3 ms·

Right, the problem is that if Western countries cracked down on foreign financing and illegal/intolerant BS from ALL religions, mosques would represent 90-99% o

Right, the problem is that if Western countries cracked down on foreign financing and illegal/intolerant BS from ALL religions, mosques would represent 90-99% of total institutions/preachers affected. It would be absolutely the right move, it would help moderate Muslims...and the outcry about "Islamophobia" would be off the charts.

jdavis703 10y ago
Let's not forget that Western Christians still send out "missionaries" to other countries to spread their faith. I'm atheist so I have no dog in this fight, but it wouldn't surprise me if such a crackdown were met with a similar one on western powers exporting their religions.
- dogma1138 10y ago
  Christian missionaries get expelled, put in prison or even ransomed or killed out all the time... Muslim countries don't allow missionaries, China also has a very big problem with them especially Catholic missionaries because the Catholic Church and the Pope would "supersede" the universality of the central government.
  - jdavis703 10y ago
    They're killed and expelled with good reason. In the past missionaries were political operatives who assisted with the takeover and colonization of areas around the world including African countries and the Americas. Many of these missionaries in China (and other countries like DPRK) that are expelled are expelled because they failed to follow the proper laws around registering themselves (I'm going to veer into personal anecdote here, but I've heard missionaries bragging -- in I'm such a bad ass sense -- about operating underground churches).
    - dogma1138 10y ago
      You do understand that apolitical religion doesn't exists right? All missionaries are always political, including Muslim ones.
- pessimizer 10y ago
  With good cause in many cases. Imported American/Scottish evangelical Christianity has had a terrible effect in many parts of Africa - see Uganda's harsh anti-gay laws (and actions), or the abuse and murder of children accused of being witches in Nigeria.
tcbawo 10y ago
Honest question: how could you prevent foreign financing of religious institutions? What would that look like? That seems like a difficult thing to prevent without affecting charities and 'good' institutions (eg. the Catholic church).
- zo1 10y ago
  I'm not the OP, but I think doing such a thing would be a bad move. Not all institutions and religious buildings are bad or hot-beds of hatred and intolerance. If you are going that route, you need to specifically target the bad ones, and extract them. However, even that's going to be a case of whack-a-mole, as they'll just go further underground and keep rebuilding. Most people seem to have a problem with radical islam these days. It's the hot debate topic, and seems to be causing quite a stir in both Europe and now America. You could argue that it wouldn't be a problem if you allowed a much smaller amount of immigration. A small enough amount such that hateful individuals from the incoming group don't get a chance to ferment and consolidate power with other like-minded individuals once they arrive. Whether there is an unusual amount of such hateful individuals within a specific incoming group is not at all relevant save for using it in order to determine how much further you have to limit the entry amount in order for their concentration to stay low-enough for the host nation to be safe. Unfortunately, this is a very unpopular opinion. You can't even have a reasonable discussion on the matter with opposing viewpoints without there being controversy and "racism" accusations flying.

jdavis703 10y ago

Let's not forget that Western Christians still send out "missionaries" to other countries to spread their faith. I'm atheist so I have no dog in this fight, but it wouldn't surprise me if such a crackdown were met with a similar one on western powers exporting their religions.

dogma1138 10y ago
Christian missionaries get expelled, put in prison or even ransomed or killed out all the time... Muslim countries don't allow missionaries, China also has a very big problem with them especially Catholic missionaries because the Catholic Church and the Pope would "supersede" the universality of the central government.
- jdavis703 10y ago
  They're killed and expelled with good reason. In the past missionaries were political operatives who assisted with the takeover and colonization of areas around the world including African countries and the Americas. Many of these missionaries in China (and other countries like DPRK) that are expelled are expelled because they failed to follow the proper laws around registering themselves (I'm going to veer into personal anecdote here, but I've heard missionaries bragging -- in I'm such a bad ass sense -- about operating underground churches).
  - dogma1138 10y ago
    You do understand that apolitical religion doesn't exists right? All missionaries are always political, including Muslim ones.
pessimizer 10y ago
With good cause in many cases. Imported American/Scottish evangelical Christianity has had a terrible effect in many parts of Africa - see Uganda's harsh anti-gay laws (and actions), or the abuse and murder of children accused of being witches in Nigeria.

tcbawo 10y ago

Honest question: how could you prevent foreign financing of religious institutions? What would that look like? That seems like a difficult thing to prevent without affecting charities and 'good' institutions (eg. the Catholic church).

zo1 10y ago
I'm not the OP, but I think doing such a thing would be a bad move. Not all institutions and religious buildings are bad or hot-beds of hatred and intolerance. If you are going that route, you need to specifically target the bad ones, and extract them. However, even that's going to be a case of whack-a-mole, as they'll just go further underground and keep rebuilding. Most people seem to have a problem with radical islam these days. It's the hot debate topic, and seems to be causing quite a stir in both Europe and now America. You could argue that it wouldn't be a problem if you allowed a much smaller amount of immigration. A small enough amount such that hateful individuals from the incoming group don't get a chance to ferment and consolidate power with other like-minded individuals once they arrive. Whether there is an unusual amount of such hateful individuals within a specific incoming group is not at all relevant save for using it in order to determine how much further you have to limit the entry amount in order for their concentration to stay low-enough for the host nation to be safe. Unfortunately, this is a very unpopular opinion. You can't even have a reasonable discussion on the matter with opposing viewpoints without there being controversy and "racism" accusations flying.