I subscribe to a number of Google Alerts which notifies me of religious news based on my predetermined parameters. I get alerts for news related to all the major religions, including articles related to Muslims and Islam. One thing that I've noticed ever since setting these alerts up is that the overwhelming majority of Muslim related news is negative. If I were to base my opinion solely upon what the media considers newsworthy regarding Islam, I would definitely have to say that it is not a peaceful religion.
Obviously, I do not agree with this opinion. There are allot of good Muslims, both in the US and abroad. Many of whom have gone to great lengths to challenge this erroneous popular notion. You can no more judge Muslims by the actions of Jihadist as you can Christianity by the actions of right-wing anti-establishment isolationist who stockpile guns and spout anti-government propaganda.
One has to wonder what role the media plays in this anti-Islamic campaign. History abounds with the countless atrocities of the Christian religion. Millions of innocent people killed, martyred because their ideas or lifestyle somehow differed from that which was sanctioned by the church of the time. While I am myself a Christian, I feel no need to gloss over this dark and troubling time in my faith's evolution. Fortunately for Christianity, there were no airwaves or Internet where news can literally travel all the way around the world in the blink of an eye.
As a person who respects much of the world's sacred literature, I appreciate and honor the Koran as a book of life and instruction. While it may have its less comely parts (as a figure of speech), so does the bible or any number of ancient text used by many of the world's religions. We acknowledge that many of the stories and teaching contained in these books were crafted in different times where things now unacceptable were common place, such as slavery and the subjugation of women, among other things. However, it certainly doesn't negate the timeless truths that many of these sacred writings convey, including both the Bible and the Koran.
So, the question remains, does the media stimulate this anti-Islamic fervor? I think so. Peaceful Muslims meeting in Mosque around the world, practicing their religion while being respectful of others is just not newsworthy. Educated and perceptive people, however, should not be swayed by this negative propaganda. We shouldn't be ignorant of the fact that there are people, regardless of their religion, who will espouse hate and subject the world to violence, using religion as their excuse. We should not use their ignorance, however, to reject a huge segment of the world's population whose faith and practice is not threatening at all.
