Crazy Nut Job

What’s up?

               I read two reports today on my pone’s news app that many people which I have talked to immediately relate to the Islamic religion. This relationship is made in a way that looks negatively on the religion, with statements such as, “only those crazy Islamic nut jobs.” I must say that at first this was my initial thought as well, until I thought about it for a minute. As I began to think a bit more deeply about this association, the thoughts in my head became a mess.

               The first report that I read was about the Canadian court finding guilty an Afghan man, his wife, and his son of an honor killing of the man’s two daughters and second (unreported for reasons of deportation) wife. This happened in Canada’s capital city of Ottawa. The second report that I read was about an Afghan man, this time in Afghanistan, strangling his wife to death, because she gave birth to another girl instead of a boy.

               After reading these world reports, many immediately think about the religion that is associated with Afghans and attribute these horrible events to them. But, the fact is that these acts really do not have anything to do with the Islamic religion. These acts can only be associated with the culture of these particular people. To judge a religion based upon the culture of one particular group that may interpret this religion in a certain way is unfair and not right.

               After speaking to one of my Stevenson University professors about this, he gave an example of different cultures, interoperating their religious scriptures in different ways. An example of this that he gave was about the way in which many females are made to dress in Middle Eastern countries; covering their entire bodies, with only the eyes showing. He then told me that the Koran only states something about men and women should dress conservatively or moderately, not to have themselves covered from head to toe. This way of interpretation has to do with that particular culture and perhaps the way that culture interprets that portion of the Koran.  

Once I thought about the cultural aspect, I could relate this to many things. I don’t believe that it is fair or right to associate every person that follows a certain religion with being a “crazy nut job” because, of the “crazy nut job” culture of many that follow that certain religion.    

Latter,

Jason