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well look, I'm absolutely not an expert. But the argument that Hitchens was making was that Islam, more than any other major religion, very explicitly dictates

by ep103 10y ago

well look, I'm absolutely not an expert. But the argument that Hitchens was making was that Islam, more than any other major religion, very explicitly dictates things of a governmental nature. Christianity has the 10 commandments, and so on, but Islam has much more social governance and legal apparatus woven into its ideology, and taken "as gospel". Its part of the reason why people get so scared of things like Shiara law and Shiara courts. But regardless, Hitchens' argument was that without resorting to exaggeration and fear mongering, because the ideology leans further in that governmental direction, it makes it harder to square with modern secular democracy than other religions would.

HeavenBanned 10y ago
>It's part of the reason why people get so scared of things like Sharia law and Sharia courts. I fail to see how Islam having influence in the government and justice system is any different _at all_ from Christianity having massive influence in our government and our justice system (we put our hands on the BIBLE after all when we give testimony). Christianity permeates every aspect of our lives in the West. Just because it's less visible to us, doesn't mean it's any less ingrained in our culture. When we look at Islamic countries, these differences (from the outgroup) seem magnified and are thus big, bad and scary. But if anyone should be afraid of any country in the world it's the United States. Which is the largest exporter of terrorism in the world. Look at the Iraq war. 1 Million dead. But does anyone say, "Oh, dear God, Bush said Jesus told him to save Iraq; Christianity is so evil!" ? No. Nobody says that. Ever. Instead, people make posts about how backwards Islam is because women have to wear clothing over their bodies and make it seem like the end of the world when there are millions suffering by our hands due to colonial imperialism. Since WW2, the US has run roughshod over the M.E. and South America, killing countless number of peoples and cultures in the name of colonialism and white-expansionism. But those topics curiously never come up when discussing Islamic countries. No, in fact, they never come up because it just devolves into tribalistic finger pointing. Let's forget about toppling and ruining a country like Libya, displacing millions and killing more...because hey, Isis chopped off some heads! Oh - and on top of that - let's ban them from emigrating to the countries that bombed them in the first place - genius! This is grade A psychopathy. Hitchens is that peddling that brand of imperialist apologia that is thoroughly sickening. Hey Hitchens: answer for the crimes of the West before you start throwing stones.

by ep103 10y ago

HeavenBanned 10y ago

>It's part of the reason why people get so scared of things like Sharia law and Sharia courts. I fail to see how Islam having influence in the government and justice system is any different _at all_ from Christianity having massive influence in our government and our justice system (we put our hands on the BIBLE after all when we give testimony). Christianity permeates every aspect of our lives in the West. Just because it's less visible to us, doesn't mean it's any less ingrained in our culture. When we look at Islamic countries, these differences (from the outgroup) seem magnified and are thus big, bad and scary. But if anyone should be afraid of any country in the world it's the United States. Which is the largest exporter of terrorism in the world. Look at the Iraq war. 1 Million dead. But does anyone say, "Oh, dear God, Bush said Jesus told him to save Iraq; Christianity is so evil!" ? No. Nobody says that. Ever. Instead, people make posts about how backwards Islam is because women have to wear clothing over their bodies and make it seem like the end of the world when there are millions suffering by our hands due to colonial imperialism. Since WW2, the US has run roughshod over the M.E. and South America, killing countless number of peoples and cultures in the name of colonialism and white-expansionism. But those topics curiously never come up when discussing Islamic countries. No, in fact, they never come up because it just devolves into tribalistic finger pointing. Let's forget about toppling and ruining a country like Libya, displacing millions and killing more...because hey, Isis chopped off some heads! Oh - and on top of that - let's ban them from emigrating to the countries that bombed them in the first place - genius! This is grade A psychopathy. Hitchens is that peddling that brand of imperialist apologia that is thoroughly sickening. Hey Hitchens: answer for the crimes of the West before you start throwing stones.