HOW ARE MOSLEMS RADICALIZED?

There are ways of looking at religion. There is a lineage in the Christian, Jewish and Moslem faiths. The faith of the Jewish people came first and remains with us through the Old Testament.

The Jewish faith focused on laws of God that began with the 10 Commandments. The Jews accepted the wrath of God heaped upon sinners who do not follow His commandments.

We read in The Old Testament that men and women could be stoned for adultery. We read that God can turn His back on sinners who refuse to acknowledge God as Almighty. The Sultanate of Brunei plans to stone LGBT people.

The coming of Jesus changed the focus of Christian faith. The God of Jesus was loving and forgiving. St Paul told us that we forgive those who trespass against us twelve times twelve.

Jesus told a crowd about to stone a woman that they should let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

Islam grew out of the faith culture of the first milleneum. The Islam faith came down to the people through the prophet Mohammed and grew out of the Arab culture of vengeance and killing. Enemies are to die.

Many Moslems of the world live through faith of a loving and forgiving Allah. Last week there was a memorial service in Christchurch after the extremist massacre.

There was a man speaking after losing his wife. He said that he forgave her killer. He could not be a faithful Moslem if his heart were full of hate.

Much of the killing is the result of the succession schism between the Sunnis and Shi’ites. The argument is about the succession of prophets down the line from Mohammed.

So can we say that there are two contradictory beliefs in Islam – one based on a loving and forgiving Allah and the other based on the duty of Moslems to kill all followers deemed guilty of blasphemy and apostasy.

Is radicalization the transition from love and forgiveness to hating and killing all infidels?

Does Jihad involve killing all infidels until the world is dominated by Islam? Are faithful Moslems living in peace and loving Allah all regarded as infidels?

Does that mean that all Moslems in the world are bound to support Jihad and be punished if they do not?