War looks better on a big screen

The Reports on CNN today, as usual, did not bring good news. No fuzzy little puppy dogs, no world peace in the near future. I have a lot of television viewing time at work since I have nothing else to do. When I'm downstairs there is a nice 50 something inch plasma screen mounted just across from my desk. During the day I just kind of glance every now and then since I'm not a huge fan of the "drill the same story into your head 20 times for an hour" type of news just to get the daily headlines. Today I just happened to catch the video of Ayman al-Zawahiri asking all Muslims to join and support the Holy War against Israel. I just have to ask- When is all this crap going to stop? I honestly don't understand why religions feel the need to fight each other over who's right and which religion is the one true religion. I can't say that I am the most religious person that you'll meet, but I do have faith. I tend to look at religion from more of an outsider's prospective. It's not that I feel like an outsider, I just think that it's easier to learn about something and make a comparison of things if you don't let your vision get clouded by your own feelings. I feel like we all come from the same family, Abraham is father to all Jews, Christians and Muslims. As you can read here or here. Anyhoot, We have the same basic principals. We follow the same golden rule. It just doesn't seem like we should be at war with one another all the time, we have so much common ground. Obviously we have been at these Holy Wars for thousands of years and it would be foolish of me to think I could even come near to having a key to possibly coming up with part of the solution to even the most minor issues. Is the fight between Jews, Christians and Muslims a global case of sibling rivalry? Maybe, but it all feels like it's gotten so out of hand. I met this young Muslim guy through a friend that went to college with him. He was a very intelligent all around nice guy. We were discussing the practices of Islam (since we, as Westerners really don't know too much about it) and why Muslims hate Westerners. He then explained to us, in a very patient way, that Jihad is important in Islam and held high by each Muslim. Most of us relate Jihad to Holy War. Not so, Jihad is the spiritual, psychological and physical effort exerted by Muslims to be closer to God and thus achieve a just and harmonious society. Jihad literally means "striving" or "struggle" and is shorthand for Jihad fi Sabeel Allah (struggle for God's cause). He told us that many involved in this particular "Jihad" were young men, many of which are students. In Islamic nations something of this magnitude, something that they believe to be their duty to God- is the experience of a life time. Nothing can measure up to these acts for them. It'sva very generalized view that all Muslims hate all Americans. I hope that others understand this, it's important to be tolerant of others if you expect them to be tolerant of you. Maybe we as Americans spend too much time focusing on the fact that other nations (not just Islamic) view us in poor light, and not enough on being tolerant of them and working on bettering ourselves as a nation. Then again, I'm just one girl with a little blog that nobody reads.... What do I know. Nothing. I might not know anything about anything, but at least I TRY to educate myself about others. I try to treat people with respect not because they share my beliefs and values or because they are the same skin color as me- I treat them with respect because they are human beings and they deserve no less.

For more information on any religion or just information on religious tolerence in general visit this site.
See guardian UK for more of the definitions used here.