Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Extremism
I believe that this reading on extremism in Islam can be applied to all religions of the world. The message givin in this reading by Mr. Kurzman rings 100% true in my mind and should probably be red by every religious minded person, especially the extremists of the world, but unfortunatly the people who need it most will probably never read it. The main message of the reading is clear, Extremism in Islam is bad as it will actually turn people away from the religion, even if some extremist practices are allowed according to the Quran. This seems just natural logic to most but for Mr. Kurzman his proofs throught the reading are so well formed and true that I dont see how anyone at the end of this reading can make a valid argument against him. First he brings up the point that other religions that have tried exreamism in there practices have been wrong. So he is stating the obvious...learn from others mistakes, dont be a fool. He makes point that being extreme ( far from the center) natually makes you unbalanced. An especially good proof he puts forth( called the first defect) is that "excessiveness is too disagreeable for ordiary human nature to endure or tolerate", this is a major point because if the natural tenteny for man is against extremism, how is any extremist movement going to last in the big picture of things...mostly it just makes people hate you. This is also his secong defect - excessiveness is shortlived. His third defect is that if you practice extremism then you will, in regards to islam, negelct your other obligations as a person. this can also be seen in other forms of extremism non-muslim related...if you are so busy with any one thing in life you will eventually neglect other duties that you have as a person. His points on bigotry made in paper are in fact so universal that i shall now make it a point to keep his arguments in mind when i do come across a bigot myself. I feel that this reading is also important because the worst consequence of extremism in islam is what is currently occuring right now in America. Because of extremism most Americans no very little of the truth about islam and instead prejucice notions based on the most extreme of extremist practices have formed following the twin tower bombings. It is now a widespead prejuice practice to associate a muslim with being a terrorist. So the very extremists trying to help themselves by practicing extremism in the long run have unfortunaly hurt not only themselves but the whole of muslims in the world.
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8 comments:
I believe the original post on this reading brings to mind several crucial points. I found it fascinating that Mr. Kruzman talks about how extremism is a negative aspect on the islam religion. Almost every religion has some sort of radical branch of extremists including Islam. These people, I think, have a particular mind set where they are so incredibly passionate about their spiritual beliefs, it turns into a excessive amount and Mr. Kruzman addresses this specifically in his writting by mentioning that "excessiveness is too disaggreeable.." He is establishing that extremism is too harsh and radical and will never further the religion. This opinion is a common belief and totally agreeable. Also, i thought his point about observing other religions is also an interesting concept. Most religions have stated to ignore other believes and be true to your one true god, etc. but his particular statement is actually encouaging a recognition of other religions, not to follow but to learn from their mistakes. This theory is also very interesting and a strategic concept.
This particular reading was really interesting, given modern circumstances. Obviously, I think that the reading sort of states the obvious- religious extremism is not widely accepted, but it is also not the best way to put forth one's religion in general. Indeed, people should learn from other's mistakes, but it rarely happens. The proofs put forth in the original post are also extremely accurate- people tend to shy away from extreme circumstances, excessiveness is shortlived, and lastly, and probably most intriguing, is that being an extremist actually affects your true practice of the religion. I think a lot could be learned from this reading, regardless of standing politically or religiously.
What I think is the most important part of this reading is when he talks about how extremism takes away from the true practice of the religion. In many cases throughout history extremism in pretty much every religion has cause people to stray completely from what the religion teaches. Most religions teach it is wrong to kill but most extremist believe it is ok to kill for your religion so i see this as a contradiction.
I believe that all these comments are right. Extremist have become and always been so kind of problem. These people believe that they need to be extreme for their religion, when really it starts to take away from their original beliefs. There have been extremist from every religion and it is sad because these are the people that make the public eye. We see these extremist and have a bad idea of what those religions are really like. I believe that extremist can be a negative aspect to religion.
In this reading I would have to agree that extremists can hurt not only your religious community but also it takes away the main reasoning of the practice. What I liked about this passage the most is the part where you are encouraged to look at other religions to benefit your own beliefs. I like the positive reinforcement that is introduced in this reading. Instead of demanding the negativity for extremism it is suggested to research in your own way. Even though it is stated that extremism will not strengthen your beliefs there is positive suggestions for your own personal decision.
I too found the reading interesting. I think every religion has an extremist because no one is perfect. Sometimes the public sees this behavior and sometimes they dont, but either way it still drags down the religion. Extremist really do not add anything positive to your religion so I think they're bad to have in a community of God worshoping people.
My views on extremism is not much different when it comes to not only Islam but all societies, organizations and religions. Most groups are created with compromising beliefs to help everyone be happy with the group they belong to. The fact that extreme beliefs may spark from these groups is prevalent everywhere today. This is what causes sects of these formations such as Sunni and Shi'i, different sects of catholicism, and even in non religious groups.
I feel that believing something very strongly is definitely not a bad thing. The problem that many people run into is how to present that belief. I think this becomes a problem when the extremist, whether he/she is muslim, christian, or jewish, decides to use violence and/or hate speech to spread these beliefs. The reaction to these acts is generally the opposite of what the extremist wants because witnessing the violence most people will turn away from that religion all together. Therefore, I feel that those who believe a certain thing very strongly need to take a page out of MLK Jr's book and learn to present their ideas in a non violent way.
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