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In reply to the discussion: At U.N., free speech divides West and Muslim nations [View all]socialindependocrat
(1,372 posts)When we're little kids we go along thru life and some kid comes up and says - You're parents are poor.
You shrug your shoulders and your friend says - I wouldn't let him say that about my family.
And so begins the belief that you should defend your family, girlfriend, etc. - you get offended
A lot of Americans have pointed out that they could care less if someone says something against their religion. I'm not embarrassed because it's my word against yours and my opinion against yours and we accept that people will disagree - especially about religion. We even say - don't talk about religion or politics if you don't want an argument.
I submit that the Muslim people have been taught and given permission that they can become outraged if someone says something against their religion and even if they create an image of their prophet. We say - so what. They say - I'll give $100,000 to anyone who does the right thing and kills this guy.
Look at all the killing that went on in the dark ages when the religious leaders could have a person drawn and quartered because they didn't agree with the "church" - meaning they disagreed with a person who had the power of life and death. Then we move to the Salem witch trials and people (mostly women) put to death because others were afraid of the boogie man.
IMHO I would say that the more a group sets up these unforgiving penalties for questioning a religion or a government the more they are trying to protect their view and not have to defend it in any way. If you're right you should be able to defend your position. We've seen throughout history that the people who demand a blind following are dictatorial and controlling and just don't want to be bothered with arguing their point or being confronted.
If all of our religions condoned killing non-believers we'd have global chaos.
If we didn't disagree with religious beliefs that were accepted at any point in history all of the "Christian" countries would all still be Jews - but someone started Catholicism and then Martin Luther started the Protestant religion. Major Note: I took a religion class and realized for the first time (at 53 years of age) that Protestant means the people who protested,
So, evolving beliefs allow new religions to evolve. Islam began because someone heard Mohammad speak and thought he had a point. Good for them. But killing all the people who disagree just stops the religion from evolving. Secondly - to condone killing has been illegal in the modern world for a log time - of course unless the government decides it's o.k.