The National: Not all frogs are green

As a new year starts, we can all take a sigh of relief that some of us have made it through the holidays with our families intact, while others may need therapy. For as we all know, getting together with our relatives generally causes a lot of tongue holding, gossiping and all-out clashes of ideologies. But in the end, we all do it because we love each other.

So, how are you? Did you make it through OK?

I have found that bringing along a couple of my friends to the old family gatherings has helped me settle a bit more easily. Let’s call them, Mr. Jameson and Mr. Cutty Sark. I spared myself a few clashes and held my tongue well. Mostly with one of my most cherished relations, let’s call him Jimmy, who enjoys throwing out a bit of his knowledge and views, as we all do.

However, one thing that Jimmy said stuck with me, mainly because it tends to reflect upon an attitude that one would assume most Americans would have moved past, given our history of mistakes to learn from. With the failed bombing aboard an airplane by Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, feelings are being stirred once again regarding Islamic citizens of the world.

“Now I’ve read the Quran,” Jimmy says, which is the first ingredient in his recipe for credibility, usually followed by a dash of him mentioning his military time served in the Middle East. “And it’s in there, the stuff they do, it’s in there,” he states regarding terrorist attacks.

That, of course, is not verbatim, as Mr. Cutty Sark was distracting me at the time. But could there be something to what Jimmy was saying?

My well-thought-out response in the end was to say, “Man, that’s bullshit.” Though had I more time, I would have been able to illustrate the flaw in Jimmy’s innocent logic, a logic followed by many in our culture, such as famed commentator Bill O’Reilly who has made similar statements a number of times to his viewers.

It’s the old scientific wisdom that not all things are green. You see, as an old science teacher told me, frogs are green, but not all frogs are green and not all green things are frogs. It’s a metaphor meant to teach how not to assume. And by following it, I can understand that Muslims are terrorists, but not all Muslims are terrorists and not all terrorists are Muslims.

In fact, the largest terrorist attack before 9/11 was the Oklahoma City bombing carried out by an American with no Islamic or other religious connections at all. Not to mention various shootings or bombings of abortion clinics over the years, which brings to mind the shooting and murder of Dr. George Tiller in his church just last year.

But if not all Muslims are terrorists, then what should be made of this view of Islam as a backward and outdated religion of violence? After all, Jimmy seemed to put a lot of weight on that idea, which I somewhat understand.

I too have read through parts of the Quran, though I admit not all of it. And I might come to a similar conclusion of not for being a fan of the Christian Bible myself. You see, reading through the Bible, one also finds similar backward and outdated philosophies that, when studied out of context, are also very barbaric.

Jimmy might not be aware of this, but the apostle Luke told us it was OK to beat servants and slaves. Portions of the Bible also instruct us to kill our brothers for working on the Sabbath, rebellious sons and women who are raped or otherwise not virgins when they get married. Furthermore, it says to not eat pork or shellfish, a rule my father taught me to break very well on the barbecue. And I don’t want to break the hearts of so many fans of Christmas, but in the book of Jeremiah, we are told not to put up what we know now as Christmas trees.

Do Christians follow many of the instructions clearly stated in their religious canon? Obviously not. And the same could be said for Muslims. The core philosophies seem to be the timeless part.

With America’s history of assuming negatively about certain groups, we should be wary of repeating the same mistakes. Casting clouds of bigotry over all our Muslims neighbors, as we have done to others in the past, just makes a much bigger mess in the end.