Ban Hate Speech – Begin with the Bible and Koran
Posted on April 29th, 2013
Shenali Waduge
Everybody looked forward to the Rally for Unity ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” a vigil held in Colombo on 28 April 2013 to oppose hate speech. The event was marred and exposed by the reporting of BBCƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Charles Haviland who showed the hypocrisy of the entire exercise ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-About 500 people have marched through the centre of the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, protesting against a recent wave of ethnic hatred which has seen hardline Buddhists targeting the Muslim minorityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. So if the theme in arranging a unity rally was to target one group (without the possible knowledge of the participants) what can we really say about who are inciting ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-hate speechƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚? Finger pointing at the majority Sinhala Buddhists ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” is nothing uncommon in Colombo. It happens all the time.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
Buddhism bashing is the favourite pass time of the English language press and their favored columnists, international news agencies e.g. BBC, and minority led lobby groups ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” who cant wait to put a spin to every article against the majority Buddhists. The columns of the daily and week – end newspapers bear witness to it. These new rallies and vigils which are heavily funded from overseas show the efforts being taken to reduce the space and territory of the people belonging to the older culture in the Buddhist hinterland and exert enough public opinion for the Government to turn the other cheek and bring in legislation against the majority Buddhists.
These covert schemes have thankfully raised awareness amongst the Sinhala Buddhists who are now no longer prepared to idle and wait on the sidelines.
However, Buddhist protests are construed as hate speech, while the same groups ignore the hate speech well integrated in the religious texts of Abrahamic religions that spur their followers to view Sri Lanka as another trophy to be won like the Maldives, Indonesia and South Korea, all of which countries were once a upon a time Buddhist.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
The world has had enough of hate. It is hate that is destroying man and his habitat all over the world. There are endless entities all assuming to end hate but their efforts have proven futile. From the time we are born our upbringing through the values taught in the home, the learning given in schools and the religious texts to which we are subject to develop people into thinking and acting as they do. Given the importance of learning in the early years of our lives the place of religious texts that create divide and dissent plays a major role in determining the root causes to most of the hate that prevails today.
While the Buddhist texts does not have a single line to hate another or to fight against another neither does the Bhagawad Gita. However, both the Bible and the Koran are guilty in this respect and whatever excuses made the fact that between these 2 religions the hate for others have clearly shown by the wars and conflicts that have taken place through history. It is these two religions that not only are responsible for wars and conflicts but the hate they have against each other are affecting the entire world.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
http://www.defendproclaimthefaith.org/blog_koran_hate_speech.htmƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ /The Koran Directly Attacks ChristianityƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚·ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The Crusades (Holy Land, Europe ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” from 1095 to 1291 between Islam and Christians killing 3million)
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚·ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Thirty Years War (Holy Roman Empire from 1618 to 1648 between Protestants and Catholics killing an estimated 11million)
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚·ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ French Wars of Religion (France ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” from 1562 to 1598 between Protestants and Catholics killing an estimated 4million)
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚·ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Nigerian Civil War (Nigeria ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” from 1967 to 1970 between Islam and Christians killing 3million)
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚·ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Second Sudanese Civil War (Sudan ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” from 1983 to 2005 between Islam and Christians killing 2million)
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚·ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Lebanese Civil War (Lebanon ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” from 1975 to 1990 between Sunni, Shiite and Christians killing 250,000 people)
Like or not these are simple facts that need to be accepted and it is possibly the best time to omit these lines altogether from the texts so that future generations of children will not be exposed to such references where they are taught to hate non-believers and people who do not belong to their faiths. Though it must be reiterated and stressed that there are many who are Christian or Muslim who are able to intellectually take what is relevant and not from these texts but what about those who are brainwashed into following these lines of hatred and who end up being used to wage wars and conflicts?
