This Month on Viewpoint - December

Sunday, December 26 @ 12:00 PM
Thursday, December 30 @ 7:30 PM

 
2010 Year in Review
The building of an Islamic community center blocks from ground zero stirred Islamophobia; Sexual abuse claims in the Catholic Church reached the highest levels of the Vatican; The Tea Party movement infused conservative religious values into public policy. We discuss these and other faith-influenced news items of 2010.

Guests:
Daniel Alvarez, M.A., M.T.S., Florida International University
Shaikh Shafayat Mohamed, Darul Uloom Institute
Edward Sunshine, Ph.D., Barry University
Rabbi Dr. Yaakov Thompson, Sunrise Jewish Center

Comments

[Tamara]

Steve your discussion on the religious year in review was excellent. I agree with your panel that society as a whole is rejecting organized religion of all faith, but their faith in God seems to be growing .

I have never attended a tea party but understand their view points on Islam, and you should also understand that they very well know it is extremism within Islam that has driven up negatives.

What many are concerned is that the sheer barbarism within that extremist sect is growing as a political movement. Those behaviors are completely revolting to most. That barbarism is specifically growing in countries with peoples of simplistic lifestyles where there was once peace and it is so brutal, that people here hope to see it stopped by those governments there, as murder is murder, rape is rape, and none of these can be done in the name of ANY religion, yet here in the modern world sees there, as a piling up of be-headed bodies. These societies film and place these killings from Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran, and Afghanistan and now Africa by huge numbers....openly..on youtube.com ....and I can tell you a recently killing of 2 teenage girls by beheading in Indonesia and the burning of a mother and baby in Africa have many flat out mad, that the government seems to stand by and watch. People here are aware of the 2 teenage girls in Dallas and see a trend of barbarism.

We do not want to see government diminish religion, and they will every chance they get, so moderate Muslims NOT stopping this anti-human behavior in developing countries is an invitation for people to demand government to stop ALL religion.

In a time when organized religion is in decline, it is not a great combination of circumstances. There are some extremist in EVERY religion and faith....but beheading and burning people alive by a group of people in a circle is horrifying.

Your guests were wonderful and enlightening as a group!

I pray to God we all change for the better and let love and kindness grow.

Thank you so much!