A Brief Moment of Serious Thought

When I blog on that other site, I tend to find myself defending Muslims quite often from blanket accusations and hate.   Eventually someone always says "funny that a Jew would defend a Muslim when that Muslim wouldn't defend a Jew."   I can't tell you how offensive that question is and how telling it is of the person who asks it, but I am going to try in the name of posting something since it has been a very long time and this is where my mind is headed.

First is this stupid idea that a Muslim wouldn't defend a Jew.  Do people really think this is some kind of global war where all members of a faith are drafted in and happy to engage in the fighting?   Do you really think any one faith is centered around killing, violence, and death?  Is your's?  Because that is what they probably think and if they are wrong about you, can't you be wrong about them.

Have you read the Quran?   The Torah?  The Talmud?  The New Testament start to finish?  More than once?   Studied and compared it?   Did detailed analysis of each and its place in the context of the times in which it was written?  Looked at the symbolism, the metaphors, and the analogies contained within each?   Me either.    So we can't really talk with knowledge about any faith, can we?   Bet we haven't even done this with our own faith, so we can't really talk with any knowledge about our own either.   Funny, huh?

I have done some research recently out of curiosity and I will share it with you about the context of the word "Allah" in Islam and to whom they speak when the Quran threatens the lives of those who don't believe in Allah (which is probably a metaphor, but I can't back that up).   The short answer is "Allah" is G-d is Jesus is Adoni is the Flying Spaghetti Monster is whatever you believe is god.   Weird huh?   So technically, almost everyone believes in Allah.   Don't believe me?

Here:

Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things.
--  trans. Yusuf Ali, Quran 2:256

AKA: You can't force someone to worship Allah as you do.  So who or what exactly is Allah?

First of all, it is important to note that "Allah" is the same word that Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews use for God. If you pick up an Arabic Bible, you will see the word "Allah" being used where "God" is used in English. This is because "Allah" is the only word in the Arabic language equivalent to the English word "God" with a capital "G". 
source

So everyone who worships a god worships Allah and you can't force someone to pray the same way you do.    Pretty much means everyone killing in the name of Allah are not very good Muslims, are they?  Also means there is no reason why a Muslim wouldn't defend a Jew, does it?

Now at the risk of violating Godwin's Law, I must bring up Nazi Germany.  I apologize, but it is necessary to why I defend Muslim accusations.   I'm not going to recap the history (you're welcome), but I am going to quote my favorite poem from the era which I think sums my position up perfectly:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me source

I'm going to stop for now and let that sink in.   I'll have more later about the refugees and why we need to take them in.