Know Islam from media? Think again!

[Sabour]

Many times here on RF I hear people talking about Islam and can't help but wonder why do they think about Islam that way. I know that every person is entitled to have their own opinion, but I think holding them for the wrong reasons is wrong and I do blame certain people for not accepting what they are told by the media.

Perhaps this is not the newest video, but I think this 9 minutes video is a perfect way to show that.

So let us judge things but they what they are and not by what the media tells us.

Thoughts?

 

[Theweirdtophat]

Islam doesn't promote violence. Violent Muslims promote violence and the media creates the news and rarely reports it. There's been some non-Islamic terrorist groups in the past but people don't talk about that, and act as if only Islam has terrorists.

 

[jeager106]

"Mohammed is God's apostle. Those who follow him are harsh
to the unbelievers but merciful to one another" Quran 48:29
Yet the kill one another senselessly.

The lastest contributions by islam to world peace:
2014.12.07 (Beni, DRC) - Islamist rebels massacre over thirty villagers in overnight attacks.
2014.12.06 (Chamtal, Afghanistan) - Four people die from splinter injuries when a fundamentalist tosses a grenade into a wedding party playing music.
2014.12.06 (Wadi Abdan, Yemen) - An aid worker and American photographer are executed in cold blood by al-Qaeda.
2014.12.05 (Baidoa, Somalia) - A suicide bomber detonates outside a tea shop, slaughtering fifteen passersby.
2014.12.04 (Mosul, Iraq) - Three musicians are executed by the Islamic State.
2014.12.04 (Gwadar, Pakistan) - Fundamentalists assassinate the principal of a co-educational school.

Islam still lives in the 7th century. ISIS anyone?

 

[Theweirdtophat]

"Mohammed is God's apostle. Those who follow him are harsh
to the unbelievers but merciful to one another" Quran 48:29
Yet the kill one another senselessly.

The lastest contributions by islam to world peace:
2014.12.07 (Beni, DRC) - Islamist rebels massacre over thirty villagers in overnight attacks.
2014.12.06 (Chamtal, Afghanistan) - Four people die from splinter injuries when a fundamentalist tosses a grenade into a wedding party playing music.
2014.12.06 (Wadi Abdan, Yemen) - An aid worker and American photographer are executed in cold blood by al-Qaeda.
2014.12.05 (Baidoa, Somalia) - A suicide bomber detonates outside a tea shop, slaughtering fifteen passersby.
2014.12.04 (Mosul, Iraq) - Three musicians are executed by the Islamic State.
2014.12.04 (Gwadar, Pakistan) - Fundamentalists assassinate the principal of a co-educational school.

Islam still lives in the 7th century. ISIS anyone?

What about ISIS? Ever heard of the Lord's Resistance Army or the Kingdom of Israel? Those are non-Islamic terrorist groups but no one talks about them. ISIS are a bunch of cowards who have betrayed Allah and the Quran. In the Quran it specifically states that there is no compulsion in the religion and yet they are forcing it upon others. ISIS does not represent Islam. They're just cowards who use Islam as an excuse to force-convert others.

Also back when the Quran was written, they were dealing with the Arab Pagans, who at the time, were treating the Muslims harshly. They were mostly talking about the Arab Pagans back then, as they had conflict with them at the time. No, I don't agree with all of Islam's rules, but I know there are extremists of every religion, even the pagan ones.

 

[Nakosis]

I judge people. They treat me honestly and fair.
Their religious beliefs are not important to me.

Obviously there exist bad folks among all beliefs. You got to deal with bad people as bad people regardless of their religious beliefs. Bad folks represent themselves. Not anyone else nor their religious belief.

