Is Extremism Faith?

Sometimes I read an article and it amazes me how much I disagree with it.  Here is one such example, that basically denies why people are really persecuted.  Here we have a priest totally minimizing what "extremists" do with their religion.

Here are a few snips from the article Priest: Extremism is not faith .

The first thing wrong with this article is that the priest won't say who he is or where he works.  Here's why...

The priest, rector of a local parish associated with a mainstream denomination, declined to be named for reasons of a religious conviction about vanity.

...

"The reason that some young Muslim men commit homicide bombings has nothing to do with religion -- it's the same reason that we want any soldiers to be 18 to 22 years old," he said. "It's about appealing to their warrior spirit."

The religious motivations homicide bombers profess have nothing to do with their actions, the rector said.

Actually, the reason some young Muslim men commit homicide is because they honestly believe that they have to die for Allah in order to get into paradise.  This is the only way they can be guaranteed this in their religion.

The priest then describes extremism this way...

"Extremism means to be on the outside of the existing boundaries of belief. Extremism means to take one's beliefs to an excessive degree -- and eventually to overturn those beliefs and act against their principles," he said.

While this may be slightly true within "normal" religion, and by that I mean those who don't practice murder as part of their devotion,  it isn't within the true face of Islam.  "Extremism" is obeying the Koran and Allah.  That is their devotion, and it isn't extreme because that is what is expected.

The priest goes on to say,

"The rector called on orthodox Christians to react to extremists like Jesus Christ would have reacted to those who sought to harm him.

"'Pray for those who persecute you' is what the Lord teaches," he said.

Here I agree that we need to pray for those who persecute us, however he doesn't quite lay out how Christ reacted to the "extremists" he dealt with.  I think if the rector would've stated something from  Scripture to share these ideas it would've been more helpful than a blanket "pray for them" because Jesus did more than pray.  Jesus rebuked, Jesus got angry and turned tables, Jesus taught, Jesus did miracles despite unbelief and Jesus ultimately laid down His life for those who were against Him.

You may read the full article here.