Pakistani police man kills sister for wearing jeans

I actually did not miss your post. I have not had time to prepare a complete response. The reason for that is because I am preparing for two exams and a paper.

I prepared a brief response since I am limited on time.
The UAE really did not move forward economically until the mid 1960s.
When it did, it was a result of the country being flush with cash from oil revenue. The Kings /Monarchy in the UAE are relatively progressive. I really applaud the Monarchy for supporting education for women and hope that they will be a model for other Arab /Islamic states.

However we need to put this in perspective.
First - the UAE is 6th largest hydrocarbon (oil) producing country in the world.
Second, it has a population of approximately 8 million.
Just to put this in perspective, its population is
1.) Little more than 1/3 the population of the greater New York area,
2.) Little less than half the population of LA
3.) 3 Million more than the greater Houston population of 5 million.

When we take these two factors together, we understand why the UAE is able to accomplish what it has. As long as the EAU is flush with oil revenue, the Monarchy can do what they want and therefore any social unrest that exists will not grow beyond water cooler chatter.

It would be awesome if what the UAE has accomplished could be replicated in other Muslim majority countries. It is highly unlikely given the oil revenue per capita for the UAE. No other country except for Saudi Arabia even comes close to the oil revenue per capita ratio that UAE enjoys. Right now, women’s rights and education is not widely promoted Saudi Arabia, and what rights they have been granted is the result of political pressure from the European countries.

Hypothetically speaking, could what was accomplished in the UAE be accomplished in Pakistan?
How about other resource rich countries like such as Iran, Iran, Libya and Afghanistan. What is the literacy rate for women in these countries. BTW, Afghanistan has a ton natural resources in the form of rare minerals.

As far as sectarian tensions are concerned, look what happened in Yemen and what is going on in Syria.

In regards to Burma, you need to take a look at all of the facts. The Muslims in Burma are from Bangladesh and even Bangladesh does not want them back. In fact, Bangladesh has refused to except them back. The United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon has begged Australia to take them in as political refugees.

Caring for 10 million refugees is no small task. Providing social services to these individuals requires significant financial resources which the world (UN) has asked Burma to do, despite the fact that Burma does not even have the financial resources to care for it's own people.

And it is not just about three rapes. Read the local newspapers and you will understand what is going on. There were numerous assaults and rapes. The three rapes were the rapes that broke the camels back. The Buddhist community simply got fed up with the multiple rapes by Muslims and anger boiled over, and mass protests erupted.

When you look at numbers, you need to look at both the percentage and total as well as the big picture.
You have used what happened in a single page out of a novel to advocate your position. It is highly deceptive and misleading. You are talking to a guy that spends a bare minimum of two hours per day reading foreign newspapers. You may be able to pull off your arguments with AroundTheWorld, but you will have a hard time doing that with me.

To put things in perspective, the New York Times, the bastion of journalistic integrity that we all know it to be, recently came out with a poll that said Obama was leading Romney by 6 percentage points nationally. To get those results, they had to oversample democrats by 11%. Their sample included Democrats by 45%, republicans by 35% and independents by 30%. When the sampling size was corrected to reflect the number of republicans and democrats as a percentage of the voting block, Romney leads by 1 percent. That means the race is a toss-up right now with the wind /momentum in Romney’s back.

 

It is well documented that a bunch of people engage in hideous acts in the name of God such as this. Really sickens me and is despicable. However, acts like these are not the message of Islam. Extremists believe what they're doing is what is commanded of them, which is false. They think God wants them to do what they do but they're wrong. I don't see it as much of a religion issue as I see it as a person issue. There are videos out there showing the US military killing civilians and treating prisoners pretty harshly but their actions are not representative of the integrity of the US military. Same goes for extremists not being representative of other Muslims or Islam.

 

Lol what's funny is that the 'well said' post has been posted many times before but with a different reaction from you and your kind.

Looks like you stopped taking your stupid pills.

 

Your reaction isn't anything better... unnecessary post is unnecessary.

 

Com-on... this is a rare moment were I see ATW being reasonable. We need to encourage that.

 

Its a lapse in his judgement, as soon as he sees one of his minions go off on Islam ,he will be back to his normal bigoted self.

 

Hurricane, do you still allege a link between Islam and female education/literacy after you've been presented with examples of Muslim women excelling despite being Muslim? It is pretty blatantly obvious that infrastructure, resources and government support drive female literacy/education in spite of any ideology, including Islam.

You seem to be arguing against yourself, saying that governments are responsible for the development, but also claim that Islam is responsible for any negative impact, although where government support and Islamism exist together - the results are neutral or positive.

FYI I still don't see any evidence of significant sectarian tensions in the UAE. I also don't see (if what you are saying is true) why females are advancing so quickly when the government doesn't force them to study and parents unfortunately legally have the right to stop their daughters from studying. If the majority of the country is pro-Islamism as you say, and Islamism opposes female education/literacy, then why are these Islamists' daughters bucking that trend while living with their "Islamist" parents and/or husbands the whole time?

You are right that the UAE has resources which other countries can't match per capita, but this is yet another argument against the influence of religion - in fact you are saying the availability of these resources is a dominant factor, and I agree with that. To twist this to say that you need resources to fight Islamism in order for females to advance is insincere of you, especially because as I describe those very same people you describe as Islamists are willingly allowing their daughters to further their education though they would unfortunately be within their rights to stop them from doing that.

 

I find it pretty disturbing for members who likely know more than me about the region to dismiss Pakistan as a backward nation, culturally and economically, when it's also the most unstable nuclear power in every diplomat's nightmares (with the exception of Japan and S. Korea) right now.

Hurricane, you got a lot more researching to do about Islam and geopolitical history. Too bad it might not help your major or anything....