 

[Woodrow LI]

"Mohammed is God's apostle. Those who follow him are harsh
to the unbelievers but merciful to one another" Quran 48:29
Yet the kill one another senselessly.
The lastest contributions by islam to world peace:
2014.12.07 (Beni, DRC) - Islamist rebels massacre over thirty villagers in overnight attacks.
2014.12.06 (Chamtal, Afghanistan) - Four people die from splinter injuries when a fundamentalist tosses a grenade into a wedding party playing music.
2014.12.06 (Wadi Abdan, Yemen) - An aid worker and American photographer are executed in cold blood by al-Qaeda.
2014.12.05 (Baidoa, Somalia) - A suicide bomber detonates outside a tea shop, slaughtering fifteen passersby.
2014.12.04 (Mosul, Iraq) - Three musicians are executed by the Islamic State.
2014.12.04 (Gwadar, Pakistan) - Fundamentalists assassinate the principal of a co-educational school.
Islam still lives in the 7th century. ISIS anyone?

Neither ISIS nor any other group represents Islam. each Muslim represents only himself. You mention events from Muslim nations as if they represent Islam. What about the other Muslim Nations in which nothing was reported from. On the day of those 7 incidents nothing similar occurred in 42 Muslim Nations, do they also "represent" Islam? Or is it just the minority radicals that represent us?

 

[seeking4truth]

Media are not the be all and end all of truth. They select what they broadcast, they edit discussions according to what they think is newsworthy and everyone knows that bad news is more popular than good news.

The media world wide have some responsibility for attitudes because they choose what is broadcast and repeat it so often that we become immune to all but the most shocking and appalling news nowadays.
Then you get some people who want to outdo the shocking by imitation or exaggeration.

Some media is controlled by governments, some by businesses and some by groups or individuals each with their own agenda.

 

[Nakosis]

Some media is controlled by governments, some by businesses and some by groups or individuals each with their own agenda.

Yes, and unless you know that agenda, there's no sense in trusting them.

 

[Chev Chelios]

Many times here on RF I hear people talking about Islam and can't help but wonder why do they think about Islam that way. I know that every person is entitled to have their own opinion, but I think holding them for the wrong reasons is wrong and I do blame certain people for not accepting what they are told by the media.

Perhaps this is not the newest video, but I think this 9 minutes video is a perfect way to show that.

So let us judge things but they what they are and not by what the media tells us.

Thoughts?

Posting a video of the lying, smearing agenda driven Rezla - well done.

And yet again we see a Moslem casting a fog of obscurantism over legitimate criticism of Islam, crying 'victimhood' and trying to peddle inversions of reality such as the laughable idea that the media are 'anti-Islamic'.

How can this demonisation of Islam by the media exist given that we currently live in an environment environment where this very media, and our politicians, do their absolute upmost to tease out Islam from any of what it followers are doing - let alone what its most sacred texts espouse. We are constantly told, are we not, that Islam is 'peace' and that ISIS are 'not real Moslems'??? I must have dreamed it all up!! As I must, the flat out refusal of the media to ever even mention the word Moslem or Islam when discussing 'terrorism' (they are not Moslem but 'terrorists' you see).

Of course, this is in part, all thanks to the paralysing dread of what will happen due to the culture of fear and intimidation which has been cultivated (and backed up) by a hair trigger response to violence if the followers of the religion of peace feel offended.

If I believed what the media tell me then I'd be arguing that Islam is all daisy chains and skipping rope - that it really is the proverbial 'religion of peace'. So we see, the media and our political elite (the establishment at large basically) - are on the side of Islam. Clearly. That is not anything like demonisation - is it???

 

[Chev Chelios]

Islam doesn't promote violence. Violent Muslims promote violence and the media creates the news and rarely reports it. There's been some non-Islamic terrorist groups in the past but people don't talk about that, and act as if only Islam has terrorists.

Scriptually speaking - oh yes it does.

 

[Riverwolf]

If I believed what the media tell me then I'd be arguing that Islam is all daisy chains and skipping rope - that it really is the proverbial 'religion of peace'.

I've never seen this sort of philosophy from the media. Granted, I don't really follow the mainstream media, but every time Islam and the media is brought up, it's always that the media demonizes Islam.

I know from talking to Muslims directly, and from what I've read in the Qur'an, that terrorism is a violation of its principles. The media had nothing to do with that opinion, because I've never seen it from the media.

