Why Islam Is The Most Dangerous Religion

         Coming from a practicing muslim, the words "Islam is the most dangerous religion", caught me off guard. My reaction was his exact point. That Americans seem to share a certain fear and reservation about insulting the muslim religion, and react accordingly. Titles like my own above spark a certain "direness" in its readers. My uncle, the muslim mentioned earlier, didn't make this statement in vain, nor ignorance. He doesn't believe jihad is a requirement for all muslims or any of the other major stereotypes that plague the judgement of the "uneducated".
         Instead he sees Islam as the most dangerous religion for one main reason - an intolerance to criticism. Religious tolerance means accepting others beliefs and respecting them, but it also means accepting the comedic and insulting criticism of one's own religion as well.
         For all major religions, aside from Islam, religious tolerance in the world is a two way street - respect and insult. Hindus and Christians, for example, don't find the need to demonstrate publicly or riot whenever a politician or comedic artist draws heat with heated words. Islam on the other hand, has a history of modern day violence as a revolt against the freedom of speech and the freedom of expression when it involves muslim religious figures and values. While this doesn't represent the intolerance or viewpoint of all muslims, the frequency of riots and numbers of participants are much greater than any other religious backlash.
          While I don't agree 100% with my uncle's argument, I do see his point. As a businessman and avid statistician, he looks strictly at what the data shows. And the data proves his point. In my opinion, however, I think the outrage and angst against western criticism is drawn from outside stats and numbers. It is a religious revolt based on a defensive attitude. Many muslims find themselves needing to defend their religion in the face of far-reaching bias. As such, to them, their religion is not simply being mocked or used for comedic effect, but rather that their religion is being attacked. Especially with the chaos and western presence in the middle east, sensitivity is understandably higher.
         Unfortunately, that only adds a wider view to my uncle's overall point. This heightened sensitivity still makes Islam the most dangerous religion in modern day. Unless of course we can consider our crusades into the middle east a parallel to the christian crusades of ages past. A war based on religious fundamentalism, that is so fundamental that we ourselves don't even recognize our antagonism as something based on cultural values and differing morality. If we look at it from this perspective, the christian religion still is, and always will be, the most dangerous religious movement. One that sends more missionaries abroad to convert others, both peacefully and otherwise, than any other religion on the planet. A religion that has permeated the depths of our political and social structure so deeply that our very imperialistic presence in the affairs of other countries is an continuation of the very crusades that began the religious wars in the first place.
         When George Bush spoke about our mission into Iraq and Afghanistan, he repeatedly used the term "crusade". Coincidence? Intentional use? Or subconscious religious fundamentalism? You decide.