There goes the neighborhood - Tunisia Edition

How exactly is it wrong?
That persecution and violence in the name of religion will always be wrong.....

That persecution and violence in the name of religion will always be wrong.....

Ahh...misunderstood what you were saying.

You realize that the old testament is viewed as a "Historical" record and the New is viewed as the information with which to live your life......

you realize that randomly quoting the koran or whatnot and assuming literal interpretation and then using selective interpretation on the other holy book is is a bit convenient though...

look! they're saying awful things! I mean, we say awful things too, but we don't mean it.

besides, if you're looking for muslim oppression of competing religions, you should cite spain where they started with equality and then systematically took away all the rights of those that would not convert. Funny that that's the same country that created the inquisition - I guess religious tolerance just wasn't part of the local geography.

Intolerance is intolerance and it's wrong regardless of who's in charge. saying islam isn't compatible with democracy is a real stretch and unless you've actually studied a koran or go to a mosque, I'd be careful about randomly couched quotes with no context of whether they're widely taught by the moderates of that religion.

by the way, when the black plague hit europe, do you know the first thing they did?




they started killing jews. Those christians just can't be trusted :P

Intolerance is intolerance and it's wrong regardless of who's in charge. saying islam isn't compatible with democracy is a real stretch and unless you've actually studied a koran or go to a mosque, I'd be careful about randomly couched quotes with no context of whether they're widely taught by the moderates of that religion.

A lesson someone here never learns.

you realize that randomly quoting the koran or whatnot and assuming literal interpretation and then using selective interpretation on the other holy book is is a bit convenient though...

look! they're saying awful things! I mean, we say awful things too, but we don't mean it.

besides, if you're looking for muslim oppression of competing religions, you should cite spain where they started with equality and then systematically took away all the rights of those that would not convert. Funny that that's the same country that created the inquisition - I guess religious tolerance just wasn't part of the local geography.

Intolerance is intolerance and it's wrong regardless of who's in charge. saying islam isn't compatible with democracy is a real stretch and unless you've actually studied a koran or go to a mosque, I'd be careful about randomly couched quotes with no context of whether they're widely taught by the moderates of that religion.
I believe you area bit confused as I have not actually quoted anything you warn me against.....and I can ASSURE you Sir I would never couch a quote.....either randomly or specifically.

I believe you area bit confused as I have not actually quoted anything you warn me against.....and I can ASSURE you Sir I would never couch a quote.....either randomly or specifically.



Yeah, I think that part of That Guy's otherwise fine post really was meant for Redskin Rat, not you.

But it is also true that Muslims suffer intolerance and discrimination, sometimes violently, in France, the UK, the USA, and other "Christian" places. Religious intolerance is sadly ubiquitous. So the problem is not just Islam vs. democracy.The difference in France, UK, and here is that people that perpetrate violence against others in the name of religion are treated as they should be....as criminals.

In many Muslim countries violence against those of other religions is sometimes either sanctioned by the gov't or purposely not investigated/prosecuted.

The problem is that unfortunately there are close-minded, hate-filled, and sometimes violent people everywhere.Agree, very true and very unfortunate.

When did democracy become synonymous with christianity and the west? Did I miss the class where they taught the greeks were jesus worshiping and blond blue eyed much like him?

The difference in France, UK, and here is that people that perpetrate violence against others in the name of religion are treated as they should be....as criminals.

In many Muslim countries violence against those of other religions is sometimes either sanctioned by the gov't or purposely not investigated/prosecuted.

Agree, very true and very unfortunate.

I agree with the part about problems with government collusion.

Ex-regimes in both Egypt and Tunisia had reps for repressing Islam. Once the regimes fell, a great deal of pro-Islamic emotion was released. Some of this emotion is wholesome but some is dysfunctional.

For example, the feeling among some Muslims in Egypt was that Mubarak went easy on Copts and several Copts had seats in Mubarak's government. So to hate Mubarak, to some people, is to hate Copts. To erase Mubarak's legacy is to erase Copts. The same reality exists for Egypt's Jews.

However, in both Egypt and Tunisia there are sizeable numbers of folks who prefer secular democracy to either an Iranian Islamic model or, in the cases we are discussing, mob rule by Islam. The Arab Spring revolts were driven more by a striving for democracy than they were driven by calls for Islamic government. As emotions settle, the questions will be less "How to we erase traces of Mubarak or Ben Ali?" and more "How do we create a beneficial new society?" There is every reason to believe that moderates and toleration will then gain more voice and more power and the current ugliness will subside.