Both the Bible and the Koran tells followers to destroy, kill and harm others. ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-OthersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ are those who do not agree, is not a believer, is gay ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” in other words it is any who are not following their religion. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The speech by Geert Wilders on the Koran is given below:
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Madam Speaker, I acknowledge that there are people who call themselves Muslims and who respect our laws. My party, the Freedom Party, has nothing against such people, of course. However, the Koran does have something against them. For it is stated in the Koran in Sura 2, verse 85, that those believers who do not believe in everything the Koran states will be humiliated and receive the severest punishment; which means that they will roast in Hell. In other words, people who call themselves Muslims but who do not believe, for example, in Sura 9, verse 30 [actually 9:29], which states that Jews and Christians must be fought, or, for example, in Sura 5, verse 38, which states that the hand of a thief must be cut off, such people will be humiliated and roast in Hell. Note that it is not me who is making this up. All this can be found in the Koran. The Koran also states that Muslims who believe in only part of the Koran are in fact apostates, and we know what has to happen to apostates. They have to be killed.
Then he goes on to call for consistency in the application of Dutch laws that restrict speech that incites to violence, but which have never been applied to the Qur’an or to the hate-filled imams who preach jihad and Islamic supremacism in obedience to Qur’anic dictates:
Madam Speaker, the Koran is a book that incites to violence. I remind the House that the distribution of such texts is unlawful according to Article 132 of our Penal Code. In addition, the Koran incites to hatred and calls for murder and mayhem. The distribution of such texts is made punishable by Article 137(e). The Koran is therefore a highly dangerous book; a book which is completely against our legal order and our democratic institutions. In this light, it is an absolute necessity that the Koran be banned for the defence and reinforcement of our civilisation and our constitutional state. I shall propose a second-reading motion to that effect.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
The issue of hate speech stemming from religious texts is that whenever such examples are highlighted it seeks cover under ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-freedom of religionƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” which sweeps the issue out of focus.
What must be reiterated is that most of todaysƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ conflicts are associated with followers of Christianity and Islam and their religious texts have lines that build up hatred amongst innocents learning the faith.
The genuine peace seekers must take a new initiative to ensure that such lines are omitted or sidelined in the greater interest of PEACE and STABILITY in the world and for the future generations.
We do not need or want any clash of civilizations ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” we have had enough wars and hate.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚
April 29th, 2013 at 2:37 pm
Koran is hate speech. Everybody agrees.
But Bible is NOT. The bible is an EVOLVING book until Jesus. OLD TESTAMENT has violence as a means of doing good. It is consistent with the civilization of society at that time. Just like the Baghawat Geeta which is also a very old book full of violence and strange sex.
But the NEW TESTAMENT which is the MOST APPLICABLE part of the bible is PEACEFUL and NO HATE SPEECH.
Only Catholics believe in old testament. Other Christians don’t.
Comparing the times and civilization level, the Old testament is like Hinduism and new testament is like the Tripitaka.
April 29th, 2013 at 3:14 pm
Koran is hate speech and action.
Jews use OLD TESTAMENT. We should use it too to get rid of hatred of Islam.
April 29th, 2013 at 7:38 pm
Koran is the word of Allah. So, Muslim cannot chose some verses and ignore others. In that sense, Wahhabis are right. Non-Muslims must observe their aims with cautiously.
As usual, BBC’s Charles Haviland is bias. As I observed from the side, there couldn’t have been more that three hundred people the most at the latest vigil, me included but the cops out. That is all for all that hullabaloo then. I thought, so much for the comments by vociferous commentators of CT who live in cold basements of Europe. To tell you the truth, we had a lot more than this at BBS meeting in Horana.
I fully agree that ‘Hate’ has no place in Buddhism. Hence it was never there among Sinhala Buddhists. But is that the same for Koran readers and colonialists of the yesteryear? I cannot understand how Muslims read the Koran verses like 7:176, 7:179, 5:60 and etc that describe non-Muslims as “animals” and beasts five times a day and walk behind a big banner that says, ‘Hate Has No Place In Sri Lanka’. Surely, they must be the worst hypocrites anywhere.
