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This situation really saddens. I hate the fact that people are self-censoring because of a minority of violent people. This lends them legitimacy, when they des

by nekopa 17y ago

This situation really saddens. I hate the fact that people are self-censoring because of a minority of violent people. This lends them legitimacy, when they deserve none. Seeing this after reading about a girls school being poison-gassed in Afghanistan makes me say why kowtow to the violent ones? I've read the Koran and its no worse no better than the bible. My girlfriend is a Middle Eastern anthropologist who loves the culture and speaks Arabic. My research into the history of math show the ancient Arab world as a hot bed of science and literature. Yet nowadays when people think of Muslims they think of death. The high point of my last week was having one of my university students (during a class on privacy issues) say that nobody has a right to ask you what your religion is on a job application. Unless, that is, you are from somewhere in the Middle East. Then its understandable that you need to ask. WTF... But, if some Muslim feels the need to show pictures of murdered directors on then website as a prediction of what will happen to you if you make art, then it gets harder and harder to fight these prejudices. I just wish the non-violent majority of Muslims would (could?) step up to the plate and counteract the extremists.

deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
viggity 17y ago
I'm not a very religious person, but I've done some light research and here is what I came up with as being the difference between violence in the Koran versus Bible. This an extreme paraphrasation and may be wrong, but this is how I understand it as of now: According to tradition, if the Koran/Mohammad contradicts itself, what ever happened later is to be taken as the accepted rule, however the Koran is not organized in chronological order so it can be hard to tell at first blush what is the "correct" interpretation. In the early days of Islam, when Mohammad had very few followers, it was necessary to gain more followers to espouse peace, rainbows and sunshine. As he grew more politically powerful, his rhetoric changed and "kill the infidels" was the way to go. Since it happened later chronologically this is the "official" stance of the Koran. Contrasted with the Bible wherein most of the violence is contained in the old testament. Then Jesus came along and essentially said "forget all this old stuff, I'm the new covenant, love thy neighbor, yay rainbows, sunshine and lollipops". That being said, that doesn't mean a lot of people haven't been killed in the name of Jesus, but in current times I'd guestimate 99.9999% of Christians are peace loving people who don't want violence brought upon someone because they are non-Christian. But I'd also guess that worldwide 97% of Muslims are the same way. Unfortunately the other 3% is still a large number of people who want to bomb markets, fly planes in to buildings or throw acid on girls who insist on going to school. You're absolutely right, the 97% needs to stand the hell up and drown out this nonsense.
- sgoraya 17y ago
  "You're absolutely right, the 97% needs to stand the hell up and drown out this nonsense." Plenty of people have been trying to drown out the nonsense, but it is not newsworthy (fairly recently a very influential religious figure in Pakistan made very strong statements and fatwa against the 'nonsense'). If it bleeds, it leads. Good works rarely make the news, but jackasses easily do so. As a Muslim myself, having to 'stand the hell up and drown out this nonsense' makes little sense to me. It implies that I/we are somehow complicit in what the jackasses do. No thanks. I have a family to take care of, a job, etc. and do my personal best to be an example of a good human being, just like the majority of Muslims.

by nekopa 17y ago

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

viggity 17y ago

I'm not a very religious person, but I've done some light research and here is what I came up with as being the difference between violence in the Koran versus Bible. This an extreme paraphrasation and may be wrong, but this is how I understand it as of now: According to tradition, if the Koran/Mohammad contradicts itself, what ever happened later is to be taken as the accepted rule, however the Koran is not organized in chronological order so it can be hard to tell at first blush what is the "correct" interpretation. In the early days of Islam, when Mohammad had very few followers, it was necessary to gain more followers to espouse peace, rainbows and sunshine. As he grew more politically powerful, his rhetoric changed and "kill the infidels" was the way to go. Since it happened later chronologically this is the "official" stance of the Koran. Contrasted with the Bible wherein most of the violence is contained in the old testament. Then Jesus came along and essentially said "forget all this old stuff, I'm the new covenant, love thy neighbor, yay rainbows, sunshine and lollipops". That being said, that doesn't mean a lot of people haven't been killed in the name of Jesus, but in current times I'd guestimate 99.9999% of Christians are peace loving people who don't want violence brought upon someone because they are non-Christian. But I'd also guess that worldwide 97% of Muslims are the same way. Unfortunately the other 3% is still a large number of people who want to bomb markets, fly planes in to buildings or throw acid on girls who insist on going to school. You're absolutely right, the 97% needs to stand the hell up and drown out this nonsense.

sgoraya 17y ago
"You're absolutely right, the 97% needs to stand the hell up and drown out this nonsense." Plenty of people have been trying to drown out the nonsense, but it is not newsworthy (fairly recently a very influential religious figure in Pakistan made very strong statements and fatwa against the 'nonsense'). If it bleeds, it leads. Good works rarely make the news, but jackasses easily do so. As a Muslim myself, having to 'stand the hell up and drown out this nonsense' makes little sense to me. It implies that I/we are somehow complicit in what the jackasses do. No thanks. I have a family to take care of, a job, etc. and do my personal best to be an example of a good human being, just like the majority of Muslims.