fordy said:
jonnybmk said:
fordy said:
jonnybmk said:
Mr Khan said:
jonnybmk said:
I have a question for the people in here that have really good backgrounds on this stuff:
Are Muslims nations/societies free? Free in the way that we think of being "free"? |
Some. Turkey arguably tilts more in the opposite direction, where Turkish society has elements that try to repress Islam more than a Muslim group oppressing others. The United Arab Emirates is fairly tolerant (they would have to be: 75% of their society is immigrants, and they have large Christian and Hindu populations, though still majority Muslim). Indonesia has done pretty good since they got rid of Suharto, and Malaysia's making strides.
Forewardness or backwardness really has nothing to do with a country's religious background. Germany, the birthplace of protestant Christianity, had militant monarchism and then, of course, Nazism. Most of Catholic Europe embraced Fascism, and Orthodoxy has been perceived to have an "anti-democratic" tradition. It's all about economic development: the more developed you are, the more tolerant and free you are. There's a reason that the rise of democracy in Western Europe coincides with the post-Columbus era, when Europe really began to pull ahead of the rest of the world. One can look at the Russian Empire, which was given a chance at democracy and fell to Communism, while their second chance at democracy is (sort of) sticking
Of course, we see the Muslim world "abuse" the freedom of democracy, by voting in the restrictions of Islam, but that happened all over the world as well. The French Revolution of 1848 was defeated by the fact that the freshly-enfranchised peasants, totally under the sway of the Catholic Church, voted themselves back into monarchism (a la Louis Napoleon III)
In time, freedom will grow there as well. Part of the problem is much of the wealth in the Middle East is plundered by the upper class (the nature of an extraction-based economy).
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Could I walk down the streets of Tehran wearing an American flag tshirt with a Holy Bible in my hand and not be murdered for it based on Muslim "religious" laws?
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Actually, Iran's laws state tolerance to all religions, but it does recognise Islam as the state religion.
Could you walk around Alabama wearing a turban, beard and speaking Arabic and not get shot?
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Yes. You could walk around Alabama like that. If you were murdered, there would be an investigation and a prosecution of those that commited the heinous crime because it is against the law to murder ANYONE.
In my example, people would be JUMPING OUT OF WINDOWS to stone you to death - you know it, and I know it.
"Iran's laws state tolerance to all religions".....what a joke. Even the people here sticking up for the terrorist state Palenstine are rolling their eyes at that one.
Be astute and vigourous in your arguements; but don't be rediculous, naive, or silly. Would you like me to begin quoting Ahmadinejad?
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Iran#Other_faiths
Quote: "Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians are officially recognized and protected by the government. For example, shortly after his return from exile in 1979, at a time of great unrest, the revolution's leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa ordering that Jews and other minorities be treated well.[4][37]"
Once again, laws would protect, but that doesn't mean the fundamentalist community would. Same goes with the bible belt in America.
So far, your arguments have shown NO logic and nearly all bigotry and sterotyping. Who exactly is taking the ridiculous stance here, again?
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