Politics

That's a good point. You're right in that Muslims can't expect others to follow our rules. And there are depictions of the Prophet (pbuh), both modern and ancient that haven't caused much of a fuss. And in this case it's pretty much just that fringe group revolutionmuslim causing problems.

But it's not just about idolatry. It's also about disrespect, and I don't care if it makes me fanatical in other peoples eyes, if the intention behind the depiction even just resembles a joke then consider me offended. It has to do with the esteem we hold the Prophet (pbuh) in. If people understand that, cool, if not, cool.

And to offset the seriousness of this post, here is a smiley

 

I can totally grok your viewpoint. for me it is all about context - I rarely take offense because the energy involved is, usually, better placed elsewhere.

 

Yay, finally some new SP episodes!

 

Can anybody here imagine a world where threatening and carrying out violent attacks against comedians who we found offensive, was common practice? Or even deemed as justified?
There wouldn't be any comedians left.
A world without comedy... *shivers*

 

Maybe few thousand years ago

 

Fanaticism on that level has no place in todays society, I can't understand why it's still tolerated.

I only just noticed that the last episode never made it to air over here, UK is normally pretty relaxed with censorship... They did pretty well to say they're just a random fringe group.

 

Just like in Watchmen where the Comedian had to die ('cos he knew the truth!)...

 

American media rarely tells it like it is. This is my first instance seeing a news organization other than FOX exposed as a propaganda churning machine. Doesn't mean it's never happened before. It's just as I said - the first time I have seen it.

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A must see/hear vid
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Got this from Happy Friend's facebook page. It's concise and to the point but it really resonates with me and with what I feel a lot of Americans (not just war vets) are starting to realize.

 

I find it hilarious that SP can make fun of jesus every other episode but can't with Mohammad. actually wait didn't they have a super friends spoof where Mohammad could control fire or something.

that shit was great lol.
all religions are silly, its just muslims have terrorist groups that'll shoot you if you mention they are silly.

PS I'm an ex-muslim current atheist. all religion is just super fairy tails meant to manipulate people like a parent manipulates a child (often with well.. fairy tails aka religion).

 

That was a nice clip, Tonyfamilia, thanks for sharing. I found that brief picture of former Prime Minister Tony Blair taking a photo while in front of an explosion to be quite disturbing... His memoirs were printed last week to much controversy in the UK.

 

I think most people forget that the Protestants at one point had a doctrine not too different from the muslims. They had deep issues with the common Catholic practice of building the statues of Mary and the Apostles and praying before their altar. Many fundamentalists still consider these practice as a form of idolatry and Catholic, thus, a false religion.

And if you look up history, the Protestants DID at one point go around destroying Catholic churches and religious icons that they considered idols.

 

Catholics say they're venerating rather than worshipping images. I'm not sure if they're right.

 

I find it interesting when people bring up things from the past about any religion. Such as the crusades and such.
That's like seeing two gang members in Texas get into a shootout in the street and when the smoke clears and some cowboys get upset and start trying to do away with gang-related violence you say something like:
"Well, back in the Wild West cowboys used to carry guns on their hips and they would resolve matters the same way so you can't say anything."

Dude, it's the year 2010 for crying out loud. Enough is enough. I'm no longer a Christian so this isn't about defending a religion but societies/cultures/mindsets are SUPPOSED to evolve and change. Does anybody here still act the same way they did 20 years ago?
Why expect the same behavior from a group of people after centuries have passed?
Christians stopped getting on their high horses and killing people because they evolved from killing in the name of their God.

The bible never said to kill those who wouldn't convert but Christians still got on their high horses and did it anyway.
The quaran (sp?) talks about killing but what you're supposed to be killing isn't clear and cut across the board for all Muslims.

In the bible it says one must kill the flesh, not other's flesh but your own... well, at least that's what it's been translated to now. Can't expect a book thousands of years old to maintain it's original integrity after getting passed down from man to man. There were obviously things added and taken away to suit the intentions of whomever was adding or taking away.

Anyway, archetypal religions are built to instigate internecine struggles within ourselves and towards each other so that we never come together and our minds stay enslaved.

 

Religion in itself is not a bad thing, It's ony when things become dogma that become troublesome. We need to keep questioning and criticize any piece of knowledge, be it scientific or philosphycal or religious. Taking as "absolutely true" any book or ideology is bound to lead to violence when the possibility of saying otherwise is seen as "evil".

 

Marly,I was thinking in terms of Buddhism and Shintoism that are more "flexible" religions, closer to philosphy. I think they are as such because for example, there are Japanese people who get married in churches, while for a devout Christian it would be weird to get married in a Buddhist temple (I think?).

My feeling is that religion should not require strict adherence to dogmatic rules...I might be wrong.