VOA标准英语2015--Americans Wonder If Islamic State Is Truly Islamic

Americans Wonder If Islamic State Is Truly Islamic

It was called the Iconoclastic¹ Fury — when Protestants went on a rampage through churches in the Low Countries and elsewhere in 16th century Europe, smashing statues they considered idolatrous.

Sound familiar? Militants³ in Iraq have been destroying priceless treasures deemed un-Islamic, giving many people around the world the sense of living in a time warp⁴.

“This is not 1015. This is 2015,” Lindsey Graham, Republican U.S. senator from South Carolina, last week told a Senate hearing that focused on the Muslim militants’ killing⁵ of Christians⁷ and other minorities.

“As I speak, people are being crucified, people are being burned alive, they’re being beheaded,” he said.

The hearing, titled “Protecting Religious Freedom Abroad,” focused on how America should respond to Islamist militant² groups.

There is, however, a broader debate in the United States about whether the militant group that calls itself Islamic State should be seen as a natural outgrowth of Islam, or as a perversion⁸ of the faith.

“I think we’re making a mistake if we say this is not part of Islamic theology,” said conservative Christian⁶ activist⁹ and talk show host Jay Sekulow, who testified before the panel. He said Islamic State’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, claims to be the khalifa, or caliph, of a re-established medieval Muslim empire.

“That’s what they call themselves,” Sekulow told VOA after the hearing. “They call themselves the caliphate. Khalifa Ibrahim believes he’s the leader of worldwide Islam. So, whatever we want to call them, in one sense, is irrelevant¹⁰, because that’s who they are.”

Islamic studies professor John Esposito disagrees.

“From my point of view, what you’ve got is the hijacking¹¹ of religion,” he said in an interview at Georgetown University.

Esposito, who directs the university’s Prince Alwaleed Bin¹² Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, said militants have taken the injunction in the Quran to “slay the unbelievers wherever you find them” out of context.

“When that scripture¹³ was uttered, it had nothing to do with Christians and Jews at that point,” he said. “It had to do with pagan Meccans who were at that point persecuting¹⁴ Muslims. And God in the Quran was saying to them: If they’re fighting you, you have a right to fight back.”

Others argue that Quranic passages about warfare¹⁵ are being used to justify¹⁶ violence by militant groups that rely on mainstream¹⁷ teachings.

“The reality is that the Islamic State is Islamic. Very Islamic,” wrote Graham Wood in The Atlantic magazine. “Yes, it has attracted psychopaths and adventure seekers, drawn¹⁸ largely from the disaffected¹⁹ populations of the Middle East and Europe; but, the religion preached by its most ardent²⁰ followers²¹ derives²² from coherent and even learned interpretations²³ of Islam.”

Some commentators²⁴ argue that Muslims need to reject traditional interpretations of scripture — in the same way Protestant leader Martin Luther challenged the authority of the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century.

In an article titled “ISIS is the Islamic Reformation,” in Religion Dispatches magazine, Ed Simon of Lehigh University recalled that the iconoclastic rampages of the 16th century were triggered by the reformers’ own interpretations of the ban on graven images in the Ten Commandments.

Esposito said those calling for an Islamic Reformation are really saying, “Genocide ought to take place, or close to it, because we think of the Reformation as the Enlightenment and we forget the Hundred Years Wars.”

European history certainly had its share of sectarian conflicts, as well as a cooling of religious zeal²⁵ after the bloodshed. But, one thing that cuts across the boundaries of time and faith, Esposito said, is the use of religion to legitimize political power — and warfare.

1 iconoclastic   

adj.偶像破坏的，打破旧习的

参考例句：

• His iconoclastic tendencies can get him into trouble. 他与传统信仰相悖的思想倾向可能会给他带来麻烦。 来自辞典例句
• The film is an iconoclastic allegory. 电影是一个关于破坏的寓言。 来自互联网

2 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

3 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

4 warp   

vt.弄歪，使翘曲，使不正常，歪曲，使有偏见

参考例句：

• The damp wood began to warp.这块潮湿的木材有些翘曲了。
• A steel girder may warp in a fire.钢梁遇火会变弯。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

7 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

8 perversion   

n.曲解；堕落；反常

参考例句：

• In its most general sense,corruption means the perversion or abandonment.就其最一般的意义上说，舞弊就是堕落，就是背离准则。
• Her account was a perversion of the truth.她所讲的歪曲了事实。

9 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

10 irrelevant   

adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的

参考例句：

• That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
• A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上，一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。

11 hijacking   

n. 劫持, 抢劫 动词hijack的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• I have been told about the hijacking . 我已听说了那次劫机事件。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语
• They are taking measures to guarantee against the occurrence of hijacking. 他们正采取措施防止劫机事件的发生。

12 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

13 scripture   

n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段

参考例句：

• The scripture states that God did not want us to be alone.圣经指出上帝并不是想让我们独身一人生活。
• They invoked Hindu scripture to justify their position.他们援引印度教的经文为他们的立场辩护。

14 persecuting   

（尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的现在分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人

参考例句：

• This endurance made old Earnshaw furious, when he discovered his son persecuting the poor, fatherless child, as he called him. 当老恩萧发现他的儿子这样虐待他所谓的可怜的孤儿时，这种逆来顺受使老恩萧冒火了。
• He is possessed with the idea that someone is persecuting him. 他老是觉得有人要害他。

15 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

16 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

17 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

18 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

19 disaffected   

adj.（政治上）不满的，叛离的

参考例句：

• He attracts disaffected voters.他吸引了心怀不满的选民们。
• Environmental issues provided a rallying point for people disaffected with the government.环境问题把对政府不满的人们凝聚了起来。

20 ardent   

adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的

参考例句：

• He's an ardent supporter of the local football team.他是本地足球队的热情支持者。
• Ardent expectations were held by his parents for his college career.他父母对他的大学学习抱着殷切的期望。

21 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

22 derives   

v.得到( derive的第三人称单数 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• English derives in the main from the common Germanic stock. 英语主要源于日耳曼语系。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derives his income from freelance work. 他以自由职业获取收入。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 interpretations   

n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 )；表演；演绎；理解

参考例句：

• This passage is open to a variety of interpretations. 这篇文章可以有各种不同的解释。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The involved and abstruse passage makes several interpretations possible. 这段艰涩的文字可以作出好几种解释。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

24 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 zeal   

n.热心，热情，热忱

参考例句：

• Revolutionary zeal caught them up,and they joined the army.革命热情激励他们，于是他们从军了。
• They worked with great zeal to finish the project.他们热情高涨地工作，以期完成这个项目。