Leighton Sullivan

Muslims Muslims can be defined as followers of the Islamic religion. Islam is a religion that was founded by Muhammad, and whose members worship the god of both Jews and Christians, who they refer to as Allah. Muslims follow the teachings of the Koran. Christians Christians can be defined as believers in Jesus Christ and his teachings. Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, sent by God. They believe that Jesus, died and rose from the dead, made up for the sin of Adam and thus redeemed the world, allowing all who believe in him to enter heaven. Christians follow the teachings of the Bible.

It all started way back when the Christians wanted their religious shrines that were located in Muslim towns. They formed a group called The Crusades. Pope Urban II said the goal was restore access to the shrines. The goal was not reached. 1 point for Islam 0 for Christianity

They crossed over into Spain then entered France, where the Christians defeated them at the Battle of Tours. The Spanish Christians pushed the Muslims back in The Muslims took the defeat, but grew stronger. 1 point Islam, 1 point Christianity

The Ottoman Empire fell and France wanted control of Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, and Jerusalem. Algeria and Tunisia broke away first (1830 and 1881). Jalal al-Din al- Afghani (father of Islamic Modernism) told the Muslims that the surrounding countries would exploit them.

This is when the enraged Muslims began to take action. They see their terrorist acts as the only way left to keep their land and their people, their land is their livelihood.

Americans seem to believe that we’re targeted because of freedom, equality, and our lifestyle. If so, why are countries like Sweden and Holland being attacked?

Our most current struggle is the ISIS terrorist group. The group has been beheading and killing innocent citizens then sending the pictures or videos for proof to their countries of origin. We cannot reach peace. That is an obvious thing. Many countries that border the ISIS territory have tried to have peace negotiations, but haven’t gotten anywhere. The world is at war with ISIS. With radical Muslims. ISIS stands for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria because the group’s territory lies between the two. ISIL stands for Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (name given to the region from the Mediterranean from Egypt to Iran and Turkey).

Nobody can tell exactly how this will end, especially not me. I do believe that the battle will continue between Christians and Muslims for a very, very long time. Even if we defeat ISIS, the state of mind for Muslims is that we’re taking their land. For them that means we’re taking control of all they have ever had.

30,000-50,000 militants are fighting with the Islamic State. $2,000,000,000 is the value of their cash and assets. 0 is the number of open Christians left in the city of Mosul, where the religion is punishable by death.

“Men never do so evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.” This means that mankind feels that if their religion states it, it is true and it is worth fighting for. This is why Muslims fight so hard for their land, and why Christians fight for their religion’s freedom.

The quote means that rulers can exploit people of certain religions. This is how leaders get followers, just like ISIS. ISIS convinces fellow Muslims that this is what’s right- killing people. That’s how they have control of so many militants.