Eagle367 said:
What is so singularly different about Islam. Do enlighten us. This sort of "Islam is savage and barbaric and backwards" used to be much more common. It still exists but when you ask the people that say these things, i never seem to get an answer that is true. So please do tell. |
A few things up front:
Outlining how bad Islam is could still be seen as part of the topic of this thread, since it shows how not every religion should be respected just because.
Outlining how bad Islam is, is not me badmouthing all muslims. Surely some muslims. But my concern is about ideas, convictions and their consequences, not people. (And just to be super safe - I know that there are hundreds of millions of muslims who are super nice people. And I don't have a problem with them.)
Outlining how bad Islam is does not mean I do not sea the bad sides of other religions aswell. The catholic church (just as an example) has a very sorry history of opression, torture, bigotry, homophobia, war, child molestation, etc.
And this is already my first point: For the catholic church most of these horrendous offences are firmly in the past. For Islam the problematic and downright rotten things happen in the present.
My second point: The catholic church is still backwards in many ways. But that does not matter too much to western societies, since there is a clear break between the church and the government. This is one of the most fundamental ideas of the western world. The emancipation from and separation of the curch from the government. This does not and did not happen in islamic dominated countries because Islam, in many ways, is built to be the government. I read the Qur'an. And in favour of the bibles allegorical stories to give vague moral guidance, much of the Qur'an is just laws. There are multiple detailed sections just about inheritance law for example.
When a country is governed by a text and its laws are directly taken from that text that is hundreds of years old and officially (even though it happened in the past) cannot be edited, that country and its culture almost by definition is backwards.
But who is really in favour of making sharia the law of the land? -A lot of people. % of muslims in favour of islamic law as the official law in their country: Niger 86%, Djibouti 82 %, Congo 74 %, Nigeria 71 %, Uganda 66 %, Irag 91 %, Pakistan 84 %, Afghanistan 99 %, Malaysia 86 %, etc. -This is already hundres of millions of people and the list goes on and on. This is a big problem. Your country cannot be modern, or free, or democratic, or fair, if it is ruled by the church. Data: pew research.
My third point: You cannot be openly gay in many of the islamic dominated countries and expect to have a good or long life. Again from pew: "Publics in Africa and in predominantly Muslim countries remain among the least accepting of homosexuality. In sub-Saharan Africa, at least nine-in-ten in Nigeria (98%), Senegal (96%), Ghana (96%), Uganda (96%) and Kenya (90%) believe homosexuality should not be accepted by society." And: "Overwhelming majorities in the predominantly Muslim countries surveyed also say homosexuality should be rejected, including 97% in Jordan, 95% in Egypt, 94% in Tunisia, 93% in the Palestinian territories, 93% in Indonesia, 87% in Pakistan, 86% in Malaysia, 80% in Lebanon and 78% in Turkey."
My fourth point: Misogyny. In many of the detailed laws found in the Qur'an women just get the short end of the deal. I would refer to inheritence laws again, just as an example of many. For the bigger picture there is again some pew reserach data: % of muslims who completely or mostly agree that a wife should always obey her husband: Tajikistan 89 %, Uzbekistan 84 %, Kyrgyzstan 75 %, Malaysia 96 %, Indonesia 93 %, Afghanistan 94 %, etc. Again hundreds of millions of people. The list goes on and on. Completely unacceptable.
My fith point: Criticism and mockery. There is no single religion in the world, there is no single organisation in the world powerful and savage enough that you have to fear for your life if you draw a picture that they do not like. Not a single one, except for Islam. Again from pew: Violence against civilian targets can be justified in order to defend Islam: French muslims 16 % often or sometimes, 19 % rarely; Spanish and British muslims 15 % often or sometimes, 9 % rarely; Nigerian Muslims 46 % often or sometimes, 23 % rarely. Again the list goes on. Hundreds of millions of muslims believe that violence against civilian targets can be justified in order to defend Islam. When so many people are okay to kill innocent people something is majorly wrong with the belief and value system of these people.
My sixth point: Apostasy. Pew: "19 Certain hadith either state or imply that the penalty for apostasy, or converting to another faith, is death. See Sahih al-Bukhari 52:260 and 83:37." And: "Nevertheless, in six of the 20 countries where there are adequate samples for analysis, at least half of those who favor making Islamic law the official law also support executing apostates." And: "In the South Asian countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan, strong majorities of those who favor making Islamic law the official law of the land also approve of executing apostates (79% and 76%, respectively). However, in Bangladesh far fewer (44%) share this view. A majority of Malaysian Muslims (62%) who want to see sharia as their country’s official law also support taking the lives of those who convert to other faiths. But fewer take this position in neighboring Thailand (27%) and Indonesia (18%)."
Honestly, I could make many more and more detailed points. But I think the picture is quite clear already. Islam is way worse than a lot of people would like to believe. And it can be an absolut nightmare for women, gays, trans people, free thinkers and critics.
