Islamic "Tolerance" Of Other Religions

Islamic "Tolerance" Of Other Religions
If Egyptian Coptic Christians are lucky, the Muslims around them will tolerate letting them live. Lucette Lagnado writes in the WSJ:

Kirolos Andraws had every reason to be excited about the January uprising in his native Egypt, figuring democracy would bring hope for young people like him. Copts Seek Asylum in America

Then one day in February, says Mr. Andraws, a gang of thugs beat him and told him, "you deserve to die." His offense, he says: refusing to convert to Islam.

In late March, Mr. Andraws, a 23-year- old engineer, used a tourist visa to board an Egyptair flight for New York City. He let a room in a friend's apartment, hired an immigration lawyer and applied for asylum. He has survived mainly on wages and tips from jobs as a cook, cashier and delivery man.

"I have no other option," says Mr. Andraws, who found refuge at a Queens church that's become a way station for Copts arriving in New York.

Mr. Andraws is one of thousands of Coptic Christians--followers of an ancient form of Christianity with its own language and rituals--who have come to the U.S. to escape rising persecution in Egypt.

For decades Copts have suffered attacks by Islamists who view them as "kafir"--Arabic for nonbelievers. But there is now a sense among Middle East experts that they have become more vulnerable since the revolution.

St George's Coptic Orthodox Church in Brooklyn, NY, has seen a dramatic influx of Coptic Christian refugees from Egypt since the overthrow of President Mubarak. Father Luke Awad does what he can to make them welcome. Photo: Gabriele Stabile/Cesuralab

This year, mobs have looted and attacked Coptic churches, homes and shops throughout Egypt. Churches have been burned down, and one Copt had his ear cut off by a Muslim cleric invoking Islamic law.

This is why any country becoming a Muslim majority country is a thing to be feared -- especially for people of other religions, apostates (who are to be slaughtered under Islam), gays, lesbians, and women. Is there anyone here who doesn't understand why fearing that is not "Islamophobia," but a very real thing to worry about?

More on the myth that religious minorities flourish under Islam, from the religionofpeace.com:

What Muslims call "tolerance," others correctly identify as institutionalized discrimination. The consignment of Jews and Christians to dhimmis under Islamic rule means that they are not allowed the same religious rights and freedoms as Muslims. They cannot share their faith, for example, or build houses of worship without permission.

...For those who are not "the People of the Book," such as Hindus and atheists, there is very little tolerance to be found once Islam establishes political superiority. The Quran tells Muslims to "fight in the way of Allah" until "religion is only for Allah." The conquered populations face death if they do not establish regular prayer and charity in the Islamic tradition (ie. the pillars of Islam).

Tamerlane and other Muslim warriors slaughtered tens of millions of Hindus and Buddhists, and displaced or forcibly converted millions more over the last thousand years. Islamists in Somalia behead Christians. In Iran, they are jailed.

One of the great ironies of Islam is that non-Muslims are to be treated according to the very standards by which Muslims themselves would claim the right to violent self-defense were the shoe on the other foot. Islam is its own justification. Most Muslims therefore feel no need to explain the ingrained arrogance and double standard.

There are about 500 verses in the Quran that speak of Allah's hatred for non-Muslims and the punishment that he has prepared for their unbelief. There is also a tiny handful that say otherwise, but these are mostly earlier verses that many scholars consider to be abrogated by the later, more violent ones.

As for Sura 109, any true Quran scholar will point out that the purpose of the verse was to distinguish Islam from the gods of the Quraysh (one of which was named "Allah") rather than to advocate religious tolerance for non-Muslims. At the time that he narrated this very early verse, Muhammad did not have any power, and thus no choice but to be "tolerant" of others. By contrast, there was no true tolerance shown when he returned to Mecca with power many years later and demanded the eviction or death of anyone who would not convert to Islam. In fact, he physically destroyed the cherished idols of the people to whom he had previously addressed in Sura 109.

If tolerance simply means discouraging the mass slaughter of those of a different faith, then today's Islam generally meets this standard more often than not. But, if tolerance means allowing people of other faiths the same religious liberties that Muslims enjoy, then Islam is fundamentally the most intolerant religion under the sun.