Radical Islam: A detriment to the world.

Radical Islam has been controversial for many decades, but has gotten more media attention during the last ten years due in part to their attacks on the Western world. Islam is a complex and multifaceted religion that encompasses many groups, which means that Radical Islam is as far removed from mainstream Islam as the Crusades were to modern Christianity. Radical Islam is, therefore, not only a threat to the modern world, but it’s also a threat to modern Islam and its members.

This fervent behavior conflicts with the beliefs of the Universal Life Church because of the harm that it does directly to its members and to the rest of the world as well. The ULC believes in doing what is right, and not only does Radical Islam conflict with this message, it also conflicts with many of the messages of traditional Islam as well.

Radical Islam has led to many terrorist sects that are seeking to destroy Western ways. Western society is seen as financially and sexually decadent, and members of Radical Islam believe that jihad is necessary for the rest of the world to see the light. However, most mainstream Muslims would explain that though “jihad” does mean war, it’s usually used in a figurative sense, and not a literal sense. Radical Muslims, however, have taken this war literally and intend to fight it.

Much like Radical Christianity and Radical Judaism, Radical Islam strips many rights away from women. All of these religions originated in extremely sexist times, which means that when radicals attempt to return to the roots of their origins, they bring back outdated belief systems. Within Radical Islamic countries, female genital mutilation still exists and is still practiced. Female genital mutilation is not comparable to circumcision, and the sufferers of these mutilations will never have normal lives. The only purpose to female genital mutilation is to make sure that women will never have pleasure during sex, thereby lessening the chances they may cheat on their men or become sexually active on their own.

In Radical Islamic countries, women are still not allowed to show their skin, and they are not allowed to have men that are not their family in their home or to travel without men with them. In these radical countries, elderly women have been flogged to death simply for having young men in their home delivering groceries. Girls are forbidden from pursuing higher education, and many of them enter arranged marriages at a young age without any recourse.

It’s important to recognize, as the Universal Life Church does, that most Muslims are not Radical Muslims, and that the beliefs of Radical Islam in no way reflect the beliefs of the majority of Islam. Radical Islam is mostly seen in the Middle East nations, whereas most Muslims today are actually located in Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia. While ULC believes that Radical Islamic believes are inappropriate because they promote the harm of individuals both within their group and outside of their group, this does not necessarily imply anything about ULC’s beliefs about mainstream Islam.