{"id":723,"date":"2015-08-03T20:00:03","date_gmt":"2015-08-04T00:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/?p=723"},"modified":"2015-08-03T20:00:03","modified_gmt":"2015-08-04T00:00:03","slug":"here-here-harry-j-bentham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/here-here-harry-j-bentham\/","title":{"rendered":"Here, Here Harry J. Bentham!"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Name of God: The Extremely, Eternally, and Everlastingly Loving and Caring<\/em><\/p>\n

It was so refreshing to read Harry J. Bentham’s post, “Islam is part of the West now, live with it.”<\/a><\/p>\n

I will let Mr. Bentham speak for himself:<\/p>\n

One type of misinformation that should be watched vigilantly is the way Islam is endlessly singled out as a violent religion. This is done by selective coverage of events and constant emphasis on any connection to Islam\u00a0when talking about\u00a0violence.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As I have written before, it takes a very selective memory of history and even recent events to see Islam as a violent religion. Not only is Christianity\u2019s own history marred by the Crusades and the Inquisition, both of which were carried out in Christ\u2019s name, but there are warlords alive today who committed unspeakable atrocities in the name of Christ and even Gautama Buddha.<\/em><\/p>\n

We are told stories such as the recent one in France, where a girl in a bikini was assaulted by apparent Muslim women attackers offended by her choice of dress. However, we are not told of the comparable stories of the Muslim women threatened and attacked by racists in France or Britain even though we know such attacks are equally real.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I applaud his pointing out the absurdity of associating the crimes of a few with the whole of a group:<\/p>\n

Defenders of Muslims are often accused of being Muslims themselves or even extremists, just as anyone who stood up in defense of Jews in Germany in the 1920s or 30s was labelled a Jew and a communist. Just pointing out the facts is enough to offend some people, who believe their racist hostility towards a group of humanity is justified on the grounds that \u201cIslam is not a race\u201d. The people who make this foolish statement\u00a0clearly know nothing about either anti-discrimination laws, or the history of tolerance and social theories\u00a0behind those laws. They know nothing about why racism is wrong in the first place and are likely to justify\u00a0segregation or even killing for the same reasons applied by racists in the Twentieth Century.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here, here, Mr. Bentham!<\/p>\n

It is high time to reject the constant association of the crimes of a few on the character of the whole. All these pundits and politicians (and even some religious leaders<\/a>) who attack all of Islam for the sins of a few savages and criminals would never dare do the same for any other ethnic or religious group. But if it is wrong to do so with any ethnic or religious group – which it is – then it is wrong for Islam and Muslims. It is high time for the double standard to stop.<\/p>\n

God bless you, Mr. Bentham, for pointing this out. Would that so many more heed your words of wisdom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the Name of God: The Extremely, Eternally, and Everlastingly Loving and Caring It was so refreshing to read Harry J. Bentham’s post, “Islam is part of the West now, live with it.” I will let Mr. Bentham speak for himself: One type of misinformation that should be watched vigilantly is the way Islam is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[475,638,641,639,636,11,640,12,637],"class_list":["post-723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-common-word","tag-attack","tag-bikini","tag-europe","tag-gang","tag-harry-bentham","tag-islam","tag-live","tag-muslims","tag-post"],"yoast_head":"\nHere, Here, Harry J. Bentham!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Harry J. 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He has been a Beliefnet columnist since 2001, and has written for the Religion News Service. He is also a columnist for Patheos. His articles have been distributed worldwide by Agence Global, and he was also a guest blogger for The Chicago Tribune and has blogged on ChicagoNow\" . In addition, Dr. Hassaballa has appeared as a guest on WTTW (Channel 11) in Chicago, CNN, Fox News, BBC, and National Public Radio. Dr. Hassaballa is co-author of The Beliefnet Guide to Islam (Doubleday), and his essay, \u201cWhy I Love the Ten Commandments,\u201d was published in the award-winning book Taking Back Islam (Rodale). His latest book, Noble Brother, is the story of the Prophet Muhammad told entirely in poetry, and it is now published in its second edition. In 2007, his blog \"God, Faith, and a Pen\" was nominated for a Brass Crescent Award for a blog that is \u201cthe most stimulating, insightful, and philosophical, providing the best rebuttals to extremist ideology and making an impact whenever they post.\u201d \"God, Faith, and a Pen\" has also received an award for being one of the \"Top Muslim Blogs for 2010\" by Awarding The Web. In addition to writing, Dr. Hassaballa helped found the Chicago Chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations and currently serves on their board of directors. He also co-founded the Bayan H. 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