Islamic sites debate beheading of Muslims

Yet another indication of the sharp distinction between believers and unbelievers that is the hallmark of Islam, and which underlies the double standard, peculiar to Muslims, that makes Saudis alarmed at terrorist attacks against Muslims but unconcerned about those against non-Muslims. From AP, with thanks to John Eibner:

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Debate raged on Islamic Web sites about the propriety of killing fellow Muslims who work for coalition forces in Iraq, after militants released three Turkish hostages they had threatened to behead.

The Tawhid and Jihad movement of terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi announced Saturday it would kill the three Turks within 72 hours unless Turkish companies stopped doing business with American forces in Iraq.

Tawhid, by the way, is the unity of Allah. It is sometimes translated Monotheism, but that is not quite right; it is the absolute unity that Islam insists upon as over against the Trinity of Christianity. I point this out here to underscore that this is a movement with a self-conscious religious character, and that only by acknowledging that fact and dealing with its implications are we going to make any headway against such movements. Unless or until there is widespread reform of Islam that will rule such movements out of the religion, they will continue to proliferate.

On Tuesday, however, the movement released them "for the sake of Muslim brothers and mujahedeen in Turkey," according to a statement broadcast on Al-Jazeera television.

That contrasted starkly to the treatment of several non-Muslims recently. Al-Zarqawi's movement claimed responsibility for the beheading of Kim Sun-il, a South Korean who worked for a company delivering supplies to American forces, and Nicholas Berg, an American businessman. Al-Qaida-linked militants in Saudi Arabia decapitated American engineer Paul M. Johnson Jr. and posted pictures of his severed head on the Internet.

Most people who post messages on several Islamic Web sites known for their extremist bent believe those are justified. But the issue of whether it is proper kill Muslims taken captive because of their links to the U.S. military has been a hot topic.

Opinions are mixed. Some people appealed on the kidnappers to spare the Turks because they were "fellow Muslims." Others urged militants to decapitate them.

One other thing for those advocates of moral equivalence who may be reading this: when did you last hear of any Christians debating whether it was permissible to decapitate non-Christians? When did you last hear of any Buddhists recommending the kidnapping and murder of non-Buddhists?