Nowhere BBS said other races are inferior to Sinhala-Buddhists or not good as them. BBS merely wants Sinhalas to know who racist are, and who and what the real threat to them are. So what makes pseudo egalitarians attribute racist seal to BBS? I think agents of the neo-colonialists or whitish blacks want to demoralize Sinhala-Buddhists and destroy their new found unity and their government.
Leela
April 29th, 2013 at 11:31 pm
Patriots,
Here is something you MUST do. It costs nothing.
Go to Indian news sites and about LADAKH.
Post comments under TAMIL names.
e.g. Tamilian, Chennai raja, Chennai king, Chennai boy, Jaffna boy, Tamil Tiger, etc.
Tell Endia to WITHDRAW from Ladakh, tell Endia to GIVE UP Ladakh, tell Endia that it will LOSE if fought with China so accept defeat.
Already Endians are BLOODY ANGRY with Tamilians for voting against SL at the UNHRC. Make maximum use of that to create a BAD IMPRESSION among Endians about Tamilians.
April 30th, 2013 at 4:37 am
Lorenzo,
I don’t wish to get into an argument with you but I do not want readers who are not correctly informed about this to get the wrong impression. You are NOT correct when you say that
“Only Catholics believe in old testament. Other Christians don’t’.
The Bible comprises both the Old Testament and the New Testament and most (if not all) Christians accept both the OT and the NT. Christianity itself only started with the NT and the emphasis for Catholics as for other Christians is on the NT.
April 30th, 2013 at 8:06 am
Religion is a sensitive (and even explosive) subject to discuss as religions deal with Life itself and Death & assumptions on afterlife.
Ancient religions have additions to what the Teacher/Guru taught, after their passing away. What is to be accepted as correct and told by the Teacher/Guru, just because it was (often) written down somewhere by someone after the Teacher/Guru passed away ?
Shouldn’t all religious teachings be life supportive to all of humanity ?
Governments should have just & righteous governance through the Law equally applied to all citizens. Populations in each country ought to be only in keeping with the resources of each country.
Shouldn’t State & religion (whatever religion) be kept apart ?.
April 30th, 2013 at 8:12 am
No civilised country should allow its people to read or keep a book like KORAN wich incites to violence -jihad—kill non believers etc .etc
I sugest that some sinhala buddhist patriotic lawyer should file a law suit in courts to decide whether the contents in koran is against the law of the country
B. B.S PL.. SEE TO THIS MATTER
April 30th, 2013 at 11:16 am
Those who espouse hate on others and their belief systems and their scripture are the real hate mongers on earth. And, more than what the text within scriptures say, it is what the human does on the ground that makes him/her hateful
April 30th, 2013 at 1:45 pm
Cassandra,
In MOST churches other than the Catholic church (though still the largest) and a few other denominations, the OT is not part of their bible. The trend is to move AWAY from the OT and to the NT (Gospel) ONLY.
April 30th, 2013 at 1:49 pm
Islam is hate mongering. Please read MILLIONS of articles written on this. But MOST convincing evidence comes from the Koran itself.
e.g.
The Quran plainly tells Muslims that they are a favored race, while those of other religions are “perverted transgressors”:
Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah. If only the People of the Book [Christians and Jews] had faith, it were best for them: among them are some who have faith, but most of them are perverted transgressors. (3:110)
Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. And those with him are hard against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves… (48:29)
Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued. (9:29 Jizya is the money that non-Muslims must pay to their Muslim overlords in a pure Islamic state.)
Those who disbelieve from among the People of the Book and among the Polytheists, will be in Hell-Fire, to dwell therein (for aye). They are the worst of creatures. (98:6)
Surely the vilest of animals in Allah’s sight are those who disbelieve, then they would not believe. (8:55)
No worse hate speech than this!!!