Instigator / Con
1
1500
rating
25
debates
42.0%
won
Topic
#3522

Islam is a religion that supports terrorism

Status
Finished

The debate is finished. The distribution of the voting points and the winner are presented below.

Winner & statistics
Winner
1
0

After 1 vote and with 1 point ahead, the winner is...

rayhan16
Parameters
Publication date
Last updated date
Type
Standard
Number of rounds
3
Time for argument
One day
Max argument characters
12,000
Voting period
One week
Point system
Winner selection
Voting system
Open
Contender / Pro
0
1706
rating
563
debates
68.12%
won
Description

Islam is a terrorist supporting religion
I am against this statement

Criterion
Con
Tie
Pro
Points
Winner
1 point(s)
Reason:

Despite so much of the argument in this debate focusing on what's said in religious texts, I find that what it comes down to isn't so much who is right on those texts as who better addresses the topic. There are two very distinct visions of what the topic covers. Pro argues that a religion that says anything about instilling terror or pushing fear is supporting terrorism, whereas Con is much more focused on the specific acts that Islam supports and whether those constitute the act of terrorism. That may not sound like a big difference, especially as Pro does talk about many of the specific acts that Islam supports in R2, but in the end his case doesn't rely on those acts since he doesn't take the opportunity in R3 to defend those specific points. His focus is more holistic, talking about pushing terror rather than acts of terrorism.

The problem is that it's not quite that simple. Saying that others should feel terror, or even that anyone who disagrees with your belief system is due terror, isn't the same as endorsing terrorism. It may be interpreted that way by some, but both sides argue that interpretation can be messy. The question is whether this is a correct interpretation, and on that front, Con gives me a lot of reasons why the specific interpretations Pro derives from specific texts don't match up. Maybe he missed something meaningful, but I don't see Pro refer back to any specific quotes from his R2. Instead, he focuses on the holistic, which can only prop up his argument about how those of other faiths should/will feel rather than how those of the Islamic faith should act. Moreover, when there is agreement on the text focusing on actions that would inspire terror, it's unclear that that is terrorism because, as Con explains, those would be justified as self-defense. I don't see a response to that. There's an argument about retribution, but no direct link between retribution and terrorism. There's an argument about the behavior of Islamic organizations and sects being the most authentic, to which I see a number of rebuttals to specific organizations in R1 and to them more generally in R3. Even if I bought the latter point, I'm not sure why I should buy that the specific organizations and sects that commit to terrorism are authentic, while others are not.

Overall, I'm just not getting a clear link to the acts of terrorism that Pro would have to show Islam supports. The link to supporting acts of terrorism rather than just saying that others should feel fear for believing otherwise just isn't as solid as it should be, and dropping so much of Con's R3 responses doesn't do Pro any favors. I end up voting Con.