Oh Sheite! Oliver Stone's son converts to Islam in Iran.

[zoiks]

Good for him.

 

[Linflas]

Islam isn't the problem. It's the radical extremist interpretations of it which are the problem.

Just as there are radical extremist interpretations of Christianity (see: Crusades, the Inquisition, Holy Roman Empire, etc.) and Judaism.

I always love this silly predictable response.
Crusades - 1095-1291
The Spanish Inquisition - 1478-1834
Holy Roman Empire - 962-1806 which was as a matter of fact neither Holy nor Roman.

Have anything outside of fringe nutjobs like Westboro in the 20th or current century?

 

[alien42]

I always love this silly predictable response.
Crusades - 1095-1291
The Spanish Inquisition - 1478-1834
Holy Roman Empire - 962-1806 which was as a matter of fact neither Holy nor Roman.

Have anything outside of fringe nutjobs like Westboro in the 20th or current century?

"I am driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, 'George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan'. And I did. And then God would tell me 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq'. And I did. And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, 'Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East'. And, by God, I'm gonna do it."

George W Bush

 

[airdata]

They let jews convert over there?>

 

[Vic Vega]

They let jews convert over there?>

From what I understand that's the idea - the alternative is death.

 

[micrometers]

Uh really? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Golden_Age

Ever heard of algebra? It's derived from Arabic, and invented by a muslim. The precursor to chemistry, alchemy, was vastly islamic, and the word also is derived from Arabic. Distillation was a islamic invention. They were to first discover how the eye works, they were integral to the development of modern chess, and their scientific works far outclassed anything the Christian Europeans were working on in the dark ages. They developed the crankshaft, windmill and even much of modern medicine tools such as the scalpel and forceps. I'm sure I am missing much more.

In term of art, Persian rugs, complex ornaments, ornate calligraphy, frankly, it was amazing what they were able to do. Some of the elaborate mosques easily rivals the cathedrals in the Vatican. Examples: Makkah Masjid and Masjid al-Haram.

Islam was a very liberal and advanced religion when compared to christianity for hundreds of years. The ottoman empire had religious toleration (or a form of it), while Europe had the inquisition. It was only the rise of Islamic Conservatism later in history that crippled Islamic discoveries, and of course, the European Renaissance and scientific revolution out shadowed Islamic contributions due to the fact we are in a western-based society.

I know that islam has a glorious past. But I'm talking about today. I don't see the appeal of it. It is very strict and not very interesting. I can understand how it's a part of someone's family history but what I can't see is why anyone would want to convert to it.

 

[Kadarin]

Uh really? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Golden_Age

Ever heard of algebra? It's derived from Arabic, and invented by a muslim. The precursor to chemistry, alchemy, was vastly islamic, and the word also is derived from Arabic. Distillation was a islamic invention. They were to first discover how the eye works, they were integral to the development of modern chess, and their scientific works far outclassed anything the Christian Europeans were working on in the dark ages. They developed the crankshaft, windmill and even much of modern medicine tools such as the scalpel and forceps. I'm sure I am missing much more.

In term of art, Persian rugs, complex ornaments, ornate calligraphy, frankly, it was amazing what they were able to do. Some of the elaborate mosques easily rivals the cathedrals in the Vatican. Examples: Makkah Masjid and Masjid al-Haram.

Islam was a very liberal and advanced religion when compared to christianity for hundreds of years. The ottoman empire had religious toleration (or a form of it), while Europe had the inquisition. It was only the rise of Islamic Conservatism later in history that crippled Islamic discoveries, and of course, the European Renaissance and scientific revolution out shadowed Islamic contributions due to the fact we are in a western-based society.

The Islamic world hasn't done jack shit since their golden age.

And the bolded part above simply doesn't make sense.

 

[thecrecarc]

I know that islam has a glorious past. But I'm talking about today. I don't see the appeal of it. It is very strict and not very interesting. I can understand how it's a part of someone's family history but what I can't see is why anyone would want to convert to it.

Fair enough, but one could say the same thing about other religions too. The heyday of religion inspired golden ages is over, one could argue.

And the bolded part above simply doesn't make sense.

I merely meant that even the fact Islam invented Algebra, or the foundations of chemistry, is overshadowed by the fact Newton invented Calculus, and Antoine Lavoisier's title as the "father of chemistry". Islam's scientific and artistic contributions simply aren't taught nor well known about.

And again, my post was not a comment about modern day Islam. It was against the claim that "Islam is an uninteresting religion with few contributions".

 

[BrokenVisage]

Holy Shite Temple! Homeland: The Movie?

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

Under Islamic law, a man may divorce his wife at his choosing. If he does this twice, then wishes to remarry her, she must first have sex with another man. Men are exempt from such degradations.

Muslim women are not free to marry whom they please, as are Muslim men. Their husband may also bring other wives (and slaves) into the marriage bed. And she must be sexually available to him at any time (as a field ready to be “tilled,” according to the holy book of Islam).

Muslim women do not inherit property in equal portion to males. This is somewhat ironic given that Islam owes its existence to the wealth of Muhammad's first wife, which would not otherwise have been inherited by her given that she had two brothers and her first husband had three sons.

A woman's testimony in court is considered to be worth only half that of a man’s, according to the Quran. Unlike a man, she must also cover her head - and often her face.

