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Ask a Muslim

F

figsfiggyfigs

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Who tries to oppress you with your religion?

Oh, and I concur with the statement about religion and oppressing people.

Oh just people I've had the unfortunate displeasure of meeting( through family events for example), or other folk in general. I've heard people making judgments quite a few times, trying to force their beliefs on others, but oddly enough, it is mostly traditional/cultural(older generations exhibit this the most); not even religious. They often mix up their culture/traditions with their religion, leading to the belief that certain standards are part of the religion itself, when it isn't.

I won't go into details or examples, because they're usually pointless, and make me want to punch someone's face in. :cheese:



There is too much idiocy going on in that link. Am I supposed to think something else of it?

Or are you referring to how old Muslims believe the earth is? Which I believe has not been "calculated". Ie: It's really fucking old.
 
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LEGERdeMAIN

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Oh just people I've had the unfortunate displeasure of meeting( through family events for example), or other folk in general. I've heard people making judgments quite a few times, trying to force their beliefs on others, but oddly enough, it is mostly traditional/cultural(older generations exhibit this the most); not even religious. They often mix up their culture/traditions with their religion, leading to the belief that certain standards are part of the religion itself, when it isn't.

I won't go into details or examples, because they're usually pointless, and make me want to punch someone's face in. :cheese:




There is too much idiocy going on in that link. Am I supposed to think something else of it?

Or are you referring to how old Muslims believe the earth is? Which I believe has not been "calculated". Ie: It's really fucking old.

I think that most scientists would agree that the exact age of the earth has not been calculated. Are all Muslims scientists?
 
F

figsfiggyfigs

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I think that most scientists would agree that the exact age of the earth has not been calculated. Are all Muslims scientists?

I'm with the scientists. If they happen to be Muslim, more power to'em!

[MENTION=9486]gromit[/MENTION]. I'm sorry. Blame the NTPs.
 
F

figsfiggyfigs

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I'll change and get this party started off right!

terrorist+islam+koran.jpg
 

lowtech redneck

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This thread is confusing when everybody has the same avatar.

But-But its such a massively cute avatar...confusion is a small price to pay for its replication!

Hmm, that's probably not helping with YWIR's misperception that I'm a feeler....
 

Antimony

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But-But its such a massively cute avatar...confusion is a small price to pay for its replication!

Hmm, that's probably not helping with YWIR's misperception that I'm a feeler....

Maybe we should ALL replicate it

:burns:
 

Coriolis

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A lot of people feel oppressed mainly by other external forces that manipulate their religion as a means to brainwash or oppress them. People have free will, and I wish people would step aside and not stick their nose into what people choose to believe or do.

So. No, I am not oppressed by my religion. I do often feel others trying to use it to oppress me though.
You identify a crucial distinction here, between what might be called the theory of a religion and its practice. Most complaints against various religions seem to focus on the second, where human greed, corruption, fear, and other issues can trump even the most enlightened and inspiring elements of faith. Many of these behaviors are more reflective of culture than of the faith itself. They also are linked to whether someone has a more literal or more figurative interpretation of theory.

Most criticisms I have heard levelled against Islam apply equally to Christianity. Islam is a younger religion, though, by about 600 years. What were Christians doing 600 years ago? The Inquisition.
 

Mole

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Most criticisms I have heard levelled against Islam apply equally to Christianity. Islam is a younger religion, though, by about 600 years. What were Christians doing 600 years ago? The Inquisition.

This is the Moral Equivalence Argument, used by the Soviets against the liberal democracies during the Cold War. And today the Moral Equivalence Argument is used by the Islamists and their Marxist supporters also against the liberal democracies.
 

Coriolis

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So, just what was the Soviet Union saying the "liberal democracies" were morally equivalent to? You have not provided enough information for one to address this properly.
 

Mole

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So, just what was the Soviet Union saying the "liberal democracies" were morally equivalent to? You have not provided enough information for one to address this properly.

The marxists of the Soviet Union said that Communism and the USA were morally equivalent. This was plainly a propaganda lie, repeated by the fellow travellers in the USA.

And today we have the marxists and the fellow travellers of the Islamists saying that Islam and the USA are morally equivalent.

At the moment the strategy of the Islamists is terror in the third world and propaganda in the first. And the old and hoary Argument from Moral Equivalence is part of the propaganda push in the first world.
 

