How religion can drive someone to slaughter his fellow citizens – and believe they deserve it [View all]

[trotsky]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/15/how-religion-can-drive-someone-slaughter-his-fellow-citizens--an/

...It is understandably difficult for believers of any religion to accept that the very same religious instincts that drive people to do good and help the world are also those which can also can eventually justify the most heinous acts.

The person who drove that lorry believed he was part of an altruistic and utopianist global project intended to save humanity, not destroy it. The people he killed were, in his eyes, a cancerous obstacle to this vision, and having chosen to reject it had to be removed from the equation.

In this sense, notions of right and wrong or good and evil become highly subjective. For most, the interpretation of Islam which supports this approach is, quite simply, "wrong" because it goes against their conventional notions of morality. We must accept, however, that those who adhere to global jihadism have developed an entirely different moral code, and it is one in which most of us do not fare too well in.

It is important to understand that what we are facing here is an interpretation of Islam which, while it could be argued follows a flawed reading of the religion, nonetheless has its own rich scholarly tradition, having been developed by formally trained and knowledgeable Sunni Sheikhs.

I suspect there will be much attacking of the source by people who don't want to hear this information, but I think it's a very valid point being made. So valid in fact that I suspect those who disagree will be unable to anything BUT attack the source.