You could view the ruling as upholding Mass. traditions and history. Inmates deserve a certain degree of rights. What's great about this country is that every state and their people get to decide on their own. Oxen and camel is a bit odd, but cows are allowed. Are orthodox Jewish criminals not allowed to eat kosher foods because it's difficult?
so Islam has to be "reformed" to meet your standards? what a joke people who do nothing deserve your contempt as well? what if they're struggling to find food and just trying to survive under a US sponsored dictatorship like Egypt? But I'm sure they're all the same to you by your definition, if nobody does anything about the policies of the Bush administration then they deserve comtempt as well....so i guess you deserve contempt from all of us What about Hakeem or Kareem or Abdur-Rahim? What do you think of them? Are they the "good" ones? What about Abdul-Rauf? Is he one of the "bad" ones? earlier i asked you what you think about Muslims who don't agree with your ideas and dont wanna "kill" you and you replied that they must be stopped.....so do you want to kill people that dont agree with you or your ideas? or how do you propose that "they" be "stopped?" you're guilty of the same intolerance you're accussing Muslims of it's clear you dont know anything about Islam or Muslims and all you think you know has come from random articles from the internet.....you have no credibility as many on here already know and have exposed yourself as an Islamophobe
They can reject hatred and violence. That's really not too much to ask. I support George Bush's policies.
I'm glad you admit you know nothing about Muslims or Islam, because it's pretty apparent you dont do you reject violence committed against Muslims by US sponsored dictatorships like in Pakistan and Egypt?
I have no fondness for either government, but I don't see a good alternative in either case. Actually, I did not concede that I don't know anything about Islam. I merely stated that is was not essential in coming to a judgment that beheading innocent people or blowing up hotel lobbies is a bad thing. Is there some part of the Koran that endorses this behavior?
you still didnt answer my question, do you reject violence committed against Muslims by US sponsored dictatorships like in Pakistan and Egypt? and can you answer this question, are you or are you not an expert on Islam, Muslims, and/or the Middle East?
Once again, what are our alternatives in those countries? This may be the best we can get at the moment. And some of the Muslims in those countries have been engaged in terrorism against those governments. Are you saying one has to be a self-annointed "expert" on Islam or the Middle East to comdemn terrorism?
please answer my questions directly and quit trying to answer them with questions of your own so freedom to choose and democracy and self-determination and controlling one's own destiny is only good for some people and not others....that's a borderline racist argument this may be the best "we" can get....wtf??? you dont live in those countries, what about the millions living under tyranny and oppression that is funded by the us govt?? please answer my questions directly
Answer me this - if the US pulled out its support for those countries, would a benevolent democracy emerge? That would be preferrable to the current regimes, but I don't that see that happening in the near term. Keep in mind the democracy is not just about elections, it's about respecting dissent as well. Adolph Hitler did not come to power in a palace coup.
yeah we see how dissent is tolerated in america....the thought police are everywhere....will you please directly answer the questions that i brought up in my previous posts and stop responding to my questions with other questions???
Keep in mind that if Democracy is about "respecting dissent as well", then the United States has not been a Democracy since 2000. And if that is the case, then all of George W. Bush's talk of "spreading democracy in the Middle East" is pure bullsh*t, as I have always felt it was. Take a look at how "dissent" is "respected" in Iraq. Also, please keep the Hitler references out of this discussion. Apples and Oranges, my friend. Thanks.
If dissent weren't respected in Iraq, then why haven't we kicked out Al Qaida TV (ie Al Jazeera)? Yeah, no dissent in America. I feel so bad that Al Gore, Dick Durbin, Cindy Shehan, Michael Moore, etc are all rotting away down in Gitmo. So sad. It's so sad that illegal aliens can't even make their voices heard with mass protests. My point about Hitler was merely the means by which he gained power. Elections are not the entirety of democracies.
The U.S. has no jurisdiction to kick out Al Jazeera(which has no connection with Al Qaeda. Do some research.) The U.S. did however kill one of Al Jazeera's reporters and claiming that somehow there was gunfire from the building. That claim was clearly not true, as reporters from ABC, and other journalists who were on the scene testified to. In addition the film and video footage that was being taken at the time of the reporters death, shows no gunfire from the hotel at all. This was not the first attack on Al Jazeera by the U.S. either. Why don't you ask those mass murdered, imprisoned and tortured while being kept in a govt. building of the new tolerant Iraqi govt, how they feel about dissent being tolerated.
It's tolerated more than it was under Saddam. Besides, I would never claim that Iraq is now a democracy. It is merely a country that has taken some baby steps in that direction.
So showing film of the civilian casualties of American and Insurgent bombings in Iraq is dissent? Educate Thyself Nope, no Gitmo, but labelling them "traitors" and "treasonous" simply because they oppose Bush's policies seems to work fine for Bush's blind loyalists. By doing so, they cheapen the meaning of a word they obviously don't understand in the first place.
Those people I mentioned don't simply oppose the policy, they want the other side to win. Funny, whenever the terrorists want to broadcast a video, Al Jazeera seems pretty accomodating.
1. Neither you nor anyone else has once showed any proof that any of the people you mentioned want the other side to win. Simply accusing those dissenters some of whom are great patriots of wanting the other side to win, doesn't make it so. I even started a whole thread asking for proof since people make that accusation so much. 2. They broadcast the tapes because it is news. They also broadcast Bush administration officials anytime they want to get a message out.
This does raise an interesting sticking point. When some supporters of Islam are asked to condemn terroristic violence there are three typical responses: 1) Openly condemn the violence 2) Say they don't condone violence but other people are doing bad things also so I won't condemn it 3) Support it openly It seems like a few posters here fall into the 2nd group. That is what is hard to understand -- no matter what flying planes into building, suicide bombing civilians, blowing up hotels is wrong. Unequivocably under all circumstances it is wrong. I would like to think that all civilized people could agree to that. Any answer that comes back with "Yes, that is true but....." is providing support to terrorists.
