Politics: Islam and Terrorism...are the two connected???

[Blackwatch]

I too think that this is a good topic. After talking with Muslim friends as well as reading several articles on the issue, I have come to the concusion that the issue here is not whether Islam teaches hate, but rather how oppressed people understand their oppression and how it relates to their view of God. A gentlemen was on C-Span a while back who wrote a book on Arab Christians in palestine. One of the things he noted that none of the Abrahamic religions (Islam, Christianity, nor Judiasm) actually teach militancy and radicallism. He noted that these are generally responses to oppression.
Consider Rev. David Walker and Nat Turner, they were under severe oppression, and both drew upon their Christian faith to advocate for a violent solution to the end of their oppression. They felt that God was on the side of the oppressed and therefore justified the violence in their war for freedom. I think the analogy applies here, with a twist.
One thing that characterises Islam is the advocacy of a strict "church-state" so to speak. some countries where Islam is the dominant religion, advocate for some of the exact punishment for crimes that the Quoran calls for (cut the hand off of the thief, etc.). While in the U.S., it is commonly held that there should be a seperation of church and state, note that this isn't so in many parts of the world. During the Gulf war, many Muslims around the world viewed the US's stationing of troops in Saudi Arabia (Home of Mecca, a very important city in the Islamic World) as the ultimate blasphemy against Allah since many Muslims feel that no one who is not Muslim should be able to tread in Mecca. With this in mind, some Muslims view what to Americans may appear to be a political issue as a religious issue (remember, no seperation between church and state). With this sentiment, it is easy to see how some people who are under political oppression in the middle east and feel that this is a result of American foreign policy, can view America as an enemy of Allah, and feel that war with America is striking a blow for Allah. While it is indeed a radical view to take in the terms of "orthodox" Islam, this by no means is particular to Muslims or Islamic teachings. The culprit here is not Islam, but political oppression.
Blackwatch!!!!!!