Get out if you want Sharia Law......

[exstatic]

Call me when they start blowing up and beheading people.

Blowing up? <checks thread le>. This was a thread about imposing your religion and laws on others.

Pick a Southern Baptist congregation.

[E20]

The way AHF makes it sound is that they're beheading and bombing everywhere in the world.

[cherylsteele]

[QUOTE=Oh, Gee!!]I never said I oppose this country, but unlike you I recognize that this country was taken by deceit and violence. QUOTE]
In whose opinion?
It wouldn't surprise me that nearly every civilzation emerged through either "deceit" or violence or both in one way or another.

I understand that by deciet you are referring to native americans....yes, they have been on the short end of the stick when it comes to the american dream and such...has it ever occured to you they acquired there lands through possible deceit and almost assuredely violence?

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

This was a thread about imposing your religion and laws on others.

Pick a Southern Baptist congregation.

I'll give you that.

I apologize, this is obviously the first time anyone has ever gone off on tangent on this site in a thread , my bad.

[Marcus Bryant]

A nice summation of anti-abortion violence.

While it does exist, the level of it does not begin to approach that of Islamic terrorism.

It may be trendy to compare the results of Islamic fundamentalism with that of Christian fundamentalists, but the reality is somewhat different.

[Marcus Bryant]

Edit: just like a W supporter, complete disregard for truth. Just try to smear people's names and call them terrorists or unpatriotic for disagreeing with your view on "anything." (I assume this includes the war)

So it's fine to use stereotypes and broad labels so long as individuals agree with you.

[Guru of Nothing]

I understand that by deciet you are referring to native americans....yes, they have been on the short end of the stick when it comes to the american dream and such...has it ever occured to you they acquired there lands through possible deceit and almost assuredely violence?

I'm going out on a limb here, but I don't think American Indians were all about deception and property acquisition; literally, land ownership was a foreign concept to them. Or so I have led myself to believe. If someone can provide facts or anecdotes to the contrary, I'm all ears.

Violence, I'm sure there was some of that. So long as men are in charge, that s gonna happen - cold, hard fact.

I've always been facsinated with the thought, what would "America" be like had the Atlantic never been crossed? ... and if so, on which side of the ocean would I want to live?

[exstatic]

GoN - You should read a book called The Years of Salt and Rice. The premise is: what would have happened if the Bubonic plague were 98% lethal?

[Guru of Nothing]

GoN - You should read a book called The Years of Salt and Rice. The premise is: what would have happened if the Bubonic plague were 98% lethal?

Never heard of it, but I'll be sure to check it out. Sounds interesting.

[Extra Stout]

I'm going out on a limb here, but I don't think American Indians were all about deception and property acquisition; literally, land ownership was a foreign concept to them. Or so I have led myself to believe. If someone can provide facts or anecdotes to the contrary, I'm all ears.

Violence, I'm sure there was some of that. So long as men are in charge, that s gonna happen - cold, hard fact.

I've always been facsinated with the thought, what would "America" be like had the Atlantic never been crossed? ... and if so, on which side of the ocean would I want to live?

Those tribes were pretty brutal with one another. The Sioux, for one, were genocidal. The tribes who formed the council for which the state of Illinois was named were exterminated by the Sioux.

The annals of history are unpleasant.

[Extra Stout]

I guess it depends on what perspective you are viewing the war through. Here in the U.S., we have the luxuxry of looking at the war and saying it was a " up." How would you view this war if it was your country that was invaded by a world superpower and subsequently devolved into chaos. I think many people in that situation would view the invading country's actions as evil. I think this is how many people in the world see our actions. That's the part that bothers me.

The best understanding I have right now is that ordinary Iraqis have a complex reaction to the invasion. They hate all the destruction and killing, they hate the lack of security, yet the Shia and Kurds like having the big stake in running the country and control of their future, meanwhile the Sunnis hate us for taking away their power, and they're all pretty much sick of having our armed forces around and are eager for us to leave, yet don't trust that we ever really will leave.

Don't get me wrong. I don't lay the blame for this "dumb decision" entirely on the President, his administration, or even the Republican Party. There were plenty of Democrats that for whatever reason supported this war and are now crying foul. Where were these people when the decision was being made to commit our troops to this action? It seems that some politicians now realize that it is politically popular to protest the war and so they are jumping on the gravy train.

I say screw the whole damn lot of them!

One thing I would like to point out, though, is that as upset as people might be about the decision that was made in the first place, it can't be undone, and for as much as I doubt that a stable democracy can take hold in Iraq without a civil war first, I hope I'm wrong, and I support the hard work the troops are doing in trying to make this work.

It's dismaying to see all the bickering be about what was decided in 2003, which we cannot change, with relatively little being said about where we go from here other than "stay the course" or "bring the troops home."

[Extra Stout]

Hmm, let's see, I took a senior seminar on the history of Islam. There was 22 people in the class, only 3 of us were Americans, the rest were all foreigners who prayed five times a day. Do the math.

The best part about that class was they were very open on their world views, views of those in the Mideast, etc.

Don't get me wrong, they weren't all suicide bombers in training or anything, but we read the Qur'an and Hadith in that class, and it's pretty damn cut and dry as to what laws should govern society.

I stand by my comment.

And what do they say about living in societies in the Dar al-Hab?

[Extra Stout]

And why is it that within the Muslim world, we see governments as different as Saudi Arabia and Indonesia?

[Mr. Peabody]

[QUOTE=cherylsteele]

I never said I oppose this country, but unlike you I recognize that this country was taken by deceit and violence. QUOTE]
In whose opinion?

It's not an opinion, it's a historical fact.

It wouldn't surprise me that nearly every civilzation emerged through either "deceit" or violence or both in one way or another.

How does this change the veracity of his statement?

I understand that by deciet you are referring to native americans....yes, they have been on the short end of the stick when it comes to the american dream and such...has it ever occured to you they acquired there lands through possible deceit and almost assuredely violence?

So, we should just say "screw them, they got what was coming to them?" If that's the case, why should we be upset that people have now adopted that at ude about the U.S.?

[gtownspur]

And why is it that within the Muslim world, we see governments as different as Saudi Arabia and Indonesia?

What's the difference, one has slanted eyes and other has rag on head?...

Ofcourse, i'm being facetious. But that's a horrible comparison if you want to compare how muslim societies differ on tolerance or if you wanted to present polar opposites when it comes to tolerant muslim nations. The fact of the matter is that the Saudi gov is 2faced in wich they lend verbal support but then lend logistical and manpower to our enemies. Indonesia has a good history of persecution of non muslims in the worst sense. Can you say genocide. THe only tolerant muslim country is Turkey and France...jk.

[cherylsteele]

How does this change the veracity of his statement?

It dosen't.
He made it sound like the US has been the only country/civilization to use deceit and violence.

So, we should just say "screw them, they got what was coming to them?"

I never said that.....or implied that I felt that way. I don't in fact. I hope something can be done about that, but not too sure what we cou;d do to satisfy both sides.