Is Islam to Blame for ISIS? Is Religion to Blame for Violence?

Over-generalisation

We shouldn’t blame Islam for ISIS, or Hamas, or Al’Qaeda, or even the countries: Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Iran. It’s easy to, when the media place emphasis on the fact that these countries are ‘Muslim’ countries. 

However, we talk about Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Iran as though they’re the only three Muslim countries on the planet. We talk about groups like ISIS as though they’re extremists, but the countries aren’t, ‘that’s just how they are in that country, it’s not extremism, it’s their religion that females should be treated unequally’. 

This is incorrect. 

We should place ISIS and the above three countries into the same category of ‘extreme’. Stoning, beheading, FGM and general mistreating of women is extreme, it’s bad, and it doesn’t belong in the 21st century. But just because these groups and these three countries do this, we can’t just say: ‘That’s how Muslims are’, because it’s not, that’s just how ISIS are, just how Saudi Arabia etc. are. 

Also, it’s strange how Saudi Arabia, an ally to Britain, have beheaded 19 people during the time ISIS have beheaded 4, and we don’t hear about it on the news. This is because Saudi Arabia are a TRADE INTEREST. What they are doing is just as extreme, if not more so, than ISIS.

There are 49 Muslim countries. 3/49 is 6.1%. Therefore, what is being done when we blame Islam for what these three countries are doing, we are blaming 1.5 billion people for acts that around 289 million are doing. This is 19.3% of the Muslims that inhabit the world that we blame 100% of the Muslims for. 

It is therefore clear that Islam isn’t the problem, it’s these countries and their government. 

Does Religion Promote Violence?

Religion doesn’t necessarily promote violence OR peace. It helps you along your path in life, so if you’re a violent person, you’ll still be violent, but you’ll feel you may be able to justify it, (but a violent person would surely still be violent whether he has justification or not, the justification just makes him feel better about himself). If you’re a peaceful person, then religion will guide you through your peaceful life. 

There are Buddhists in Myanmar slaughtering women and children at the moment. 

There are countries in Africa, which are Christian countries, that perform FGM - Eritrea has almost a 90% FGM rate, Ethiopia has a 75% FGM rate. 

Is Buddhism an ideology that stereotypically promotes violence? Is Christianity a religion that stereotypically promotes violence? So we know that it’s people who can be violent, or governments which can be violent. Religion shouldn’t even come into it. 

Even if they try justifying their acts because of their religion, that isn’t relevant. As an atheist, let’s say I killed someone and said: ‘I’m allowed to, because I don’t believe in God and therefore don’t need to feel compassionate’. For one, this would be a problem of law, not religion. Two, would you therefore say all atheists are bad because I justified my murder with my atheism, therefore every atheist can justify murder? And three, would atheists agree that we don’t need to feel compassionate just because of the absence of our belief in a God? 

Religion isn’t a cause for good or bad, it’s a guide for whatever you want to be. Whether you have religion or not, you can be a good person, or you can be a bad person. I don’t blame the American government’s religion/religions for their murderous acts of bombing civilians and lying to its citizens, and countless other things, I blame the American government. I don’t blame ISIS or Saudi Arabia’s religion for their murderous acts and backward ways, I blame ISIS and Saudi Arabia. 

Stop painting the majorities with the same brush you paint the minorities with, that’s bigotry, and not compassionate, which is counterproductive when we’re aiming for a strong and beautiful society. 

Take care, 

ARK Walton

The Death of Robin Williams

Hello there.

I haven't posted anything on this particular blog for a long while due to being really busy, however, seeing the terrible news about Robin Williams tragically killing himself today, and seeing some people's reactions, has encouraged me to write something on the matter.

I found out about his suicide this morning when I woke up, after a long night of drinking. My friend wrote a status on Facebook claiming his "hate to a fictional being, God" for "leaving horrible people on the planet but taking people like Rik Mayall and Robin Williams".

I thought: "Wait, I thought Robin Williams was still alive?"

I asked everyone at the table, "Isn't Robin Williams still alive? I don't remember ever reading that he's dead." They all said he's alive.

I scrolled down Facebook and it was confirmed. I checked to see if it was a hoax, but it wasn't.

Robin Williams, a great comedian, a brilliant actor, and from what I can gather a wonderful man, ended his life today out of depression.

"There must be something wrong with the world if it can't accommodate Robin Williams", said Russell Brand on his "Trews" (True News) YouTube series, where he discusses current events and gives his (fantastic and well worded) opinions and analysis on the matters. 

