Are we in a new age of Islamo-fascism?

[xoggoth]

Seems to me that once again religion is being blamed for human nature. Statements like that ignore the facts geek. Intolerance and repression will not go away nor even reduce by one iota without religion.

Communist China during the red revolution or modern day North Korea were/are not fundamentalist religious states to my knowledge.

[Board Game Geek]

Blaming Religion for Human Nature

Xog,

I agree from your analysis that it appears I am blaming religion for "human nature". Perhaps I should elaborate further to demonstrate my observations, rather than leave the reader with nothing to go on.

Religion, like any other ideology, is a motivator, a catalyst for people to perform and believe many things. Of course, ideologies can be twisted and subverted according to the desires of those that spout them.

You correctly point out that some states do not have religious ideologies (and infer that they still have been witness to terrible acts upon humans by humans). That I cannot deny.

My point is, that religious idologies are more prevalent and numerous, and taken collectively, have been more instrumental in promoting division between humans.

I'll draw an analogy.

Imagine a room with 100 people.

98 of these people are driven by religious ideology, and 2 (North Korea and China) driven by political ideology.

There may be a great deal of intolerance between the assembled crowd, but the majority of the intolerance is derived from religious ideology. That's getting closer to the point I was trying to make.

You might say "Well, hang on Geek, Football is an ideology, so is Golf, Washing the Car on a Sunday, and so on. Should we ban these too ?"

My answer is that Football fans, generally, do not go round preaching that their ideology is the only one true faith and that Sunday Car washers are the spawn of Satan and will perish in the fires of MillWall FC.

The religious ideologies are fundamentally and inherently more dangerous, and bring out the worst in people. They are like petri-jelly dishes, which cultivate unfriendly and lethal bacteria. And there are 98 of these dishes compared to the 1 or 2 political petri-dishes you mentioned.

OK, it's fair to say that in the last 100 years, more people have died at the hands of the 1 or 2 politcal ideologies (WW1/WW2), but I am considering religion since time immemorial, and the devastating, inhibiting effect it has had on people's lives.

[EC4N]

Quite. Let's see what these moderate so-called "Christians" have to say:

James Watt:
My responsibility is to follow the Scriptures which call upon us to occupy the land until Jesus returns. We don't have to protect the environment, the Second Coming is at hand.
Secretary of the Interior under Ronald Reagan. Washington Post, May 24, 1981.

Perhaps thats the reason why they didn't sign the Kyoto protocol!

[Ali]

There is a saying "sometimes a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing" (and other variations). I am a Muslim living in London and just want to correct a few things that have been mentioned, in no particular order. My apologies if I miss something out.

Islam does indeed preach peace and tolerance. But the Quran isn't just a life manual. It is also a book of history, a instruction for the time when it was revealed, and a guidance until the day of judgement. That is why there are verses which instruct muslims to fight their enemies. What government doesn't have laws for war?

Islam was never spread by the sword (as so many people wrongly believe) and it was the cradel of civilization when the west was still living in the dark ages. Islam not only laid the foundations of human rights, but also in science and mathematics and trade.

Historically, wars were not faught over religioin, but over race and possession of land and its resources. Islam abolished racism and slavery, even the United Nations accept that Imam Ali's letter to his governor, Malik Al-Ashtar is a model for governments today.

Under an Islamic state, a dhimmi is not a second class citizen, but simply a term for a non-muslim who pays taxes and enjoys the protection of the state but has no obligation to go to war (jihad). I don't think we provide such luxuries in todays "free" states.

Someone mentioned that Islam holds Jesus in the highest esteem but doesn't consider him to be the Messiah - this is also not true. In fact Jesus is the only Messiah and we are also awaiting his return.

The problem is not with Islam. There are many that fear Islam and promote it as the root of all evil. I encourage all of you to examine Islam properly before passing judgement. Ask questions when you don't understand and direct them at people who can explain them to you - not people who don't know any better than you.

At the end of the day, there is no complusion in Islam.

[Churchill]

Oh, right, that's cleared that up then. Why don't you and Chico debate this elsewhere.

Just let us know who wins, who is right and who is wrong.

[Pinto]

In fact Jesus is the only Messiah and we are also awaiting his return.

Jesus has done a runner. There's no way He's coming back after witnessing how fecked up the world has become, despite His best efforts.

[Ali]

Oh, right, that's cleared that up then. Why don't you and Chico debate this elsewhere.

Just let us know who wins, who is right and who is wrong.

Whos Chico? He hasn't even posted here. Im not having a debate. Im not here to convert, just enlightening you "from the horses mouth" about common misconceptions about Islam. If you don't like the thread, dont read it.

[DimPrawn]

Can we have a political, religious and other contentious forum away from General please?

All this crap distracts from house prices, .NET, tax and other important subjects close to contractors hearts.

[Angela_D]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main...e18.xml&page=1



'We're all living under a fatwa: you just have to get on'
(Filed: 18/08/2006)
Page 1 of 5

Salman Rushdie tells Jan Moir why his experience of fundamentalism now has relevance for us all

[Andyw]

Does she take it up the Gary?

No ! but you do !