If a woman wants to prove that she was raped, then there must be four male witnesses to corroborate her account. Otherwise she can be jailed or stoned to death for confessing to “adultery.”
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Pages/Myths-of-Islam.htm#democracy

 

[zoiks]

Under Islamic law, a man may divorce his wife at his choosing. If he does this twice, then wishes to remarry her, she must first have sex with another man. Men are exempt from such degradations.

Muslim women are not free to marry whom they please, as are Muslim men. Their husband may also bring other wives (and slaves) into the marriage bed. And she must be sexually available to him at any time (as a field ready to be “tilled,” according to the holy book of Islam).

Muslim women do not inherit property in equal portion to males. This is somewhat ironic given that Islam owes its existence to the wealth of Muhammad's first wife, which would not otherwise have been inherited by her given that she had two brothers and her first husband had three sons.

A woman's testimony in court is considered to be worth only half that of a man’s, according to the Quran. Unlike a man, she must also cover her head - and often her face.

If a woman wants to prove that she was raped, then there must be four male witnesses to corroborate her account. Otherwise she can be jailed or stoned to death for confessing to “adultery.”
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Pages/Myths-of-Islam.htm#democracy

Actually the entirety of what you wrote is incorrect. Factually.
Also I would point out that the website that you've linked to is a very well known anti-muslim/islam site and is there to promote hatred of the religion.

I wonder how the world would be if people were more educated and based their knowledge on facts and not just rhetoric imposed by die hard church groups.

 

[Kadarin]

Actually the entirety of what you wrote is incorrect. Factually.

Really? Take the idea of women having to cover themselves for example: In Afghanistan under the Taliban women must wear burqas, and in Saudi Arabia women must wear the niqab.

Whether you think this is "Islamic" or not as based on the Quran does not matter. It. Is. How. Islam. Is. Practiced. In. The. Islamic. World.

 

[thecrecarc]

Really? Take the idea of women having to cover themselves for example: In Afghanistan under the Taliban women must wear burqas, and in Saudi Arabia women must wear the niqab.

Whether you think this is "Islamic" or not as based on the Quran does not matter. It. Is. How. Islam. Is. Practiced. In. The. Islamic. World.

To a large extent, you are correct, it is how its practiced. But it would be unfair to ignore places where it is not practiced like that, the prime example being turkey. They are secular almost to a fault, it is completely banned to wear headscarves in universities in turkey. Likewise, military soldiers who wear or have their family wear headscarves are harshly disciplined. Kemalism, the dominant political ideology of turkey, calls for complete and utter secularism in government and military. If a political party is deemed "too religious", they are outright banned from running for political office. Turkey is over 95% Muslim.

Now, Turkey is a rare exception in the Islamic world, and the vast majority are not so secular. But exceptions have to be noted too.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

Actually the entirety of what you wrote is incorrect. Factually.
Also I would point out that the website that you've linked to is a very well known anti-muslim/islam site and is there to promote hatred of the religion.

I wonder how the world would be if people were more educated and based their knowledge on facts and not just rhetoric imposed by die hard church groups.

You say its incorrect yet provide no proof. Anti muslim yet they know a lot about it. So the Quaran is also incorrect?

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

To a large extent, you are correct, it is how its practiced. But it would be unfair to ignore places where it is not practiced like that, the prime example being turkey. They are secular almost to a fault, it is completely banned to wear headscarves in universities in turkey. Likewise, military soldiers who wear or have their family wear headscarves are harshly disciplined. Kemalism, the dominant political ideology of turkey, calls for complete and utter secularism in government and military. If a political party is deemed "too religious", they are outright banned from running for political office. Turkey is over 95% Muslim.

Now, Turkey is a rare exception in the Islamic world, and the vast majority are not so secular. But exceptions have to be noted too.

We are talking about Iran here not Turkey

 

[thecrecarc]

We are talking about Iran here not Turkey

He was talking about " How. Islam. Is. Practiced. In. The. Islamic. World.". Turkey is part of the Islamic world.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

He was talking about " How. Islam. Is. Practiced. In. The. Islamic. World.". Turkey is part of the Islamic world.

Sigh*
Iran represents the Shiites and Turkey represents the Sunnis
Please go learn the difference

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunnis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shia_Islam

 

[thecrecarc]

Sigh*
Iran represents the Shiites and Turkey represents the Sunnis
Please go learn the difference

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunnis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shia_Islam

Both Shiite and Sunni are branches of Islam, and therefore, part of the Islamic World.

 

[Linflas]

"I am driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, 'George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan'. And I did. And then God would tell me 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq'. And I did. And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, 'Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East'. And, by God, I'm gonna do it."

George W Bush

Too bad that "quote" is fantasy.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

Both Shiite and Sunni are branches of Islam, and therefore, part of the Islamic World.

No. In some secular countries, such as Turkey, the opinions issued by religious scholars represent moral and social guidelines for how Muslims should practice their religion and are not considered legally binding. In contrast to Shiites, Sunni religious teachers historically have been under state control.

 

[FoBoT]

Sigh*
Iran represents the Shiites and Turkey represents the Sunnis
Please go learn the difference

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunnis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shia_Islam

what about saudi arabia? we have sold them a lot of weapons systems/airplanes, they are against Iran, so they are Sunni? are they allies of Turkey?

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

what about saudi arabia? we have sold them a lot of weapons systems/airplanes, they are against Iran, so they are Sunni? are they allies of Turkey?

Yes. Saudi Arabia and Turkey throughout history have long enjoyed a fruitful and intimately friendly relationship.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Saudi_Arabia