EW,
Are your reading comprehension skills that poor, or are you simply too enamored with the Straw Man argument as a rhetorical device?
I really don’t want to take the time to address your litany of logical fallacies on a point-by-point basis, but given the apparent ease with which you are willing to mischaracterize my position, and then challenge that mischaracterization as if you are actually engaging in an honest form of debate, there are a couple of things I can’t let slide.
So now I’m “touting” Iran? Holding it up as “a paragon of Islamic Theological Virtue”? Since you’re confused, let me restate what I said, the context in which I said it, what I meant and did not mean, and what one can reasonably infer from that.
Windy90 stated that the Qur’an instructs Muslims to kill Jews and other "infidels", parroting a claim that has recently risen to the order of a meme within certain quarters. Since Iran is essentially a fundamentalist theocracy, it stands to reason that if Windy90’s claims were accurate, Iran is the sort of place where one would expect to see that “directive” carried out. Since Persian Jews continue to live openly as Jews in Iran, and are even recognized by the Iranian Constitution as equals, and protected as such, I think it’s safe to say that 90’s assertion that Muslims have a Qur’anic obligation to kill Jews and other non-believers is demonstrably false.
Now, as an aside, do I think the Iranian State is honoring it’s constitutional directive where Jews are concerned? Do I think the situation for Jews in Iran is good? Do I even question your assertion that Iranian Jews continue to be “demonized and discriminated against? No, I do not. The examples I cited were simply intended to underscore the fact that they are not being systematically killed in response to a Qur’anic directive (which, for the record, hardly rises to the order of a “virtue“). That’s all I was saying. As far as I’m concerned, theocracy represents a one-way ticket to tyranny. Homicidal restraint isn’t enough to put a sanguine spin on despotic rule.
“It is racist to not hold Muslim society and Islamic governments to the standards of world society”. If every other rhetorical device fails, there’s always hyperbole.
"And I will not follow RRose (sic) towards thinking that Muslims, because they are Muslims, are incapable of meeting civilized standards".
And I said this where exactly? I implied this how? To recapitulate (since it’s clearly the source of considerable confusion), I made four points in my previous post (three major, one minor). Point one: collectively speaking, the evidence suggests that Muslims do not believe they have a religious obligation to kill non-believers, regardless of what a couple of isolated passages from the Qur’an might suggest to some with an agenda when considered out of context (textual, cultural, or historical).
Two, that Islam represents a broad range of belief and practice, and that it’s wrong (both morally and intellectually) to reduce it to a monolithic, all-encompassing caricature. Disagreements about what it means to be a Muslim are as widespread within Islam as they are within Christianity.
Three (and this is the aforementioned “minor” point) if “Christians” wish to be judged on a historical basis by the same standards some would like to hold Muslims to, they won’t fare very well. And one doesn’t need to go back to the 12th century to make their case either. The 1940s would suffice.
Four, no Muslim should be required to apologize for the actions of another Muslim or group of Muslims simply becuase they can be identified as a Muslim. Individuals are responsible for their actions as individuals. Some fail, Societies collectively fail as societies, and when they do, they need to held accountable as such. On that point, we are in agreement. But it’s a different matter entirely when individual members of a society are chosen at random to serve as scapegoats for a larger community with whom they share some superficial characteristics. And when generic Muslims, regardless of personal beliefs, sensibilities, or background (e.g. American citizens who happen to be Muslim) are told that practicing their faith in the vicinity of Ground Zero represents an act of insensitivity, that’s precisely the dynamic in play.
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Topic: Victory Mosque. (Read 3027 times)