Morality By Proxy
Deborah Venable
04/17/07
One
reason that Islam will never get it right for the rest of us is that the
morality of the religion will always be in question as long as the perception
of jihad rules it. If we could isolate certain
tenets of the religion from the rest of it, we could see a kind of morality not
unlike that which helped build the foundations for American government, but
those most forcibly representing Islam will never allow the comparison.
Frighteningly
enough, certain tenets of all religions do not lend themselves to easily
defining the moral right over the immorally unacceptable. The difference is that most thinking and
reasoning people can find that moral acceptability without completely breaking
the tether to the basic moral grounding that religious “law” proscribes – in
the case of true Christianity and some of the others. Let’s not mince words here – understanding the ancient texts,
holy texts if you will, can take a lifetime of study and requires subjective
definition anyway, so no one can say with absolute certainty that “religious
knowledge” is ever complete. That is
why many people make it their goal to pick apart religious beliefs of others as
a way of putting forth their own beliefs as correct.
If
they had to defend their own beliefs without tearing down everyone else’s, they
simply couldn’t do it. It is sad that
simple faith has been replaced by a necessity to run scientific “lab tests” on
religion.
So,
here we have the “sample” of Islam under the microscope of world terror, and it
comes up very diseased to say the least.
Onward Islam soldiers – blow yourselves and as many others as you can up
in the name of your religion and for the glorification of your god! If we microscopically inspect this
justification for such violent acts, though, we find foreign samples of much
more selfish reasons swimming around within the martyrdom. What about those 72 virgins, eh? Allah’s heaven has to be running out of
them, doesn’t it? I mean it isn’t as if
they are “reusable” and I don’t know if they can be recycled. Since when does a god worthy of any worship
have to bribe with such earthly pleasures?
What makes virgins so valuable anyway?
Women in general certainly aren’t that valuable in the Muslim world, and
virgins are used up real quick!
Now
we get to the morality by proxy part.
Women
are seen as the most moral of prizes, worthy of being used by Allah to reward
the ultimate sacrifice, but seen and valued as little more than cattle once
they are used up. And they always are
seen as the scapegoat of men’s immorality – their nemesis to sexual
purity. If a man has impure thoughts or
actions about sex, it is the woman’s fault for not having herself sufficiently
“covered” to prevent such thoughts and acts.
The man’s control, (or self-control) is never in question. Question:
Do the virgins in heaven wear burqas?
If
men do the foulest of deeds to innocent strangers, it is never their fault –
no, it is the culture, heredity, and religion of their victims that forces the
hand of these terrorists. There is
always a reason that goes beyond their own responsibility. Morality (or immorality) by proxy requires
memorizing the “rules” and throwing all responsibility on the religion that set
them while ignoring any reason or individual thought or any personal investment
in faith. Extreme Islamic terrorists,
then, cannot be reasoned with or engaged in meaningful communication. It is like a Muslim woman trying to find
permission to shed her burqa. These
people are out of control and the only things they respect or respond to are
complete submission or a greater show of strength. The only moral code they have is tied to a proxy.
Are
there moderate Muslims in the world? Of
course there are – we know that all Muslim women do not wrap themselves up in
burqas, and we know that many Muslims have publicly opposed the actions of the
extremists against innocents. The
danger is that anyone who has been traditionally exposed to a religion that
preaches morality by proxy may someday find it impossible to defend a
“moderate” position.
The
truth is that most Muslims in the world probably would prefer peace, but the
religious tenets that form the basis of their religion get in the way of them
being able to secure it for themselves.
Peace must begin within each human heart, and it must be defended by
each individual that has found it against all who would define it differently.
Reasoning
with extremists will always be out of the question – no matter what religion
they use to support their morality by proxy actions.
We
cannot forget that Christianity and Judaism historically have also given a pass
to morality by proxy. Neither religion
values women with the same equality as men.
Please do not protest this statement because the religious texts prove
it. Is it any wonder that such a
destructive and damaging component of present day societal ills as that of the
feminist movement would eventually come to pass in a “free” society? In much the same way that the race equality
issue has torn away at the fabric of our society, so has the gender equality
issue. And they both spring from an
extremist view of religiosity.
Moral
human beings do not treat each other in ways that they would not want to be
treated – unless a morality by proxy belief is held. If we can fault someone or something else with our immorality,
then it is justified.
Problems
arise when we try to acquire this blame for ourselves when it is not
warranted. In other words, if we have
to look for reasons to blame ourselves for the actions of others, we become
part of the problem – never a party to the answer.
I
have said all that to say this: we
cannot continue to fight Muslim extremists with the extremist views of Christianity
and Judaism. We must bring the fight to
the simple question of human morality.
Religion alone is not the answer to this fight – or for that matter any
fight for human equality.
A
battered wife cannot continue to accept the proxy status for her husband’s
morality by saying it must be all her fault that he beats her and holds her in
low esteem. A hyphenated American
cannot continue to accept the proxy status for the white race’s morality by
assuming that he or she is seen only through the lens of ethnicity and take a
pass because of it. A “free” country
cannot continue to accept the proxy status of “Great Satin” because enemies of
that freedom have transferred responsibility of moral thought to the sometimes
all too willing proxy. These are
extremist views – not those of thinking, common members of the human race!
Faith
in right over wrong, good over evil, and freedom over tyranny should replace
any thoughts of finding scapegoats to justify the opposites and claiming any
morality by proxy. Truly moral,
religious people know this inherently.