I feel I can relate to Robin Williams in quite a few ways. I'm not at all claiming I am him, or that I'm a comical genius, before anyone takes it the wrong way, but I share the same sense of humour as him. I make jokes in a similar way, act stupid and loud and eccentric. I love to make people laugh, I feel happy when I do so, and I love to cheer people up. But, I also get sad, too; that's being human.

I feel I have, in a much less genius way, a similar mind to what he seemed to have, except his spectrum was far wider - he was way funnier than I'll ever be, and he got way sadder than I've ever got (and I hope I never do reach that end of the spectrum.)

This is one reason his death upsets me, (other reasons include: he had kids, and that he got so desperately sad and depressed he felt suicide was the only way out,) because I feel like he's how I wanted to turn out when I get older: someone who will continue to be energetic and bring out happiness from others, be the person who people want at parties, be that person who can entertain and make others laugh, no matter what mood he's in. This man did these things, he cheered up those he came across, whether it was a paying audience, the camera crew, his family.

He was very similar to Jim Carrey in these ways, too, and Jim Carrey is my favourite person on the planet. The only difference between the two is that Jim Carrey has found happiness and contentment now, Robin unfortunately couldn't, he felt he was trapped, and now he will never find that happiness. 

Fox News, my favourite news team, (complete and utter sarcasm, I passionately despise them), reported his death earlier today, and the presenter said he was a "coward" for killing himself. I'm sure many agree with this, because it is seen as "an easy way out".

But just think about that for one second. You get so depressed, for months on end, that you can't see a way out of it. You don't enjoy anything anymore, you're just sick of living every day and being miserable. You may feel guilty for feeling these things, especially if you have kids, but the guilt adds to the depression, makes you even more depressed, you become disgusted with yourself. It sounds awful, yes? Of course it does. But how does tying a rope around your neck and jumping off a chair, leaving everything behind as your neck cracks, seem like an easy, cowardly option? 

If you think suicide is a cowardly way out, imagine someone you love disappearing tomorrow and being discovered with a rope around his/her neck, and then imagine someone coming up to you while you were mourning and saying "Well, wasn't he/she a coward?!" 

Feeling there's no way out of depression is tough, I can imagine. Getting help anyway, forcing yourself to try and get out of that rut must be difficult, extremely difficult. But ending your life certainly can't be easy, so how can you call someone in this state a coward, just because you don't understand how they feel?

I don't understand how they feel either, but I'm trying to be open-minded, and I'm trying to understand how someone might feel like this, so that one day, if someone I love or know gets in this state, I can try my very best to help.

Also, Sam Towers, some guy on Facebook, posted about Robin Williams saying: 'We all know who he is and we all know he's killed himself, big wow'. Okay, that's your opinion, but if someone's mother died, you wouldn't comment saying "I don't care about your mother, get this off my feed." 

He stated that soldiers die every day and don't get recognition so why should Robin Williams? I responded:

"The soldiers aren't forgotten, they're remembered by their family - people who knew them. I don't know any soldiers personally, so when I hear a soldier is dead, I think "Oh, that's sad, I feel sorry for him and his family", and then my day moves on. 

With Robin Williams, we all feel we've a connection with him because we've seen him on TV, he's made us feel something, whether it be happiness through laughter, or sadness through what he's acting on screen. 

Soldiers aren't personal to everyone, they don't make us feel happy or sad, we don't know them personally, we don't know them at all until we hear that they've been killed. It doesn't mean we aren't grateful for what they've done, but we just don't know them. We can't post on Facebook about everyone in the world that die every second, there wouldn't be time. We post about people we've had a connection with of some sort."

Of course, if someone you know is a soldier, you'd be sad if said person died, because you do have a personal connection with this person. But obviously, you're sad when anyone you've had a connection with dies, whether it be a soldier, a comedian or the man who owns the local shop.

The world can seem a sad place at the moment. All this Palestine and Israel conflict, the Russia and Ukraine conflict, the whole Iraq thing that's still going on, Fox News promoting terrorism, and now Robin Williams ending his life. But we need to try and learn from these things, try and take something positive from them all. 


People dying is bad. People hurting is bad. Soldiers dying is bad, and pointless. Robin Williams dying is bad.

Don't promote violence, because it isn't the answer. I think war is stupid, it's absolutely f*cking ridiculous to me. I think someone taking their life is extremely upsetting. We need to learn, from this, that depression is a serious issue, and that it could happen to anyone. Someone as lovely and funny as Robin Williams, a family member, a best friend. We're all people, we're all human, so look after each other. We need to be there for the people we love, and we need to make them smile, make them happy. If they're upset, don't shrug it off because you're busy. 

We need to take making people happy more seriously.

Take care,

ARK Walton.