What is it?

 

ISIS stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria – sometimes described as ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant).

 

It was set up by the Al Qaeda leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

 

He declared a global Caliphate and called all Muslims to join.

 

ISIS is a Sunni fundamentalist sect.

 

What is their Aim?

 

Their aim is to set up a global Caliphate. Impose strict fundamentalist Islamic culture and law on a global scale on all people in all countries.

 

What do they believe?

 

1. That the Koran, as ascribed by Mohamed, is the absolute word of Allah.

 

2. That the Shia Muslims are heretics and should be eradicated.

 

3. That all other beliefs are heretical and believers to be treated as non-believers. They either convert to the true belief (Sunni Islam) or should be eradicated (murdered).

 

4. That the West with its non-Islamic values of democracy, freedom of speech and tolerance is evil and should be destroyed.

 

5. That anything non-Islamic should be destroyed – including their own pre-Islamic history.

 

6. That women should be subservient to men. They should not be educated, should wear full body covering, should not go out without male permission and chaperoning, and should be segregated.

 

7. That homosexuality is an abomination and homosexuals should be killed.

 

8. That music is non-Islamic and should be eradicated.

 

9. That Sharia law should replace all other laws.

 

10. That if they die in the course of their Jihad they will be considered martyrs, go straight to paradise and have the services of virgins for eternity.

 

What is their Mode of Operation?

 

1. They seek to gain control first of Iraq and Syria and then destroy the West and take over the world. They would then impose their views on everyone.

 

2. They operate through terror. Their policies of mass beheadings, burning people alive in cages, burying people alive, crucifixion, drowning people in cages, throwing people off tall buildings etc. is calculated to put huge fear into their opponents.

 

3. They use terror, bombings, attacks on unarmed civilians, suicide bombings and see nothing wrong in actions such as blowing up trains, flying planes into buildings or gunning down children. The suicide bombers are Jihadi heroes destined for paradise and the civilian victims are non-believer vermin who deserve to be killed and maimed.

 

4. They justify these barbaric practices on the grounds that these victims were heretics, homosexuals and non-believers. Allah had sanctioned their killings. They are doing God’s will.

 

5. They receive funding from multi-billionaire Sunnis (Saudi Arabia being one source of these individuals), taxing the people they are presently ruling, selling historical artefacts, selling oil and ransoming hostages. They use these funds to buy arms.

 

6. They capture weaponry from the armies they defeat.

 

7. They are attracting in numbers of ‘fighters’ from Western countries who are tempted by their rejection of Western values, a desire to set up an Islamic State and feel at ‘home’, an attraction to the excitement of a ‘cause’, an attraction to the barbarity, a promise of paradise, and a fervour and zeal for their ‘beliefs’.

 

Is the basis of their beliefs justified?

 

The interpretation of the Koran from which they derive their beliefs is not a perversion of Islam; it is a fundamentalist, hard-line interpretation. This would be similar to fundamentalist Christians and Jews taking the more unpleasant sections of the Old Testament at face value and dashing baby’s heads against rocks, making living sacrifices etc. The Bible, like the Koran, is from an Abrahamic tradition of misogyny and violence. There are many ambiguities, tribal prejudices, acts of violence, intolerance and vindictiveness pertaining to the age and culture in which it is written.

Most practicing Jews, Christians and Muslims gloss over the intolerant, blood-thirsty elements of their religion and focus on the tolerant, loving, harmonious sections.

Fundamentalists take a hard-line.

 

What should we do about ISIS?

 

1. We should deplore the fundamentalist view of the religion with its inherent misogyny, violence, intolerance, destruction and barbarity.

 

2. We should promote a more civilised view of the world in which people of all faiths and no faith could live in harmony, peace, freedom, equality and tolerance.

 

3. We should use education to enlighten people.

 

4. We should expose the Koran, Bible, Upanishads, Bhagvad Gita etc. as not being the ‘word of god or gods’ to be followed slavishly and used to create war and division.

 

5. We should assert that belief is a personal issue and not the province of a State.

 

6. We should take steps to ensure that children are no longer indoctrinated into religion or politics (this would necessitate looking at Belief Schools, Madrassas and practices within churches, temples, synagogues, mosques or the home).

 

7. We should take steps to cut off all funding and recruitment.

 

8. We should counter the on-line ISIS propaganda by revealing the true barbarity and hypocrisy of their operation. Most civilised people are disgusted by such cruelty, including most Muslims, and reject any doctrine that supports such primitive inhumanity. Most people would view the kind of society offered by these extremists as a living hell.

 

9. We will probably have to take military action to prevent further atrocities and use drones to take out the leaders and fighters.

 

10. We should back the regimes who are fighting this tyrannous evil.

 

My views

 

As an antitheist I see these people are typical of previous fundamentalist theocracies. Religion is a primitive superstition. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all have their roots in ancient Arabic tribes. Their doctrines are steeped in the cultural baggage of thousands of years ago. The violence, intolerance, tribalism, misogyny and prejudices are those of primitive, uncivilised people. We’ve come a long way since those times.

The morality and wisdom of those days was and is flawed. We’ve learnt a lot more and become wiser.

I see the United Nations charter of Human Rights as being a far more intelligent, coherent and useful document.

I do not believe there is a god, paradise or a non-stop stream of virgins. When you analyse the way the Koran and Bible was written and put together the assertions made about the documents are farcical.

I would do away with these outmoded doctrines and replace them with a better statement of morality and law that is better thought-through and presented in order to help instil fairness, justice, freedom, equality and harmony.

It is time to reject all fundamentalist beliefs as outmoded superstition.

ISIS is just the latest in a long line.

 

The Future

 

History shows us quite clearly that these movements rise, flourish and die. It takes time.

There is only one possible outcome: ISIS will be destroyed, its leaders killed and its aims left in tatters.

Their lofty aim of a global caliphate is risible.

It is merely a question of how much destruction, barbarity, death, torture and pain will be inflicted before that occurs. It could take some time.

The other worry is what will rise up to take its place? Will the future tyranny be just as bad?

 

Opher 4.7.15