Tom Trinko’s ‘Islam: Not Just a Religion’

Tom Trinko’s ‘Islam: Not Just a Religion’
Part I
In this article, Trinko concentrates in the differences between Islam and Christianity. His main aim is to elaborate how these differences affect whether Muslims should be accepted as refugees in America or not. According to Trinko, religion formed the primary basis for the formulation of the constitution. (Trinko 1) As a mainly Christian country, Christian ethics were used as the guide to determine rules governing Americans. However, Trinko feels that Islam is radically different from Christianity and therefore doubts the capability of Muslims to adhere to the same principles set in the constitution.
To demonstrate these facts, Trinko points out to the fact that Islam is not just a religion but permeates strongly into adherents’ way of life. As such, most Muslims hold the Islamic teachings with higher regard to secular laws. This forms the basis for the insistence in sharia law in Muslim majority countries. In fact, Trinko points out that in democracies with higher Muslim population such Pakistan, Islamic killings are carried out without a lot of objection.
Trinko presents Islam as a violent religion that is hard to change. According to him, it is impossible for a true Muslim to be moderate and rational. In fact, he thinks that America is digging its own grave by allowing indiscriminate entry of Muslim entry into the USA. (Trinko 1)
Additionally, Trinko feels that it would be unfair to allow random entry because this was also practiced against Catholics.

In his opinion, Catholicism is a much milder faith than Islam. In a grave exaggeration of facts, Trinko compares Islamic leadership to the idea of having the pope decide how much fee should be charged for a traffic offense. His view of an authoritarian Islam is misconceived. It is impossible to tell whether Trinko is more disconcerted by the Islamic faith or the inconsistency among Democrats in admonishing religions. While he condemns Islam for failing to remain in the spiritual realm, Trinko also falls into the trap is mixing faith and politics. It is inconsistent for him to insist that Islam carries out a differentiation that he cannot uphold.
Part II
The paper is not accurate and is mainly composed of individual opinion. The topic of discussion is highly subjective and therefore it is difficult to establish concrete facts. For example, Trinko projects that Islam advocated for violence and therefore Muslims tend to be violent. To justify this, he reviews various quotations from the Quran that are used to justify killing. According to Trinko, this is sufficient evidence that Islam promotes any form of violence. Additionally, Trinko claims that Muhammad married a six years old girl and advocated for human slaughter. (Trinko 1) These accusations are not backed by any concrete evidence and are pure ranting.
It is also inaccurate to suggest that majority of Muslims support Sharia law as opposed to secular constitutions. In reality, Muslims are reasonably respectful of the particular laws where they live. In fact, most of the violence instigated in Islamic countries is more often than not politically induced rather than religiously based.
The idea that Islam wants all countries to be theocratic is biased. There are western democracies which have higher Islamic population densities such as France. In these countries, secular constitutions remain more popular than sharia law. Additionally, domestic terrorism in the US is perpetrated by individuals from different religions. It is, therefore, biased to suggest that an increase in the number of Muslims in the US increases the threat of terrorism.
Trinko’s understanding of Islamic religion is completely ignorant. It is possible to that most Muslim faithful consider Quran principles higher than a secular constitution. This, however, does not automatically mean that they reject the secular law. In reality, most religion adherent considers divine law higher than human-made law. In fact, his idea than adhering to secular law should coincide with abandoning religious laws is contradictory to his initial statements. At the beginning, Trinko mentions that the American constitution is created with guidance from the Christian faith. (Trinko 1) For this reason, it is easier for Christian to find the secular law coherent with their faith. Even so, most Christians would object the notion that secular laws are superior to biblical rules.
Most of Trinko’s discourse involves trying to compare the Islamic faith to the Catholic faith. For example, he compares the killings in Pakistan to the acceptance of gay relationships among the Irish populous. His dismay arises from the fact that Islamic leaders participate actively in the life of citizens in countries where they are the majority. In fact, Trinko expects proper Islamic countries to behave like Christian countries. Because the Pope and the Bishops do not interfere with the fact that Ireland’s population chooses to embrace homosexuality, Trinko is of the view that Islamic leader should exercise the same liberty. (Trinko 1) However, even here, Trinko is missing an important point. Even though the Pope may not interfere with the result of the Irish referendum, he remains opposed to the idea of legal homosexuality. The themes that he discusses concerning the Islamic faith are not unique to Islam.
The main reason for Trinko’s perspective is political affiliation. Trinko is a political conservative who believes that any view that is different from the mainstream political alignment is a threat to the American country. In fact, the writer does not seem to have a lot of problems with the practice of Islamic faith. He mentions nothing about their prayers and religious practices. His only concern is the fact that their faith permeates their daily living. This is another comparison between the Christian faith and Islamic faith. Trinko apparently acknowledges that the Christian faith is fragmented and various segments can co-exist even when the principles are gravely contrary to each other. This is the measure he expects from Islam.
Another course for such radical review of the Islamic faith is the current global political environment. It is becoming increasingly challenging to differentiate Islam from terrorist atrocities performed around the globe. Although the violence has obvious political instigation, the perpetrators always quote religion in support of their actions. (Trinko 1) It is, therefore, rational to question the connection between the violence and religion. In one way, the paranoia expressed by Trinko may be justifiable.
This can become a point of reference for Eastern writings. Although the writer is very subjective, he reveals a lot of misconceptions about eastern religion by westerners. A clear understanding of what Islam is can help build a better relationship around the globe. This means that Eastern writers must focus their efforts to demystifying the faith. On the other hand, the writers must express concise principles supported by their faith. In most cases, Westerners are confused when prominent figures in the religions do not condemn the acts perpetrated by the terrorists.

Works Cited
Trinko, Tom. “Articles: Islam: Not Just A Religion”. Americanthinker.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 6 Oct. 2016.