If the Quran is supposed to be divinely inspired then the suggestion some of the text is the consequence of political considerations is blasphemous. That part seems relatively straightforward, if possibly alien/ridiculous to most Christians and atheists. — Benkei
Independent exploration is criticism — Tom Storm
I'm asking Muslims in the West a very basic question: Will we remain spiritually infantile, caving to cultural pressures to clam up and conform, or will we mature into full-fledged citizens, defending the very pluralism that allows us to be in this part of the world in the first place? My question for non-Muslims is equally basic: Will you succumb to the intimidation of being called "racists," or will you finally challenge us Muslims to take responsibility for our role in what ails Islam?
- Irshad Manji
Name one instance where it's not like this.
— baker
Literature. — Tom Storm
Oh, the political correctness!
— baker
What point are you making?
Equivocating a fatwa with a rule of law is just plain wrong. A fatwa isn't law and in this case the rule was also intended to have retroactive effect, because it imposes a punishment for behaviour that existed before the rule was communicated. — Benkei
Since nobody is harmed by Rushdie's book,
they can after all choose not to read it, punishing it is quite frankly ridiculous.
If you don't want to be aggravated or insulted, don't interact with people at all, don't read, don't watch television and don't listen to the radio.
In a similar vain, treason that could never damage people or protects a higher norm, shouldn't be punished either.
At the end of the day, you're supposed to think, feel, and speak about a literary text the way your superiors expect you to, or you fail the grade. — baker
I've seen it myself that when such an invitation is accepted and the requested challenge in fact posed, the religious get offended. All too often I've seen religious people be like one person in their public talks, but then, when personally addressed, it's like they become someone else, another person — baker
That's just the thing: It _is_ law. It is _Islamic_ law. — baker
The Islamic authorities disagree. — baker
Would you make the same case for hate speech? — baker
Wrong. It's not about not wanting to be aggravated or insulted. It's about not tolerating such aggravation or insult.
Nobody specifically wants to be aggraved or insulted. It is not fair to expect some people to quietly tolerate aggravation and insult, while others get to revenge themselves. — baker
Blasphemy does damage a higher norm. — baker
Example: If a person who is not a citizen of the US says or does something that the US authorities consider harmful to the US, what does the US do? They punish this person, and this punishment can include death. When another country does this same kind of thing, why is this problematic? — baker
The prophet comes across as a great man, and there is no contempt for Islam in that book whatsoever.
— Olivier5
You don't get to decide that. — baker
If the OP were meant just to itemize the good and bad acts of various political and religious entities so the we could announce a winner, I guess I could have done that, but such wasn't the goal. — Hanover
Finally,I'm not even sure if Rushdies attacker was a shia or just an extremist acting on his own steam? Why an inquisition before the facts are in? — Adamski
Get involved in philosophical discussions about knowledge, truth, language, consciousness, science, politics, religion, logic and mathematics, art, history, and lots more. No ads, no clutter, and very little agreement — just fascinating conversations.