<p>I hope you change your mind. I’ve learned a lot from your posts. </p>
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<p>I think this is because muslims believe that the quaran is the actual word of their god. Thus, to challenge it in any way means you are challenging the word of god. Given that humans wrote the quaran it obviously is not the word of anyone but those who wrote it. But if you pray five times a day every week for all of your life you can believe even silly stuff like that. If it actually was the word of god, then you would think it would be an insult to god for some publisher to print off a bunch of copies and sell god’s word for profit.</p>
<p>Again rhetoric, ignoring the real problem of change. Instead of suggesting ways Moderates could engage extremists you provide deflection and imprecise comparisons. Saying that extremists will not listen is so very weak and frankly cowardly. It seems that the moderates want everyone else to do the heavy lifting. </p>
<p>(Hint) extremism is borne of the clerisy and can be defeated the same way.</p>
<p><a href=“Hint”>quote</a> extremism is borne of the clerisy and can be defeated the same way.
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You want to give us a little stronger hint?</p>
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And this is different from the Bible for many Christians how?</p>
<p>But I think it’s true that Islam appears to be in a different phase of its evolution than Christianity is–and it’s a phase characterized by a lot of fundamentalism and extremism, as well as close connections between the religion and certain nations. The big question is whether this phase is one step along a gradual path that leads to an ability to coexist, or whether it’s terminal. I think that has to be a major concern for moderate Muslims.</p>
<p>The difference between modern Christianity and modern Islam is that modern Islam is entwined with a tribal culture based on shame and collectivism and violence. Even if a person were an atheist, those other attributes put him right smack into conflict with western culture. A liberal columnist whose work I enjoy also has talked a lot about how the culture of redistribution without assimilation plays a huge part in what happened in England, Boston and Sweden.</p>
I can’t speak for Iran, but having actually LIVED in Saudi Arabia for three years that you are wrong. I never wore a head scarf and it was NOT mandatory.</p>
<p>^Riyadh or any other large city perhaps. Drive twenty miles into the countryside and all hell will break loose when they see you not knowing your position.</p>
<p>^I lived there too. If you showed parts of the body below the neck, you could get yelled at by religious police. Covering the hair or face was NOT A requirement, but many Muslim women chose to</p>
<p>*Do you think that Roman Catholics have to admit that the Roman Catholic faith is imperfect in order to recognize that they had a problem with pedophilia?
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<p>The religion doesn’t have a “problem with pedophilia.” The Church consists of imperfect human sinners. (cuz humans aren’t perfect). And, some committed horrific crimes. No where in Catholic writings is there any kind of advocacy for people to commit pedophilia. We don’t have churches with speakers advocating that behavior.</p>
No, but you have a celibate priesthood, and a much bigger problem with pedophilia than other religions–without celibate clergy–have had. But even if these facts are connected, that doesn’t mean the religion is flawed–it may mean, though, that it has certain characteristics that may make some problems more likely than others.</p>
<p>Muslims believe in the God of Abraham, as of course do the Jews and the Christians. But the extremism has been so outrageous that the vast amount of Christians and Jews will side with the Buddhists. Isn’t Karma a Buddhist belief?</p>
<p>^I fail to see how anyone could side with those who commit violence. Not all Muslims are terrorists, and not all Buddhists are. To say that many people will side with the attackers is horrible, no matter what others like them have done!</p>
<p>I really want to say something intellectual and enlightened and open minded about the Islamists, but I’m just sick of them, anymore.</p>
<p>They ruin everything they get involved in and they are violent and lack common decency and hide behind women and children and then oppress those very same women behind whom they hide.</p>
<p>I just wish they would go away, the same way I wish the White Supremicists and KKK would go away, the same way the Westboro Baptists turn my stomach, the same way I wish they’d thrown the Bishops who shielded the Catholic pedophiles in jail. I just want all the religious nuts in the entire world to go away.</p>
<p>Do you understand the principles of Karma? I ask because you apparently do not understand how little sympathy there is for Islam. Right or wrong the world is fed up. Sorry but that’s the way it is.</p>