 

[Chev Chelios]

Islam doesn't promote violence. Violent Muslims promote violence and the media creates the news and rarely reports it. There's been some non-Islamic terrorist groups in the past but people don't talk about that, and act as if only Islam has terrorists.

Scriptually speaking - oh yes it does.

What about ISIS? Ever heard of the Lord's Resistance Army or the Kingdom of Israel? Those are non-Islamic terrorist groups but no one talks about them. ISIS are a bunch of cowards who have betrayed Allah and the Quran. In the Quran it specifically states that there is no compulsion in the religion and yet they are forcing it upon others. ISIS does not represent Islam. They're just cowards who use Islam as an excuse to force-convert others.

Also back when the Quran was written, they were dealing with the Arab Pagans, who at the time, were treating the Muslims harshly. They were mostly talking about the Arab Pagans back then, as they had conflict with them at the time. No, I don't agree with all of Islam's rules, but I know there are extremists of every religion, even the pagan ones.

Wow. Did you actually just try and draw a parallel between the worldwide slaughter being carried out in the name of Islam to a one off ALLEGEDLY 'Christian' inspired group like the LRA?????? A slight dissimulation there I think! Sorry pal, but FIRST - provide evidence that the LRA are acting in the name of Christianity and 2nd - please provide the explicit Christian texts which inspired and justify it! If you can't do this simple thing we see that you have been exposed already.

My god - to try and attempt an analogy between a isolated group of 200 to the literally thousands of Islamic militia involving/or supported by MILLIONS of Moslems all over the planet, carrying sustained wholesale massacres is a complete fallacy. To discuss Islamic terrorism then Christian terrorism (which you have provided absolutely no evidence for) is a complete non-sequitar. How on earth people can even try and peddle such fallacious arguments is beyond me! This is an utter mockery of such a serious topic.

This self flagellating (and intellectually ridiculous) posturing of yours is made worse by the fact that even if the LRA are doing what they do in the name of the cross they can in no way justify their actions from Christian scripture. But guess what mate - ISIS (to pick just an example) perfectly mirror the actions of Muhammad and indeed, they give a deeply plausible interpretation of Islamic theology it self - have you read the Koran?. Their whole ethos is built upon the core tenement of Islam which is to bring lands under the banner of Islamic hedgemony. The establishment of a caliphate is very much a deep part of the Islamic creed and to live under Islam is the desire of the majority of Moslem. So the ISIS end point actually has many fans.

Hundreds of thousands murdered every year in the name of a deeply plausible interpretation of Islam vs a handful of dead at the hands of allegedly 'Christian' terrorism. But hey - all religions have their 'extremists' so that means there is nothing to see here right?? Astonishing.

We have a real problem with Islamic terrorism and there is no equivalency that can be drawn between it and any other faith. If you disagree - then please do bring it on.

 

[Chev Chelios]

I've never seen this sort of philosophy from the media. Granted, I don't really follow the mainstream media, but every time Islam and the media is brought up, it's always that the media demonizes Islam.

I know from talking to Muslims directly, and from what I've read in the Qur'an, that terrorism is a violation of its principles. The media had nothing to do with that opinion, because I've never seen it from the media.

Please do explain how the media demonise Islam. Please tell me exactly what they say which is unfair - reporting on terrorism is not demonisation. To say you have never seen the endless regurgitation of "islam is peace" by the media and or the endless misquotes by Western leaders is very surprising indeed. The media does everything it can to extract any idea of Islam from what the followers of Islam are doing - which is funny since the justification for all the terror and violence, such as the 100 little girls slaughtered in Peshwar this week, was in the name of Islam. But if I'd listen to the media the death of those poor girls had nothing to do with Islam at all. And so the myth making of the media about what is really happening goes round and round....

 

[Rick O'Shez]

There's been some non-Islamic terrorist groups in the past but people don't talk about that, and act as if only Islam has terrorists.

In the past the IRA bombing campaign in the UK was widely reported in the media, more recently terrorist acts by Islamic extremists have been widely reported. So it appears the media reports on terrorist acts irrespective of who commits them. Or are you saying terrorism by Islamic extremists shouldn't be reported?

