Ah, my dear, Ahmadiyya
Reader comment on item: Permit Muslim-only Enclaves?
in response to reader comment: Sratch the veneer

Submitted by Archimedes2 (Canada), Oct 10, 2007 at 22:33

Thanks for your input, Kamal. I don't claim any great expertise on the Ahmadiyya by any shot, but what I do know suggests pretty strongly that they have given up violence. Much of what you wrote about them (and what I wrote about them being severely persecuted in Dar al Islam) is true also for the Baha'i faith, which also considers itself to be superior to all other faiths ... but says so in a very patronizing, but gentle and tolerant way.

I can live with the patronizing aspect of Baha'i; they are no threat to me, and I have confidence that Baha'is intend only peace. As a Christian myself I'm happy to have collegial dialogue and debate till the cows come home (or the Lord ... or perhaps Mahdi :-) ... returns) with people of any religious background. What I cannot tolerate is groups that intend to use force or coercion (political, psychological, behavioral or military) to circumvent normal dialogue and free exchange of ideas.

If you have evidence that the Ahmadiyya are arming for military conflict, or gearing up to institute their version of Sharia in the west, etc. Then I'd be interested in hearing it. But from what I've seen they are the most outspoken opponents of the baser elements of islam. I'm quite willing to scratch the veneer if you'd be specific enough to show me where to begin scratching.

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