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

[moe.ron]

I find it quite interesting that this conversation on Islam mainly concentrated on the Arab states. Yet, the most populated muslim population is in South East Asia. And many speak Islam as a single entity when there are different factions of it. From the major Sunni and Shiia, to the different branches of it, from Sufi ro Wahabi. Much of the problem has to do with the spread of Wahabinism of Saudi Arabia.

I lived in Indonesia and have talked to members of Muhammadiyah and NU, two Muslim organizations that each claimed to have 15 million to 20 million people, they all complained that Saudi Arabia is exporting this form of Islam which is Alien to the local Islamic tradition. FYI, the current President of Indonesian is a women, and the country is secular. Both groups have made it clear that they don't wish a theocracy form of government for Indonesia. Both organizations have kept away from politics, except when they were also part of the struggle to get rid of Suharto, however members of both groups tend to be members of PKB (ex-Pres. Wahid, or Gus Dur, party) or PAN (Amien Rais, current speaker of the Parliment).

Now, I'm living in South Africa and found out that the biggest supporter of Apartheid were the Dutch Reform Church, which used the bible to legitimize the system. In fact, I've been to the central of Apartheidism in University of Stellenbosch, and talk to some of the older professor there. It wasn't the political science or sociology department that created the system but the theology department. What I'm saying is that religion can be used by anybody to legitimize immoral acts.