I never said the thread was pathetic, I said it came of as somewhat pathetic due to your previous actions; Specifically when you started a thread in ATF and sought to have posters you disagreed with on Islam censored and quite possibly banned. Islamophobia as a subject, which I also stated in that very post, is a very real threat. I think the thread topic is good, but I think you were certainly the wrong person to make it - as you clearly don't know what Islamophobia is.

If a person like Lemonzest or Original Position had made it, I think the thread would have garnered massive respect.

For the record, most of the criticism of Islam in this thread is fairly mild by RGT standards. I have certainly seen both Christianity and Judaism fare a lot worse. Mostly I suspect because of the polemic and current nature of the debate - because of people like you and the touchy-feely nature of this issue it has become a semantic minefield to point out atrocities and human rights violations carried out in the name of Islam. Where are you when those other religions are criticized?

And seriously, if you are going to go down the path of insults - at least make it something good enough to make me want to 1-up it. I'm sure this would be more entertaining to other posters.

Islamophobia effects ordinary people who are discriminated against/hated for being different. That type of thing is never OK. How can you solve this problem OP? I dunno, get a job at the human genome project and start your work on rewiring the human brain.

The more relevant question is WHY had there been an increase in Islamophobia? Why are people inclined toward bigotry choosing this particular religion as the object of their hatred?

Here is where the OP needs to get his head out of the sand.

The most powerful, most influential, richest governing institution of Islam funds schools.

"Oh cool, the Catholic Church owns and operates many schools too."

These school find parent who cannot afford to feed their children, promise them their son will get a free education and all the food he can eat. The 9 year old kid lives at the school.

"Oh cool, Catholic school have scholarship programs too."

This illiterate 9 year old kid is told by his teacher, who he thinks is literally speaking for God, that the best thing he can possibly do in life is this: walk into a crowd of people wearing a vest made out of high powered explosives covered in nails, shards of glass, and ball bearings, press a button and go to heaven.

"ahhhhh.....oh my god."

OP you should think less about the problems people of other faiths are causing you and more about the problems people of your own faith are causing.

Reading comprehension: still zero
Mind reading ability: also zero

I wanted a response in which you estimate the reaction you get from average Muslims when you mock their religion. Will they react peaceful?

The average Muslim? Probably will be peaceful. It depends on the place for various external reasons, not so much some intrinsic thing in Muslims.

/thread

Wow. Very powerful video. That was a lot worse than I thought. Even accounting for some peer pressure there were a lot of hands in the air supporting stoning for adultery, etc.

So far, this thread has resulted in my opinion of Islam dropping considerably.

Are you jealous of the outstanding quality of life in nations like Brunei and Saudi Arabia?

Even in S.A women are not separated from men,



Anthony Bourdain's no reservations presents a much different view of Saudi Arabia then is being suggested by some of the posters on this forum.

lololol, this vid should have stormed the charts of MTV! It is so funny!

I mean, no extremists or radicals think they are extremists or radicals. No one who thinks, he is just, he views his self as radical. This is obvious.

Yes, what an amazing achievement of Islam to originate where allah buried all the dinosaurs to turn into oil. That's why I voted strongly jealous.

you laughable joke, you take the video seriously ?

ooo "very powerful", more like pathetic how you take it seriously, but more so funny

If I were to rule, I would seperate men and women in different rooms. I know in Germany there was a study which did show that boys at the school are way more successful when there haven't been any girls. The reason is, that at least 50% of the time, they are thinking about the girls and don't attend the lesson.
Another point is: did you guys ever think, why big groups like Scientology or even terrorists do hold for a long time? Or how someone becomes a director or an actor in Hollywood? Or how does it come that Berlusconi could hold so long in the politic and is still not sitting in jail?

It is all because either they are allowed to have lots of women or they share their women.

If you are someone who is somewhat a good speaker and doesn't care to share women, just make an announcement, that you can make ppl 25 years younger. Rent a big place, where at least 1000 ppl can join your speech. Most of them will come back again, guess why! And soon you will be a millionaire. Now do the same and separate the men from the women. And next time no one will join again.

And therein lies the problem with religion. It can convince someone for example that it's the best thing they could possibly do with their lives to fly an airplane full of strangers they've never met before into a building full of strangers they've never met before while being completely convinced that these acts are not irrational or radical in the slightest way.

Well done figuring it out finally!

The Germans did kill 6 million Jews, and this was not religiously motivated.

The tutsis did kill over 500 000 Hutus and this was not religiously motivated.

