In the Bill of Rights, the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof … .” Freedom of religion doesn’t mean that we need to agree with every religion. It does mean that we need to respect the right of an individual to worship in a manner of their choosing. It means respect of other religions. Whether Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, or one of the thousands of other religions, they all deserve respect.
Freedom of religion is one of the freedoms for which every American soldier has fought to preserve, and many have given their all to preserve that freedom. Religious extremism that denies the rights of other to worship as they choose is not acceptable.
The above was prompted by an article in an Egyptian newspaper and reported in Palestinian Media Watch. The Title of the article was “All Pigs Must Die because they descend from Jews: According to an Egyptian Islamic scholar.” The article actually refers to “People of the Book,” which applies to both Jews and Christians. The article was actually a justification for the killing of all pigs owned by the Coptic Christians in Egypt, as a result of the swine flu. The article also give justification for killing all descendents of Moses. This Fatwa illustrates the dangers of extreme religious views that justify the killing of all who do not believe as they do. At about the same time, a Taliban leader made the statement that they only kill those who are not pure. In this case, they define who is pure. This is the basis of all extreme religious groups. The Holocaust is our reminder of the dangers of ideological extremism.
Because of the extreme views of a few, we cannot brand all Muslems as extremists. Every religion has its extremists. It is our duty to insure religious freedom by never letting the extremists of any religion to determine the beliefs of all people. The war we are fighting against terrorism is a war to protect our freedoms.
