing, because it is what they have been taught, that his or her greatest enemies are free market capitalism and Christianity. Both are largely championed by the political right in this country and have been for years. Certainly there are left of center Christians, but I'm talking overall averages here. Accordingly, the political right is the enemy. Further, let's not forget about race. Traditional white conservatives tend to be pro free market and pro Christianity. Anything that is seen as a counterbalance to free market capitalism and Christianity is either promoted, tolerated or if bad things happen, they are either excused or helpfully minimized. Look at the love affair with Cuba. Lefties love Cuba and ignore its human rights abuses because, hey, they have national healthcare (see Michael Moore). It also helps that muslims are largely not white. Accordingly, the left bestows a certain victim protected status on muslims. Because a lot of lefties are not religious people, they also tend to not fully understand religion or actual religious people, whether they are Christians or muslims. They have a hard time accepting certain verses in the Quran or that actual muslims believe them and follow them. See the constant statements that muslim terrorists aren't real muslims, not following Islam, etc.
How many people were murdered in the USA today by a radical Muslim? I checked the news and I think it's zero. How many people are murdered in the USA everyday on average by their fellow citizens? The answer is 40 people every single day year in and year out. So, tell me, who should I fear more, the radicals or the rest of the freakin people. Personally. I choose to fear neither.
Now, I live in a Region of aprox. 500,000 people. We have 50,000 Muslims out of that number. They seem to be extremely law abiding people. Personally I am a fundamental Christian and it's my observation that on strictly a moral basis these Muslims are far superior to the average secular person. I would tend to trust one's word more than a complete unbeliever.
Now, don't come out with this "Liberals support the Muslims" garbage. The very most conservative American government that you could imagine supports the worst tyranny of them all in the Muslim world. The Saudis are Washington's best friends even though they have financed and supported extreme Muslim schools and movements all of the world. Same thing with the Pakistanis.
We have become nations of weak whimps. What would happen to our society if we had some real competent and determined enemies? I think we would collapse in the chaos of it. Just think about London under the blitz or Germany being bombed into rubble. Now those people had some real adversaries with real capabilities and yet they endured better than we do against this incompetent bunch of losers. They were losing thousands of people a day for freakin years and yet they didn't cry like a bunch of babies the way we do.
A few prefaces: first of all, I understand that not everyone on the left is sympathetic towards Islam. Second, this thread isn't an attempt to troll; it is an honest question I have wondered for years. Third, this thread is not intended to be a place to debate the merits of various religions. My purpose is to solicit the opinion of people self-identified to the left of center as to how and why they have developed their positions regarding Islam.
Why is it that the political left is often so sympathetic to Islam? From the research I have done about Islam (several college courses including three semesters of Arabic, numerous books, documentaries and being a news junky) the political left and Islam have virtually nothing in common. In fact, many of the tenets of Islam are diametrically opposed to the values held by the left (homosexuality, women's rights, pacifism vs. violence, the role of religion in government, etc.). When there is an issue in the news that pits Islam against Christianity or Judaism, the left sides with Islam the vast majority of the time.
The left has condemned the Paris tragedy, but these condemnations usually include qualifiers about how not all Muslims are bad (which we already know) or how not all terrorists are Muslims (even though the VAST majority of modern terrorists are Muslims). Instead of talking constructively about ways to reduce Islamic fanaticism, liberal media outlets seem to spend more time sympathizing with a group that perpetrates violence in response the the values the left holds most dear.
All insight is appreciated. As someone that is not left-wing, this is something that completely baffles me.
The left is sympathetic to Islam because Muslims fight against the Western industrialized nations. To the left, Muslims are the same as Native Americans or African tribesmen nobly struggling against the imperialist white man.
The "left" as a whole is not at all sympathetic toward fundamentalist Islam, Islamic terrorists, terrorist acts or the idea of Sharia law. The reason you hear liberal people include qualifiers when discussing terrorist acts like what occurred in Paris is to try and prevent violent score settling.
The only Muslim friend that I have is very liberal and is even openly gay. Would it be justified for someone who is angry about the Paris shootings to beat or kill him as revenge? Of course not, but that's exactly how some think--or don't think rather.
Because most Liberals don't have any values. Some of the biggest idols of the Far Left were murderous psychopaths like Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Stalin, Mao, etc.
Our president was good friends with Bill Ayers, a convicted domestic terrorist. In Liberal logic, there is no such thing as terrorism, it is always done for a "cause", there is always a reason and justification for such acts, therefore pretty much anything is justifiable and fair game.
When I was in college, I took a Community Organizing class taught by 2 Marxist professors and it was appalling to see that they advocated pretty much any means to reach the Community Organizing goals, that included destruction of property, trespassing, lying, deceiving, misrepresenting facts, etc.
Last edited by Repubocrat; 01-12-2015 at 08:43 PM..
I spat all over my keyboard after reading most of this thread. Nazis cooperating with Muslims to exterminate Jews? All Muslims need to be watched?
Perhaps some leftists realize not all are bad and many live in our communities trying to make a living?
I swear this thread is trolling to the max. There has to be a group on here the communicates on how to create absurd threads and keep this forum as entertaining as it is.
All insight is appreciated. As someone that is not left-wing, this is something that completely baffles me.
Geeze, this is not hard to understand.
The roots of Islam are at war with Israel, they're all backward countries, and therefor "oppressed", thus gaining the "favor" of the left.
It tolerates the homophobia, the oppression of women, etc, because those are minor sins, but Islam, globally ,claims to be oppressed by the big bad western hegemony of capitalists, and that's the "true gold" of the left.
Thus, for them, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend".
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