You know Pol Pot? In all, an estimated 1 to 3 million people (out of a population of slightly over 8 million) died due to the policies of his four-year premiership. The Khmer Rouge leadership boasted over the state-controlled radio that only one or two million people were needed to build the new agrarian communist utopia. As for the others, as their proverb put it, "To keep you is no benefit, to destroy you is no loss." Pol Pot was an Atheist!

The Yangzhou massacre took place in 1645 in Yangzhou, China, during the Qing Dynasty. Mass killings of residents in Yangzhou were conducted by Qing troops under the command of Prince Dodo after they conquered the city from forces loyal to the Southern Ming regime of the Hongguang Emperor.
The massacre lasted ten days after the city fell on May 20, 1645. Traditionally, the number of victims was reported as close to 800,000, although some modern scholars consider it an exaggeration. The defending commander, Shi Kefa, was also executed by Qing forces after he refused to submit to their authority.
The alleged reasons for the massacre were:
To punish the residents because of resistance efforts led by the Ming official Shi Kefa.
To warn the rest of the population in Jiangnan of the consequences of resisting the invaders.

The Nanking Massacre, also known as the Rape of Nanking, was an episode of mass murder and mass rape committed by Japanese troops against Nanking during the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. The massacre occurred during a six-week period starting December 13, 1937, the day that the Japanese captured Nanking, which was then the Chinese capital. During this period, hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians and disarmed soldiers were murdered by soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army. Widespread rape and looting also occurred.

The massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia were part of an ethnic cleansing operation carried out in Nazi Germany-occupied Poland by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)'s North Command in the regions of Volhynia (Reichskommissariat Ukraine) and their South Command in Eastern Galicia (General Government) beginning in March 1943 and lasting until the end of 1944. The peak of the massacres took place in July and August 1943 when a senior UPA commander, Dmytro Klyachkivsky, ordered the liquidation of the entire male Polish population between 16 and 60 years of age. Despite this, most of the victims were women and children. The actions of the UPA resulted in 40,000-60,000 Polish civilian deaths in Volhynia, and from 25,000 to 30,000-40,000 in Eastern Galicia.

The Manila massacre refers to the February 1945 atrocities conducted against Filipino civilians in Manila, Philippines by Japanese troops in the Battle of Manila during World War II.
To preserve as large a force as possible to continue defensive operations in rural Luzon, Imperial Japanese Army General Tomoyuki Yama****a had insisted on a complete withdrawal of Japanese troops from Manila. However, this was not realized because of objections from Imperial headquarters. 10,000 marines under Vice Admiral Iwabuchi Sanji remained in Manila along with some IJA stragglers

Various credible Western and Eastern sources agree that the death toll was at least 100,000, tallying to around 10% of the population of the city. The massacre was at its worst in the Battle of Manila, in which the Allies shelled the city of Manila to drive out the Japanese. In this shelling, the city of Manila was totally destroyed. By the time the Japanese were driven out, the city was in ruins, becoming the second most severely damaged Allied capital city during the war, the first being Warsaw in Poland. It is said that during lulls in the battle for control of the city, Japanese troops took out their anger and frustration on the civilians caught in the crossfire. The total of 100,000 deaths was counted after the battle, but the actual cause of their death is not known.

The bombing of Tokyo and other cities in Japan during World War II caused widespread destruction and hundreds of thousands of deaths. For example, Toyama, an urban area of 128,000, was nearly fully destroyed, and incendiary attacks on Tokyo claimed the lives of 100,000 people. There were no such air raids in Hiroshima. However, the threat was certainly there and to protect against potential firebombings in Hiroshima, students (between 11–14 years) were mobilized to demolish houses and create firebreaks.
On Monday, August 6, 1945, at 8:15 a.m., the Atomic Bomb "Little Boy" was dropped on Hiroshima by an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, flown by Paul Tibbets, directly killing an estimated 80,000 people. By the end of the year, injury and radiation brought total casualties to 90,000–140,000. The population before the bombing was around 340,000 to 350,000. Approximately 69% of the city's buildings were completely destroyed, and another 7% severely damaged.

But not a True atheist.

I did, yes. But I am willing to be corrected. Please explain how the video is not a serious Muslim position. I am unfamiliar with the speakers although they appeared authentic. Were they joking? Were they mocking Islam in some way that I did not understand?

Please explain. For once I am actually interested to hear what information you have that I am missing.

I did do some slight due diligence before I posted my comment and could not find anything to indicate that the website Islamnet was an anti-Muslim effort.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_Net

Authorised by Truman who was the Baptist president of a Christian nation. Was the purpose of your post to show that people who don't believe in any of the gods are also capable of 'bad'? If so, I think the pertinent question is 'were they doing it because of their lack of belief, in the same way that religious 'bad' is done in the name of belief?'. Maybe this is a good argument for demonstrating that Atheism is not a belief system (or a religion in it's own right as some people have said) in the same way that religion is a belief system.