Coriolis

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Actually, the Soviets maintained that their communist system was morally superior to that of the US and other societies that left the masses to the mercies of dog-eat-dog capitalism. The vocal and violent minority of Muslims who commit crimes of terror may have a similar opinion of the west, but I suspect far more people in the west feel morally superior to all Muslims, however moderate their views and peaceable their behavior.
 
F

figsfiggyfigs

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Do you pray three or five times a day on a mat facing Mecca, reciting a prayer, kneeling and bowing down til your head touches the floor in an act of submission?
I believe any form of 'thanks' or grateful remembrance is a prayer in its own right. I have prayed like that before, yes. When I do, it is not because I feel any obligation, but because I feel a sense of peace during, and afterwards.

If so then where does the mat come from
modernprayermat.jpg

The mats can be usually purchased at any Arabic store(or now, online). If it is unavailable, they're made by hand. Some people even rest their heads on mud rocks, as they bow, believing that earth is the purest mineral(we're not talking about quality here), and hence, is the cleanest form of contact to the spiritual realm. This is usually demonstrated by people of the Shia faction.

and how do you always know which direction Mecca is in and do the paryers change?

800pxqiblaprayerdirecti.jpg

The "Qiblah/Kiblah" is the direction in which Muslims pray. It is the direction to Mecca. In mosques, it is pre-signaled by the workers( if you've ever been in a Middle Eastern country like Kuwait/ Dubai, and entered their Airport mosque, you'll usually find these attached to the walls). Domestically, a compass can be used(often attached to the Mat itself), or an estimation can be made by the observation of the sunset and sunrise.

Do some more conservative muslisms do something like this if not all?
Yes, most do. But it ultimately depends on the individual, the time invested, and if they follow the Hadiths(that go into deeper and finer details--which is NOT something that is supposed to be mixed up with the religion; something which most Muslims are unaware of.

Have my questions already been asked
?
No clue. I haven't really been paying any real attention to the thread when I made it. I'm not going to go back and check either.

Do you think they are stupid/ignorant?
Ignorance always plays a part in asking questions. Stupidity and malicious ignorance, not so much. There is nothing wrong with seeking answers.
 
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Mole

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Actually, the Soviets maintained that their communist system was morally superior to that of the US and other societies that left the masses to the mercies of dog-eat-dog capitalism. The vocal and violent minority of Muslims who commit crimes of terror may have a similar opinion of the west, but I suspect far more people in the west feel morally superior to all Muslims, however moderate their views and peaceable their behavior.

Please! During the Cold War, it was the peaceniks in the West who made the propaganda of Moral Equivalence.

And today, during the global Jihad, it is the Islamists and the marxists, again in the West, who make the same propaganda of Moral Equivalence.

Leopards don't change their spots - and we are the lunch.
 

Coriolis

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Please! During the Cold War, it was the peaceniks in the West who made the propaganda of Moral Equivalence.

And today, during the global Jihad, it is the Islamists and the marxists, again in the West, who make the same propaganda of Moral Equivalence.

You originally wrote:

This is the Moral Equivalence Argument, used by the Soviets against the liberal democracies during the Cold War. And today the Moral Equivalence Argument is used by the Islamists and their Marxist supporters also against the liberal democracies.
which looks like a claim that Soviets, and not "peaceniks in the west", were arguing moral equivalence.

In any case, there is moral equivalence. Murder is wrong, whether done in the name of Islam, Christianity, communism, or just plain greed and prejudice. So are lying, deceit, coercion, and many other human behaviors. No faith has a monopoly on these, nor on the virtues.
 

Mole

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Cultural Relativism and Demoralisation

...there is moral equivalence. Murder is wrong, whether done in the name of Islam, Christianity, communism, or just plain greed and prejudice. So are lying, deceit, coercion, and many other human behaviors. No faith has a monopoly on these, nor on the virtues.

This is called cultural relativism and is a propaganda technique to demoralise us.
 

Coriolis

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This is called cultural relativism and is a propaganda technique to demoralise us.
You are welcome to call it what you like, though at the risk of confusing others. To me, it sounds pretty absolute (murder is wrong, no matter who/where/what you are), and simple common sense.
 
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