Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA)

The recent occurrence of some violent events in the Muslim world, as well as the involvement of Muslim individuals in some terrorist attacks in Western Europe, North America, and Australia, has raised serious questions about the ability and/or willingness of Muslims to live in peace and harmony with people of other religious backgrounds. In a rush to answer those questions, various people, both Muslim and non-Muslim, have offered responses that are overly simplistic, empirically inaccurate, and visibly biased. Some, for instance, have argued that the source of the problem should be found in the teachings of Islam, while others have argued that those committing the violent/terrorist acts are not true Muslims. In this presentation, some of these responses, and their shortcomings, will be discussed; and, an alternative perspective will be offered. Speaker: