Who are the religious extremists? Karl Rove, Billy Graham, Jim Jones, David Koresh, Sarah Palin, various ayatollahs, imams, bishops, rabbis and other clerics, heads of theocratic and Zionist states, television preachers?
We all have opinions about extremism. My opinions are generally colored by my objection to theocracy. Religious foolishness considered rules and guidelines by individual religious people should never be the foundation for a nation's laws. Of course, our governments are informed by our cultural experience and our cultural experience is informed by our religious beliefs; but, we all know where the line should be drawn.
Well, intelligent, analytical people know how to draw the line. Smart people (like Karl Rove) who allow the manipulation of religion for personal gain are dangerous, and not-so-smart people (like Sarah Palin) who actually believe crap like "abstinence is the only way to prevent teenage pregnancy and sexually-transmitted diseases" are their handmaidens.
The American Born-Again movement is probably the most dangerous religious movement on the planet. In the past 30 years they helped elect a series of Presidents (one in particular, twice) who have endangered our nation's security and our standing in the world AND our economy.
The second most dangerous religious movement in the world is the Taliban, operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Their implementation of sharia law, with the blessings of the American right, is nothing short of terror.
Recently, the following video was distributed. It shows a 17-year-old girl being publicly flogged by adults. This is on the level of 17th Century American justice for women and lesbians accused of being witches. And that is how we should think of the Taliban (and their apologists and supporters): as 17th Century thinkers who need to be kept out of power and disenfranchised.
The video is disturbing:
Read more at Jihad Watch here, where some translation is offered.
1 comment:
@yThis is the kind of treatment that "moderate" muslims in the Taliban and elsewhere mete out: they are so oblivious to the inhumane nature of their actions that they proudly allow their hateful behavior to be video-taped. We can only imagine what the "extremists" were doing at the same time, off-camera.
To our detriment, we officially tolerate what is politely call "intolerance" when it is exercised by power-hungry mind-controlling pigs like the Taliban and other medieval sects. Why are we are so afraid of condemning the oppressive hateful actions of religious groups like Muslims when they fall short of outright mass murder?
We are shocked at the flogging of a 17-year old girl but we think nothing of the fact that she and all women under Sharia Law are reduced to faceless, powerless nothings to be abused by the men who control everything.
I always feel an unspoken rage boiling inside me when I am faced with a woman in this country who chooses to cover herself head to toe in one of those ugly sheets - is this what we went through the whole feminist movement for? I hate that modern day feminists defend these people in the name of "religious freedom." Fuck that shit!
I think we are weakened by the tolerance of religious intolerance because we fear having the contradictions and inconsistencies of our own religious beliefs exposed.
How can we condemn the Taliban acting on orders contained in the Quoran if we are Christian and have just as disgusting hateful shit pounded into us through what is written in the Bible? Better off burning the Bible and the Quoran. Burn all those old mind-fucking texts. Christians, Muslims, and anybody else who considers themselves "spiritual" would be a lot better off without them.
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