 

[Rick O'Shez]

Violent Muslims promote violence and the media creates the news and rarely reports it.

What do you mean "creates the news"? We've just heard about the Taliban slaughtering school-children - was that made up? And if the Taliban are really fascists who are using a perverted version of Islam to justify their barbarity, then isn't it about time the Muslim world took them on and prevented them from perverting the Prophets words? Isn't it about time Islam reformed itself so that the fundamentalists are completely marginalised, rejected and made irrelevant?

It isn't enough just to say Islam is a religion of peace, you have to make it so.

 

[Riverwolf]

Please do explain how the media demonise Islam. Please tell me exactly what they say which is unfair - reporting on terrorism is not demonisation. To say you have never seen the endless regurgitation of "islam is peace" by the media and or the endless misquotes by Western leaders is very surprising indeed. The media does everything it can to extract any idea of Islam from what the followers of Islam are doing - which is funny since the justification for all the terror and violence, such as the 100 little girls slaughtered in Peshwar this week, was in the name of Islam. But if I'd listen to the media the death of those poor girls had nothing to do with Islam at all. And so the myth making of the media about what is really happening goes round and round....

The media that demonizes Islam does so by reporting on nothing but the terrorism; ignoring everything that isn't terrorism. Just as the media that you are against, by your admission, does the opposte: by denying the terrorism's association with Islam. Imagine a similar hypothetical dichotomy if one half of the media called the Irish Republican Army a representation of Irish people in general, and the other half denied that they were Irish at all.

In either case, the mainstream media is untrustworthy in obtaining any amount of information about the real world; regardless of your source. I do not watch the news at all, any news; not even the only two "good" ones, the BBC and Al-Jazeeri. The only "news" I follow is the stuff on The Escapist, which is a freaking gaming website whose articles often double as opinion pieces. Avoiding mainstream media isn't as hard as you might think. It just involves turning the radio and TV off.

Instead, when it comes to Islam, I'll talk to Muslims and read the Qur'an. The Muslims I've talked to have generally been quite friendly, and if I recall correctly, the Qur'an is quite clear that killing anyone who is unarmed is a big, big no-no. These terrorists may be Muslims. I'm not playing the No True Scotsman card. But they're poor Muslims, to be sure.

 

[Rick O'Shez]

Imagine a similar hypothetical dichotomy if one half of the media called the Irish Republican Army a representation of Irish people in general, and the other half denied that they were Irish at all.

Actually the majority of IRA membership was drawn from Northern Ireland and therefore of British nationality, but I take your point. I don't recall the media coverage of IRA bombings on the mainland as demonising the Irish, though inevitably there was a backlash, and being of Irish descent was quite uncomfortable back in those days ( I know ).

 

[Riverwolf]

Actually the majority of IRA membership was drawn from Northern Ireland and therefore of British nationality, but I take your point. I don't recall the media coverage of IRA bombings on the mainland as demonising the Irish, though inevitably there was a backlash, and being of Irish descent was quite uncomfortable back in those days ( I know ).

I can imagine. During my youth when I was first being exposed to the media(late 90s, early 2000s), the US barely got any coverage of the IRA at all; the only time I can recall anything was that they were featured on an episode of Deadliest Warrior. I only know about them because I'm of Irish descent myself, and so would happen upon information on them periodically when looking into other things.

 

[Rick O'Shez]

I only know about them because I'm of Irish descent myself, and so would happen upon information on them periodically when looking into other things.

I believe the IRA did a lot of fundraising in the US.

 

[Riverwolf]

I believe the IRA did a lot of fundraising in the US.

I wouldn't know, but it wouldn't surprise me.

But then again, a lot of shady stuff happens in the US without the media covering it. That stuff just doesn't get views. I'm probably one of the only Americaborn folks who immediately thinks of "Irish Republican Army" with the acronym of "IRA", whereas most of the time I see it used by other US folk, it's referring to something entirely different, that I don't even know about without looking it up. (Uh.... "Individual Retirement Account/Arrangement", it seems).