Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature currently requires accessing the site using the built-in Safari browser.
Syrenn -
As soon a you call Islam a 'cult' I know I am dealing with someone who is not up to speed on this topic.
Islam is one of the three great Abrahamic religions, and all three are worthy of respect.
If you wish to attack a cult, start with Scientology.
Alpine -
I believe that we should respect any religion which is both ancient and has hundreds of million of members.
Personally I have less respect for some of the newer religions because they have yet to stand the tet of time, and those which have only ever existed as fringe beliefs, but even so - people can believe what they want to believe.
It i a very sad thing in this world that people do not respect the basic freedom of religious worship.
Syrenn -
As soon a you call Islam a 'cult' I know I am dealing with someone who is not up to speed on this topic.
Islam is one of the three great Abrahamic religions, and all three are worthy of respect.
If you wish to attack a cult, start with Scientology.
Alpine -
I believe that we should respect any religion which is both ancient and has hundreds of million of members.
Personally I have less respect for some of the newer religions because they have yet to stand the tet of time, and those which have only ever existed as fringe beliefs, but even so - people can believe what they want to believe.
It i a very sad thing in this world that people do not respect the basic freedom of religious worship.
Beating women is also an ancient practice held by just about every culture that ever was.....should that too be respected?
Syrenn -
Ok, well at least you are consistent!
Alpine -
Respecting a religion does not mean condoning its practices.
I abhor Catholic attitudes toward contraception and its history of child abuse, but I can still respect Catholicism as a great religion with an impressive history. I dont think Catholics should be abused in person or on the internet.
I agree that Islam is not alway tolerant of other religions, and I believe that we should ensure that in our countries freedom of religion is always maintained. I don't believe that we need to condemn Islam in order to do so.
Beating women is also an ancient practice held by just about every culture that ever was.....should that too be respected?
No, I don't believe it should. And neither should clitoretomy, stoning people to death or rape within marriage.
Again, this should not mean condemning the religion in which these practices occur (or have occured historically) but encouraging them to join the 21st century.
What many people tend to be unaware of is that Islam has adapted to 21st century ethics in many countries, while laging behind in others. There are also some fairly barbaric practices conducted within other major religions in less developed countries, and these will also naturally evolve through education and development.
For instance - clitorectomy predates Islam in Ethiopia, and is often conducted there on girls who are Christians as well. Thus Islam is not the problem of itself - the development of Ethiopian culture is.
Syrenn -
Ok, well at least you are consistent!
Alpine -
Respecting a religion does not mean condoning its practices.
I abhor Catholic attitudes toward contraception and its history of child abuse, but I can still respect Catholicism as a great religion with an impressive history. I dont think Catholics should be abused in person or on the internet.
I agree that Islam is not alway tolerant of other religions, and I believe that we should ensure that in our countries freedom of religion is always maintained. I don't believe that we need to condemn Islam in order to do so.
Alpine -
What I think you overlook is that Christianity is no stranger to evil practices either. Name any religion, and you can find some barbaric practices within it - at least barbaric to us here in the west in 2012.
Cultures and religions evolve. They don't always evolve into what you or I might choose.
Syrenn -
May I ask if you have ever actually been in an Islamic country?
I just wonder whether you are basing your judgements more on hearsay than reality.
Saying that islam is several thousands of years stunted and backward....is not hearsay...it is a reality. You even said it in so many words yourself.
Alpine -
What I think you overlook is that Christianity is no stranger to evil practices either. Name any religion, and you can find some barbaric practices within it - at least barbaric to us here in the west in 2012.
Cultures and religions evolve. They don't always evolve into what you or I might choose.
Syrenn -
May I ask if you have ever actually been in an Islamic country?
I just wonder whether you are basing your judgements more on hearsay than reality.
And what I think you overlook is that islam does actually practice those evil practices. They are not some words in some book, they are reality.
Does THIS look like a 16th century civilisation?
And what I think you overlook is that islam does actually practice those evil practices. They are not some words in some book, they are reality.
And again - there are approximately 30 Islamic countries.
Of those, around a half-dozen are stuck back in the 16th century and use barbaric practices.
Thus it makes more sense to me to encurage development in those countries - and not to right off Islam wholesale because people can not distinguish between Yemen and Turkey.
Saying that islam is several thousands of years stunted and backward....is not hearsay...it is a reality. You even said it in so many words yourself.
No, not exactly - I said that some Islamic countries are, to use your words, 'stunted and backward'. Yemen is, Nigeria is, Sudan is. Saudi Arabia is, in some ways. Others are not.
And it is this inability to distinguish the difference between the two that suggests to me that you are relying on hearsay.
Others - like the one pictured above - are no more backward than the US is.
