Have We Been Too Harsh with the Muslims Here?

[oldcatholicguy]

In the last week or two there have many multiple threads on Islam. In one way or another there have been accusations in each of these threads that Islam is a religion of violence, conqueror and intolerance. I am the first to admit I have accused them of such things! Now I’ve been thinking, Protestants accuse us of worshipping Mary. We Catholics argue that we don’t and we show them references for this. Protestants claim the way we pray and act are what leads them to believe we worship Mary even though we Catholics say we don’t.

Have we been doing the same with the Muslims in this forum? We accuse them of certain things but they deny them and provide references to support their responses. The Muslims in this forum seem to be genuine. Are we Catholics guilty?

I’d say the actual instances of individuals being harsh, mean, spiteful, etc are rather low. But, big but, the instances of people using biased, faulty, or otherwise erroneous sources is high and the faulty acceptance of these sources as valid is high. From what I’ve seen there seems to be an intentional or unintentional double standard. Examples would be-

1. Author with no real education on subject matter, personal “ax to grind” or self interest, no credibility with actual professionals on the subject matter, works pretty much dismissed by said professionals-
   -Anti-Catholic/anti-religion- routinely dismissed by posters as not being a valid source
   -Anti-Muslim- see the numerous threads and posts upholding Mr. Spencer’s works
2. Obviously biased websites- What would be your first reaction if I asked you about a website that “proved” Catholicism was evil, was called “Crusadewatch”, and was owned and operated by a politically liberal secular organization whose real aim was to reduce or eliminate the Church’s influence in social and political affairs? I doubt your first reaction would be to consider it a valid source of information concerning Catholicism. Yet, no one seems to take issue with similar sites concerning Islam.
3. Cherry picking- Misquoting a verse from the Bible is unacceptable, but misquoting the Koran is perfectly ok?
4. Person A did X so they all must do X or believe in X- See numerous threads concerning Catholics defending the faith from silly “Catholic person or group did X so Catholicism is evil” comments and then just pick a random thread about Islam or Muslims to see a Catholic poster posting a silly “Islamic person or group did X so Islam is evil” type comment.
5. Dissident sources- A dissident/non-“mainstream” Catholic theologian, layman, or group isn’t a valid source, but a dissident/non-“mainstream” Muslim theologian, layman, or group is just “really being honest” or “brave enough to tell the truth”?

I would say the first obstacle in the way of any real conversation or discussion is for us Catholics to police what sources we deem to be valid; and to apply the same standards we demand for a discussion of our faith for any discussion of someone else’s.

 

[F_Ferdous]

I’d say the actual instances of individuals being harsh, mean, spiteful, etc are rather low. But, big but, the instances of people using biased, faulty, or otherwise erroneous sources is high and the faulty acceptance of these sources as valid is high. From what I’ve seen there seems to be an intentional or unintentional double standard. Examples would be-

1. Author with no real education on subject matter, personal “ax to grind” or self interest, no credibility with actual professionals on the subject matter, works pretty much dismissed by said professionals-
   -Anti-Catholic/anti-religion- routinely dismissed by posters as not being a valid source
   -Anti-Muslim- see the numerous threads and posts upholding Mr. Spencer’s works
2. Obviously biased websites- What would be your first reaction if I asked you about a website that “proved” Catholicism was evil, was called “Crusadewatch”, and was owned and operated by a politically liberal secular organization whose real aim was to reduce or eliminate the Church’s influence in social and political affairs? I doubt your first reaction would be to consider it a valid source of information concerning Catholicism. Yet, no one seems to take issue with similar sites concerning Islam.
3. Cherry picking- Misquoting a verse from the Bible is unacceptable, but misquoting the Koran is perfectly ok?
4. Person A did X so they all must do X or believe in X- See numerous threads concerning Catholics defending the faith from silly “Catholic person or group did X so Catholicism is evil” comments and then just pick a random thread about Islam or Muslims to see a Catholic poster posting a silly “Islamic person or group did X so Islam is evil” type comment.
5. Dissident sources- A dissident/non-“mainstream” Catholic theologian, layman, or group isn’t a valid source, but a dissident/non-“mainstream” Muslim theologian, layman, or group is just “really being honest” or “brave enough to tell the truth”?

I would say the first obstacle in the way of any real conversation or discussion is for us Catholics to police what sources we deem to be valid; and to apply the same standards we demand for a discussion of our faith for any discussion of someone else’s.

AMEN!