23 Jan 15
Originally posted by robbie carrobieDoes Islam have blasphemy laws or do some nation states where the established religion is Islam have such laws? I think there's a failure to distinguish the two things. A few hundred years ago the Church was busily burning people at the stake. For most Arabs reading the Koran in Arabic is like reading the Bible in English is for us. People have claimed that Christianity justifies Imperialism, I'm not claiming that the claims are particularly well justified on the basis of the New Testament, but they've still made the claim.
I have to respectfully disagree, Islam has blasphemy laws which are capital offences. The very nature of Islam and its insistence on learning the Koran in Arabic has resulted in generations of children being able to read the words with little understanding. What this means is that religious leaders are very powerful and can incite the uneducated to ...[text shortened]... abandoned Christs teachings and sought justification from some other source, usually political.
23 Jan 15
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I know little of Muslim countries. I do know that the perception in the west is roughly:
A 'moderate' Muslim wishes they could kill you for blasphemy. A 'fanatical' Muslim will actually do it.
So please, someone who has more experience with predominantly Muslim cultures, tell us we're wrong on this one.
(Edit: please don't take this post as singling out Islam. I have seen far too many Western Christians romanticize about what they could do to blasphemers if only we had a culture more like a middle eastern one.)
23 Jan 15
The post that was quoted here has been removedI'm not really sure I've heard any Christians say either of these two things at all. At least not in my church.
Again, this is the error many who do not embrace religion make. Just because one evil man makes statements of hate towards his fellow man, doesn't mean that suddenly, all who embrace that man's religion are as guilty. No religion on Earth has a corner on evil. There are many evil men on this planet, and there are many good men as well. To stereotype one evil man's religion as evil probably comes as news to the good man who follows that religion also.
It's not the church which is evil, it is man alone. Some belong to that church, some do not. That doesn't make the church the instrument of evil.
23 Jan 15
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-Removed-Then that makes more sense, I guess. I thought you were referring to a religious "center" of thought.
I don't know where, exactly, Saudi Arabia falls on the "philosophical Islamist thought" meter. I do understand that, just like in any religion, the "moderates" usually hold the mainline thought center, or "hub", and the extremists reside on the fringe.
23 Jan 15
Originally posted by DeepThoughtMuslims take their faith from essentially two works, the Koran and the hadiths (sayings of their prophet). The former does not specify a punishment but the latter does.
Does Islam have blasphemy laws or do some nation states where the established religion is Islam have such laws? I think there's a failure to distinguish the two things. A few hundred years ago the Church was busily burning people at the stake. For most Arabs reading the Koran in Arabic is like reading the Bible in English is for us. People have claim ...[text shortened]... particularly well justified on the basis of the New Testament, but they've still made the claim.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_and_blasphemy
23 Jan 15
Pope Francis On Charlie Hebdo: 'You Cannot Insult The Faith Of Others.'
Oh the irony, coming from him of all people--the Infallible One. If people had not offended Christianity a few hundred years ago, we would still believe the earth to be an immobile pancake at the center of the universe. Hurrah for Galileo and all the other heretics who dared to speak out and offend the dogma of the day!
No one has a right not to be offended.
23 Jan 15
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Originally posted by SuzianneThe Saud family rules with sanction of their Wahhabist/Salafist spiritual masters. Wahhabism is towards the Taliban-end of the spectrum of Islam.
I don't know where, exactly, Saudi Arabia falls on the "philosophical Islamist thought" meter. I do understand that, just like in any religion, the "moderates" usually hold the mainline thought center, or "hub", and the extremists reside on the fringe.
EDIT: http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Wahhabism
24 Jan 15
Originally posted by SuzianneRight. Please count me as a non-homophobic Western Christian fundamentalists. 😏
I'm not really sure I've heard any Christians say either of these two things at all. At least not in my church.
Again, this is the error many who do not embrace religion make. Just because one evil man makes statements of hate towards his fellow man, doesn't mean that suddenly, all who embrace that man's religion are as guilty. No religion on Earth ha ...[text shortened]... Some belong to that church, some do not. That doesn't make the church the instrument of evil.
HalleluYah !!! Praise the LORD! Holy! Holy! Holy!
24 Jan 15
Originally posted by SuzianneI haven't met many Christians who would advocate capital punishment for homosexuality, and none in 'real life', as it were. Eladar ~ on the Debates Forum ~ once famously declared that he would not object to a government executing homosexuals.
I'm not really sure I've heard any Christians say either of these two things at all. At least not in my church.