The Big problem is that we dont have Christian Governments in the USA or UK. If they were we wouldn't be having all the problems we have now.. Love God above all things and love your Neighbour as yourself.
WITH RESPECT it sounded like good old Judao/Christian teaching to me with a little flowery language thrown in! Love thy neighbour and honor your Mother and Father written in the Commendments given to Moses.
Macbeth- is there any point at which you would ever dare to say something that someone else does or says is wrong, if they're from another culture ? I can't help but get the feeling that you're pussyfooting around the real argument here. I grew up in Dubai, UAE from the age of 8-14. It was the most peaceful, crime-free place I've ever lived, by far. I miss it, and I can't wait to go back some day. It's the only place I really consider home. During that time I got to travel to a lot of different contries, see a lot of different cultures, mostly muslim, some Hindu and buddhist, some rich and most poor. There's really no question that theocracies are failures as governments. Lil, I can really feel you reaching to defend Islam, but you're missing the train here. The nations that you're listing to try and defend your point, like the UAE- those countries are the least theocratic of the so-called "muslim" nations. Those nations emulate western, secular society far more than their neighbors. Their success in modern times is proportionate to how much they reject old, theocratic rule. By relying on them as examples to defend Islam you're only helping prove the point that theocracies suck. Which they do. Big time. Defending Islam is fine, by the way. I think it is every bit a religion of peace, love and acceptance as Christianity is. Interpret that however you wish. Let me clarify- theocracies suck- all of them. Whether they be the Christian theocracies of old western Europe, or the present day Muslim theocracies. (The one exception might be pre-invasion Tibet; but that's up to interpretaion.) They make for horrible governing bodies. You get a dude or group of dudes in power, and they become the voice of God, because they have a police/military force and justice system at their disposal, and whatever their interpretation of their particular holy document is law. Dissent is crushed. Justice is one-dimensional. "Holy Law" is undisputable, unless someone uses it to question the ruling body; then it can be "interpreted." Those of you who are arguing for and against Islam, I think you're missing the point. Double-check the difference between religion and theocracy. It just so happens that almost all the theocracies left in the world are Islamic. And they are nasty, nasty, nasty. If they would become secular democracies the world would be a far better place. And if that makes me a western imperialist pig, so be it. Those of you Christians picking apart the Quran and Islamic law, go flip through Leviticus sometime. Anybody that wanted to use the Christian Bible as religious law could do all the same unspeakable atrocious things that Islamic theocracies do. It's just that most western Christian-centric natons evolved beyond that a century or two ago. It's high time for the Middle East to catch up.
when i said :THESE ARE NOT MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE , AND IM SURE ABOUT THAT i meant the scientific things i love prophet moses ( blessings of god be upon him ) and he is one of the most important prophets in islam
bro/sis true .. still its more logical that the holly quran made muslims know about things the science just found out i mean like 100 yrs ago .. and there are LOTSA things mentioned in the holly quran like these scientific things and more ethical things THAT ARE NOT MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE OR TORA WITH RESPECT
folks please .. can ANY1 tell me the meaning of this word theocracies ? i went 2 dictionary.com but no translation 2 arabic words
Theocracies are religious governments, where the laws of a country are determined by scripture - countries like Saudi Arabi and Iran are theocracies.
Nolen, Well spoken.....and that is my entire point....all governments that are run by religious leaders are a joke, and doomed to fail. Heck, one day Vatican City will even crumble. DD
Of course you can't because Nolen is stating the obvious "theocracies suck- all of them" I agree as well -- but how can you not?
Maybe if the Mulsim governments could police their own people, powerful nations like the US and Britain would not feel the need to police these nations for them. Having lived in the middle east for 15 years and seeing things first hand, I'm sick and tired of the way the middle east is painting the west as the bad guys in this situation. Whether these nations will publicly admit it or not, I've seen the hatred for all things non-Muslim that fester in a large minority population in countries like Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Bharain, Syria, and Lebanon. These minorities have become a loud enough voice with enough followers that the leaders in these regions are afraid of them and do not take appropriate action to rid their nations of these kinds of people. So do you really expect the US and Britain to stand by while these kinds of people are attacking us and wait for the middle east to solve their own problems? I think that is very unreasonable. Muslims that hate what the US and Britain are doing in the middle east need to aim that hatred at the source not the solution.
Pal, the UAE is the most progressive state in the middle east. Go to Qatif, Hofuf, Yanbu, or some other city in Saudi Arabia and see how it compares to the Disney Land you lived in in the UAE.
And to add to what I've all ready said Nolen, there are things I do admire about the middle east and one of them is the region's approach to dealing with crime. While beheadings seem barbaric, they are effective as evidenced by the low crime rate in the region. Over all though, I think the rural populations in the region are living a middle age life style with middle age perspectives and now that we are seeing peoples who harbor this view organize themselves into violent retaliation against all things non-Muslim, it has become unacceptable to the west to allow this lifestyle to continue. That's what the long term goal is in Iraq. It is not oil, it is not political, and it is not revenge. It is an attempt, one that may be faulty, but an attempt to try and bring the region into the 20th century. IF this occurs, education will improve hopefully and with that education, we will start to see these kinds of dangerous perspectives become a small enough minority where they no longer effect the balance in the world. Really it is a problem that should have been dealt with a decade ago. It wasn't dealt with because it was too risky a problem to solve for western leaders politically until September 11th gave them the justification they needed to deal with the problem.
Deuce, I hope you're not blaming everything on the locals. Living there gives you some unique perspectives, but it does not (apparently) provide you with a perspective on the history of the US and the West in the region. Certainly, the West has had some positive effects on the region, but there is also some sad history (and I'm not talking the Crusades ... a little more recent).
