The Mostly Religion of Peace

We have all heard the words before. Islam is a religion of harmony, peace, enlightenment, large beards (ok, I made that one up,) love and comfort.

So, it must be a huge shock for everyone to hear that in Indonesia, the country with the world's largest Muslim population, over 10% of its Muslim population believes that suicide bombing against innocents is justified in certain instances.

From The China Post via The Religion of Peace.

Eleven percent of the people in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, believe suicide attacks against civilian targets are sometimes justifiable, a survey said on Thursday.

Though the number is relatively small, analysts say the findings of the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) are a wake-up call for Indonesian leaders and moderate clerics who fear a tiny radical Muslim fringe may be making inroads into the general public.

Suicide bombings blamed on Islamic militants have killed hundreds in recent years in Indonesia, a country whose population of 220 million population is around 85 percent Muslim -- most of them following a moderate form of the religion.

The government has been making an extra effort to counter militant Islamic ideas since the discovery of videos last November showing the last words of suicide bombers who killed 20 people in restaurants on Bali island last year. Authorities and moderate clerics were shocked that young Indonesians could talk so blithely about the horrific bombings.

I don't know how any Muslim, regardless of how moderate, could be surprised by the attitudes of young Muslims being educated and trained by Wahhibist clerics from Saudi Arabia.

For us in the west to be ignorant of such things is almost understandable. For Muslims to be shocked by such behavior is simply daft.