Also, it would be interesting to total the amount of Bad done in the name of Atheism and compare it to the amount of Bad done in the name of Theism. It's speculation of course, but I'd imagine that there'd be a huge imbalance.

One attack, compared to the destruction of the world that other countries state military forces have undertook. this post exhibits your ignorance of Islam.

Why not drop your misconceptions? Are you jealous of Islam and tremendous nations like Saudi Arabia, I assume you have watched none of the videos I linked, nor have you paid attention to my factual posts on how Muslims have protected jews thru history including WW2 and the Spanish Inquisition.

There is actually a chance that you should be thankful toward Islam, one of your previous generations may have grown up with protection from Muslims Just be lucky they did not run into the Mongol invasions led by Genghis Khan of central Asia of 1218, Khans campaign is credited with halting the Islamic worlds contribution to math/science/etc. Only in WW2 would there be more casulities of war, Khan unlike most of his Muslim counterparts thru history showed no mercy to his enemy.


Troubles continued for the civilized world when in 1258 modern day Iraq was invaded by the Mongols yet again , this invasion would mark the end of the Golden Age of Islam.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_o...dad_%281258%29

The following is a small list of major intellectual contributors from the Islamic sphere

Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī was a Persian scholar whom is credited with advancing the fields of Algebra, Astronomy, Geography, Arithmetic. "In Renaissance Europe, he was considered the original inventor of algebra, although it is now known that his work is based on older Indian or Greek sources."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhamma...4%81rizm%C4%AB

Also this guy, Ibn Khaldun

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Khaldun

Khaldun was considered a founding father of economics and sociology.

Perhaps the most frequently cited observation drawn from Ibn Khaldūn's work is the notion that when a society becomes a great civilization (and, presumably, the dominant culture in its region), its high point is followed by a period of decay. This means that the next cohesive group that conquers the diminished civilization is, by comparison, a group of barbarians. Once the barbarians solidify their control over the conquered society, however, they become attracted to its more refined aspects, such as literacy and arts, and either assimilate into or appropriate such cultural practices. Then, eventually, the former barbarians will be conquered by a new set of barbarians, who will repeat the process. Some contemporary readers of Khaldun have read this as an early business cycle theory, though set in the historical circumstances of the mature Islamic empire.

Ibn Khaldun outlines an early (possibly even the earliest) example of political economy. He describes the economy as being composed of value-adding processes; that is, labour and skill is added to techniques and crafts and the product is sold at a higher value. He also made the distinction between "profit" and "sustenance", in modern political economy terms, surplus and that required for the reproduction of classes respectively. He also calls for the creation of a science to explain society and goes on to outline these ideas in his major work the Muqaddimah.

[QUOTE=thekid345;41240297
Are you jealous of Islam and tremendous nations like Saudi Arabia

LOL. Kid you should start an are you jealous of SA/do you wish you lived in SA poll.

Had a typo here, the Mongol conquests from 1206-1368 resulted in the 2nd highest death rate of wars. Yet these Mongol conquests resulted in 17% of the worlds population disappearing, the next highest is WW2 with estimates as high as 3% of the worlds population disappearing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._by_death_toll

Three comments Kid.

First, if you have to go back 600 years to find a contribution from a culture, that is not a ringing endorsement.

Second, most of the people on this site would rank Saudi Arabia as a very unattractive place to live. Holding it up as a shining example is not helping your cause.

Third, responding to a piece of video evidence by simply mocking those who express the opinion that it harms your point simply confirms that you have no substantive response to its content. It is tantamount to admitting that your position is untenable.

Well stated. And you get extra points for using a great word!

without these Islamic scholars and their contributions to civilized society, folks like Einstein and Tesla would be nothing. Modern Advances in the STEM fields would not have been possible w/o scholars produced by the golden age of Islam

The word algorithm comes from the name of the 9th century Persian mathematician Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi, whose work built upon that of the 7th-century Indian mathematician Brahmagupta. The word algorism originally referred only to the rules of performing arithmetic using Hindu-Arabic numerals but evolved via European Latin translation of Al-Khwarizmi's name into algorithm by the 18th century. The use of the word evolved to include all definite procedures for solving problems or performing tasks

The work of the ancient Greek geometers, Persian mathematician Al-Khwarizmi -- often considered as the "father of algebra", Chinese and Western European mathematicans culiminated in Leibniz' notion of the "calculus ratiocinator", an algebra of logic

http://www.scriptol.com/programming/...hm-history.php

When and why did this golden age end? Why is it missing today?