Secret Santa 2024
No, Islam is not a violent religion. However much like other religions there are alternative beliefs within the same religion. Example Christianity has protestant Catholics, United Catholics, Roman Catholics, Anglican Catholics. In Islam its the same except there are still very real life threatening wars involved within different Islamic Beliefs much like you would have seen in the 18th century for the catholic church.
Originally Posted by protonitron View Post
I guess this is fair enough. But let's focus on the futile effort of working out if Islam is compatible with the general Western sense of right and wrong, because that is simply the easiest discussion to have.

Unfortunately western values are somewhat in turmoil, at best we can list which groups would/wouldn't approve of Sharia, at which point we really have nothing to discuss.

Originally Posted by protonitron View Post
Yeah, I thought this might be a problem, thus me asking about your viewpoint if morality earlier, but unfortunately I think we are best to just accept that no discussion is perfect. Perhaps it would be best if we made sure we showed how something specifically fits with our personal view of what is right and wrong rather than just saying what we think with no context or hint at the thought process behind the conclusion. We can then argue as to whether each other's thought processes are logically correct as well as our own take on the subject of Islam. We don't need a complete psychoanalysis, just a "this thing is in my opinion wrong because it oppresses a minority which I am morally opposed to" or "this is bad because it causes more suffering than happiness".

If you want to change the discussion to that, then there's nothing to discuss. "In my opinion blah blah" - "OK". There's nothing else to say.

Originally Posted by protonitron View Post
Ok, you have made your point about Deprav's examples and historical knowledge, but it is mostly, if not entirely, irrelevant to the morality of Islam.

ynvaser was just asking a historical question and I obliged him.

It's certainly not any more offtopic than 2 posts in a row which are offtopic... *cough*
-----
Originally Posted by protonitron View Post
The difference between control and oppression (by definition) is that oppression must be unjust.

This isn't correct. Oppression in this context just means you are under the rule of some authority. The question of justification is irrelevant.
Last edited by ImmortalPig; Jan 18, 2015 at 10:34 AM. Reason: <24 hour edit/bump
<Faint> the rules have been stated quite clearly 3 times now from high staff
Originally Posted by ynvaser View Post
What kind of reply is that? If I don't like your post, should I dismiss yours with an unrelated quote?
Okay, let's see:
That was to illustrate how much sense your reply made. (Also, Pulp Fiction is good. And it doesn't oppress women. Way better than Islam.)

I believe his unrelated quote was to offer some explanation as to why he was responding to the criticism of Islam rather than the less relevant criticism/insults which were directed towards him. He simply does not wish to engage in petty insult wars anymore. and the difference is that his post contained other stuff, not just an unrelated quote, whereas yours did not.
-----
Originally Posted by ImmortalPig View Post
If you want to change the discussion to that, then there's nothing to discuss. "In my opinion blah blah" - "OK". There's nothing else to say.

You may have overestimated people's ability to make sure their judgements don't contradict each other, but yes, you are right, my idea was stupid.

Originally Posted by ImmortalPig View Post
was just asking a historical question and I obliged him.

It's certainly not any more offtopic than 2 posts in a row which are offtopic... *cough*

Which is why I don't blame you or disapprove of you making it. I just thought we should stop talking about Western slavery now please?

Originally Posted by ImmortalPig View Post
This isn't correct. Oppression in this context just means you are under the rule of some authority. The question of justification is irrelevant.

I personally prefer the dictionary definition, since the contextual definition you propose kind of restricts the discussion (we need to find synonyms for oppression to describe cruel, prolonged or unjust authority instead of just using the word itself).
Last edited by Zelda; Jan 18, 2015 at 12:39 PM. Reason: <24 hour edit/bump
Good morning sweet princess
Originally Posted by protonitron View Post
I personally prefer the dictionary definition, since the contextual definition you propose kind of restricts the discussion (we need to find synonyms for oppression to describe cruel, prolonged or unjust authority instead of just using the word itself).

That was the dictionary definition...

Words usually have several definitions that are selected according to the context.

If you want to argue that something is cruel or unjust just say it is cruel or unjust. There's no need to shoehorn other words.
<Faint> the rules have been stated quite clearly 3 times now from high staff
Lol, thank you Gorman but I know slavery didn't start with the USA, I was using that particular US african-american history of slavery as an exemple because it's a strong symbol.

Also, I do agree that WE judge islamic laws through our own cultural values (even tho I do think there's some kind of natural human moral, but that's another debat, or is it?) But we're not the only one to judge it as oppressive, some men & women who were born and raised in islamic countries actually fight against the power in place in their country, at the risk of their own lives, because they know it is oppressive.
It's a matter of education. The biggest part of the population in those countries live in rural areas and most don't have a proper access to education. It's not a coincidence if religious extremists/integrists who happens to lead a country commited auto-da-fé not that long ago, burning books & knowledge that contradict their own delusions.

So yeah I get your point that if you're brainwashed by any religion and someone claims God will punish anyone who don't follow xxx religious laws, then yes you won't judge it as oppressive/immoral/unjust or whatever. That doesn't mean the law is not objectively oppressive, that just means people can accept anything if you talk in their god's name with enough authority to be credible.

Also, I'd like to remind this : Most countries under sharia laws are ruled by integrists, and those people use their religious power to exerce control over the population through actions & laws that don't have anything to do with islamic laws. Nowhere in the Quran it's written that Sheikh X or King X from country X speaks in the name of Allah and criticizing him will get you jailed or killed. Those have nothing to do with Islam and like any other corrupted people from any culture, they just abuse their power.

Religions now are just pretexts, someone who holds a true faith doesn't need extreme laws to live in peace with his god.
____________________


I realized I'm not even sure what your point is since I didn't have the will to go through the 20 pages... I just happened to read what you said about women and western values.
You're saying no one can objectively judge if Sharia laws are oppressive or not because... ?
Last edited by deprav; Jan 18, 2015 at 08:30 PM.