I believe you have come to your argument through emotion, rather than reason and logic, considering the crux of your argument is vested in petty personal anecdotes that are aimed at shocking me rather than logically outlying a contention. Try to avoid it, as it makes for poorly developed arguments that are completely devoid of contention.
If a time machine existed, i would have the ability to test your hypothesis by criticizing the divine word of God in the 16th century. I think someone already did that, wasn't his name Copernicus? Or was it Galileo?
Western society has evolved to the point where radical Christianity isn't a serious threat to its sanctity. Would you say that Russia's treatment of gays is indicative of the flaws of Christianity, or Russia's terrible anti-gay culture?
Most Islamic nations still have backward views on gender equality, corruption etc.
Backwards cultural views are not restricted to religion, and in Islamic nations with secular governments such as Turkey, and even in the past, in pre-1979 Iran, woman are treated with respect to the advancement of those nation's cultures.
The same people who send "death-threats" when Islam is criticized are likely to have grown up in a culture strongly influenced by the culture of Islamic nations, or within the aforementioned nations themselves.
No, not really. Consider the following thought experiment:
Considering that it would be impossible to remove the thought of religion from one's head, lets try this.
Let us assume that all people alive today were born into a world devoid of religion, but the same culture, regardless of whether it was influenced by religion, is existent.
You still can't criticize Kim Jong Un in North Korea, just as you can't defile the Quran in Saudi Arabia.
People in Islamic nations will still be heavily authoritarian and have a backwards attitude towards woman's rights, censorship in some cases, and other human rights issues.
Woman in these nations would still be oppressed simply because of uneducated values ingrained into them out of convenience. Poor treatment of woman in non-advanced cultures is prevalent throughout the world, completely independent of religion.
The reason is culture, not religion. It seems as if you haven't evolved to the point where you can discern between the two.
(17 Sep 13, 12:07PM)pweaks Wrote: Now you may say that "well that's just fundamentalism and it's the same thing with Christianity". You can criticize Christianity, make jokes about it and no one gives a damn. But if you criticize Islam you will get death threats and people call you a racist.
If a time machine existed, i would have the ability to test your hypothesis by criticizing the divine word of God in the 16th century. I think someone already did that, wasn't his name Copernicus? Or was it Galileo?
Western society has evolved to the point where radical Christianity isn't a serious threat to its sanctity. Would you say that Russia's treatment of gays is indicative of the flaws of Christianity, or Russia's terrible anti-gay culture?
Most Islamic nations still have backward views on gender equality, corruption etc.
Backwards cultural views are not restricted to religion, and in Islamic nations with secular governments such as Turkey, and even in the past, in pre-1979 Iran, woman are treated with respect to the advancement of those nation's cultures.
The same people who send "death-threats" when Islam is criticized are likely to have grown up in a culture strongly influenced by the culture of Islamic nations, or within the aforementioned nations themselves.
(17 Sep 13, 12:07PM)pweaks Wrote: If religions would not exist there would be less oppression and inequality.
No, not really. Consider the following thought experiment:
Considering that it would be impossible to remove the thought of religion from one's head, lets try this.
Let us assume that all people alive today were born into a world devoid of religion, but the same culture, regardless of whether it was influenced by religion, is existent.
You still can't criticize Kim Jong Un in North Korea, just as you can't defile the Quran in Saudi Arabia.
People in Islamic nations will still be heavily authoritarian and have a backwards attitude towards woman's rights, censorship in some cases, and other human rights issues.
Woman in these nations would still be oppressed simply because of uneducated values ingrained into them out of convenience. Poor treatment of woman in non-advanced cultures is prevalent throughout the world, completely independent of religion.
The reason is culture, not religion. It seems as if you haven't evolved to the point where you can discern between the two.