Religious Intolerance: The Persecution Of Minority Muslims In Malaysia And Elsewhere
The Persecution Of Roy Bennett
The Growing Intolerance in Israel and Arab Women Called "Whores"
Religious intolerance in protesting temple relocation
Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land
Suppression of Minority Rights in Pakistan
In Western countries, religious freedom and tolerance is something that is cherished and honored by all. People in the West are free to worship any faith they please- from Christianity to Buddhism and every religion in between. If it exists, it's allowed. Christianity has many different sects, and even though some might not approve of each other, they still get to build their churches, oftentimes on the same block. Go to any street in the U.S. and you will see a Baptist Church sitting next to a Lutheran, Presbyterian, Catholic, Greek Orthodox or any other of the numerous Christian/Protestant denominations that exist. Christians might have different forms of worship and rituals, but bottom line- they all believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. That common belief makes them all Christians, regardless of their differences.
Islam also has a variety of sects from Shiite to Sunni, and everything in between. They too have many different forms of worship and rituals, but bottom line- they all believe that Muhammad was a Prophet. Tragically, they have very little tolerance for anything that deviates outside their own narrow minded religious doctrine, hence the violence that exists between the various Islamic sects, and the outright banning and persecution of those lesser known minority sects like the Ahmadis and Ismailis. The major problem is that most Muslim majority countries are either Sunni or Shiite, and if you don't happen to be that particular kind of Muslim, life can be very difficult. For a religion that claims to be so tolerant, a religion of peace, the fact that they can't even tolerate their own, let alone people of other religions, is a testament to how much the religion needs a major overhaul.
Take Malaysia- although a supposedly moderate Muslim-majority country (which so happens to be mostly Sunni), it has no tolerance for any other kind of Muslims, including the Shia which they consider a "deviant" cult. Apparently there are approximately 40,000 adherents in Malaysia, 200 of which were arrested last month after prayer services. They have since been released on bail. Although they complained to the country's human rights commission regarding the persistent discrimination, I doubt anything will be done to ensure that they can freely worship their brand of Islam.
If there is no tolerance within their own religion, how can we ever hope that they will evolve enough to tolerate other religions?
Source: VOA/Malaysia
