I've been quietly reading through a lot of these "us vs. them" threads, and something that seems to be tossed around is that we, as Americans, need to be more tolerant of other people's views. We often force our views onto other peoples/nations against their will. Some people go so far as to even say we DESERVED to be attacked because of our foreign policy decisions.
This got me to thinking, how can Americans be labeled as intolerant when Islam is perhaps the most intolerant religion there is on the planet? Lets think about this for a minute. In most Islamic countries, women are treated as, at best, as subservient to men.. as worst, they are treated like animals. They don't have a right to vote, be seen in public, hold jobs/careers etc.
Most foreigners are treated poorly as well.. If you are an American even in somewhat U.S. friendly countries like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, you still don't get treated very good at all.. and if you are woman, forget it..
Then look at hostile countries against the U.S. Counties like Iraq and Iran.. generally their opinion of American's is that they should be EXTERMINATED.. That's right, we should be DEAD. There is no tolerance there.. There is no even ATTEMPT at tolerance.. we deserve to die in their minds.. period. And it doesn't just stop at American's, Christians in general are treated this was as well.. Many Islamic counties support killing of Christians as well. Why do we as American's need to accept and adapt to the cultures of other countries, but they don't need to adapt or accept OUR culture? Why is it OK for them to just BAN any religious thoughts which don't fit with their thoughts, or even KILL those who don't conform?
When we visit Islamic countries we are forced to accept their customs.. Yet, if they come to OUR country, we are ALSO forced to accept THEIR ideas. Again, where is the tolerance? Could you imagine if we forced their wives to wear bikini's and thongs when they visited the U.S.? How is that any different than forcing our wives to cover their bodies when we visit their country? It amazes me how tolerance only goes in one direction.
And before anyone and goes and labels me a racist or a bigot or what have you.. I think I am completely justified that saying Islam is intolerant in general. Gallup recently did a poll of Islamic nations which asked if the people surveyed believed that the September 11th attacks were committed by Muslims. The VAST majority of counties voted overwhelmingly that they did NOT believe the attacks were carried out by Muslims. Even counties like Kuwait voted in the 85% range that they did NOT believe Muslims had anything to do with this attack. To me, thats equivalent to 85% of American's saying Timothy McVeigh had nothing to do with the Oklahoma City bombing... If Islam is so unwilling to even accept something like the 9-11 attacks could have been placed by members of their religion, then I can't see how they can be seen as tolerant..
And no, I don't believe Christians are perfect either, but like I said if you took a poll of Christians on the OK, City bombings, 85% of the people would not deny McVeigh had anything to do with it simply because he was a Christian or a Catholic. You also don't see major members of the religion condoning or involved with terrorist groups. How often do you see the Pope or a Bishop somehow implicated in an attack in Ireland for example? Never.. You don't hear the pope come out and say he thinks the Protestants "deserved" to be attacked because of their foreign policy. Sure you always have extremist groups in any religion, but I think in Islam they are much more mainstream than they are in other religions.
I could go on and on with examples but I hope I have made by point. It seems to me that Islam is perhaps one of the most intolerant religions on the planet. Disagreeing with its beliefs will get you killed at worst, and probably shunned at best. If America is so intolerant why are dozens of religions able to co-exist (INCLUDING Islam) without any major issues? Its not like Baptists are blowing up Catholic churches every other week, or killing dozens of eachother every other day. Yet this seems to happy frequently in Islamic countries..
Don't get me wrong, I don't think ALL Islamic/Muslim people are intolerant.. I think many of them are wonderful people.. but unfortunately I think the extremists control the religion in many/most Islamic countries.. I don't think Islam is intolerant in and of itself, if I remember correctly the Koran actually acknowledges Christ as a prophet, but not as the savior. Yet somehow, many Islamic counties look at Christians are people who deserve to be exterminated, not understood or accepted. It seems to go against the Koran, but nothing is ever done about it..
Anyways, I am sure this will turn into a flame fest, but I hope I somewhat made my point..
This got me to thinking, how can Americans be labeled as intolerant when Islam is perhaps the most intolerant religion there is on the planet? Lets think about this for a minute. In most Islamic countries, women are treated as, at best, as subservient to men.. as worst, they are treated like animals. They don't have a right to vote, be seen in public, hold jobs/careers etc.
Most foreigners are treated poorly as well.. If you are an American even in somewhat U.S. friendly countries like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, you still don't get treated very good at all.. and if you are woman, forget it..
Then look at hostile countries against the U.S. Counties like Iraq and Iran.. generally their opinion of American's is that they should be EXTERMINATED.. That's right, we should be DEAD. There is no tolerance there.. There is no even ATTEMPT at tolerance.. we deserve to die in their minds.. period. And it doesn't just stop at American's, Christians in general are treated this was as well.. Many Islamic counties support killing of Christians as well. Why do we as American's need to accept and adapt to the cultures of other countries, but they don't need to adapt or accept OUR culture? Why is it OK for them to just BAN any religious thoughts which don't fit with their thoughts, or even KILL those who don't conform?
When we visit Islamic countries we are forced to accept their customs.. Yet, if they come to OUR country, we are ALSO forced to accept THEIR ideas. Again, where is the tolerance? Could you imagine if we forced their wives to wear bikini's and thongs when they visited the U.S.? How is that any different than forcing our wives to cover their bodies when we visit their country? It amazes me how tolerance only goes in one direction.
And before anyone and goes and labels me a racist or a bigot or what have you.. I think I am completely justified that saying Islam is intolerant in general. Gallup recently did a poll of Islamic nations which asked if the people surveyed believed that the September 11th attacks were committed by Muslims. The VAST majority of counties voted overwhelmingly that they did NOT believe the attacks were carried out by Muslims. Even counties like Kuwait voted in the 85% range that they did NOT believe Muslims had anything to do with this attack. To me, thats equivalent to 85% of American's saying Timothy McVeigh had nothing to do with the Oklahoma City bombing... If Islam is so unwilling to even accept something like the 9-11 attacks could have been placed by members of their religion, then I can't see how they can be seen as tolerant..
And no, I don't believe Christians are perfect either, but like I said if you took a poll of Christians on the OK, City bombings, 85% of the people would not deny McVeigh had anything to do with it simply because he was a Christian or a Catholic. You also don't see major members of the religion condoning or involved with terrorist groups. How often do you see the Pope or a Bishop somehow implicated in an attack in Ireland for example? Never.. You don't hear the pope come out and say he thinks the Protestants "deserved" to be attacked because of their foreign policy. Sure you always have extremist groups in any religion, but I think in Islam they are much more mainstream than they are in other religions.
I could go on and on with examples but I hope I have made by point. It seems to me that Islam is perhaps one of the most intolerant religions on the planet. Disagreeing with its beliefs will get you killed at worst, and probably shunned at best. If America is so intolerant why are dozens of religions able to co-exist (INCLUDING Islam) without any major issues? Its not like Baptists are blowing up Catholic churches every other week, or killing dozens of eachother every other day. Yet this seems to happy frequently in Islamic countries..
Don't get me wrong, I don't think ALL Islamic/Muslim people are intolerant.. I think many of them are wonderful people.. but unfortunately I think the extremists control the religion in many/most Islamic countries.. I don't think Islam is intolerant in and of itself, if I remember correctly the Koran actually acknowledges Christ as a prophet, but not as the savior. Yet somehow, many Islamic counties look at Christians are people who deserve to be exterminated, not understood or accepted. It seems to go against the Koran, but nothing is ever done about it..
Anyways, I am sure this will turn into a flame fest, but I hope I somewhat made my point..
