Why do Atheists defend Islam?

[Catholic_Lady]

I try to be objective when it comes to Democrat vs Republican politics, but this is just plain false. 80% of Republicans want drawing a picture of Jesus (or whatever else) to be illegal? Umm source please? Let's not make ridiculous false accusations about an entire group of people.

I said they are just as bad. I did not however say what you think I said. Quit strawmanning.

Ok, then what would make Republican people equally as bad as 80% of Muslims thinking it should be illegal to draw a picture of Mohammed?

[GrandizerII]

I said they are just as bad. I did not however say what you think I said. Quit strawmanning.

Ok, then what would make Republican people equally as bad as 80% of Muslims thinking it should be illegal to draw a picture of Mohammed?

You saw the polls I linked to in another thread, but perhaps you forgot.

Halfway to Theocracy

44% of American Republicans want Christianity to be the official religion of their country, and a slightly less percentage want Islam to be made illegal. Yet no one criticizing Muslims (I do not mean you) is batting an eye at results like this even though this is just as disturbing as the poll results they like to state regarding Muslim opinions.

For me, this is just as bad.

[Mechaghostman2]

Yeah, that 44% number came from a survey of a whole few hundred people. It was hardly a representative sample size of Republicans as a whole in this country. But let's assume that such a number is uniform to all Republicans, that still isn't the majority of Republicans.

[Catholic_Lady]

Ok, then what would make Republican people equally as bad as 80% of Muslims thinking it should be illegal to draw a picture of Mohammed?

You saw the polls I linked to in another thread, but perhaps you forgot.

Halfway to Theocracy

44% of American Republicans want Christianity to be the official religion of their country, and a slightly less percentage want Islam to be made illegal. Yet no one criticizing Muslims (I do not mean you) is batting an eye at results like this even though this is just as disturbing as the poll results they like to state regarding Muslim opinions.

For me, this is just as bad.

That poll shows that 90% of Republicans do not want to remove religious freedom from our constitution. Which is contradictory to the other poll results about Islam being illegal and Christianity being the official religion. Obviously this makes me question the credibility of that poll.  

But ok, for arguments sake, let's say the 44% is accurate.  

I still don't see what kind of math you were using when you conclude that 44% is "just as bad" as 80%.

[CapnAwesome]

Ok, then what would make Republican people equally as bad as 80% of Muslims thinking it should be illegal to draw a picture of Mohammed?

You saw the polls I linked to in another thread, but perhaps you forgot.

Halfway to Theocracy

44% of American Republicans want Christianity to be the official religion of their country, and a slightly less percentage want Islam to be made illegal. Yet no one criticizing Muslims (I do not mean you) is batting an eye at results like this even though this is just as disturbing as the poll results they like to state regarding Muslim opinions.

For me, this is just as bad.

Lots of liberal European countries have official religions. Does that make the English government as bad as Islam? An official religion is hardly the same as a theocracy and 44% is hardly 80%. I think you can look at the actual laws that exist in Islamic countries and you'll never find any republican of note suggesting: The cutting off of hands, the stoning of anyone, women being legally denied an education or the right to drive, women not being allowed outside without a male escort or anything close to the equivalent.

It's fine to be critical of Republicans but keep it in perspective.

Edit: Not to mention death penalties for Atheism and apostasy that only exists in the Muslim world.

[Catholic_Lady]

Something else about the accuracy of that poll:

"I went to look at the stats on this poll; here's some info you otherwise might not know:

1. They polled 1,338 people. That's all. That's less than the number of people in my small town high school.

2. They did 80% this through a phone poll, so that further limits it to people who will actually take a phone survey. (The remaining 20% was via internet.)

3. I couldn't find any more information on the people they polled: nothing about where they live (did the surveyors poll locally? statewide? nationwide? rural? urban? suburban? a mix of locations?). Nothing about their economic status. Nothing about their race. Nothing that gives any kind of relation between their age (which was asked) or their gender (which was asked) and how they answered.

4. Many of the "charts" in the poll are meaningless. I invite you to go look at the charts that compare, say, the options of Islam should be legal or illegal, and Christianity should be our Official U.S. religion, support or oppose... they simply stuck varying percentages in there with no clue or key as to how they relate to the two points. They don't make it clear if the "Base" refers to percentage of people who think Islam should be legal or illegal, or if it refers to percentage of people who think Christianity should or should not be the official state religion here. It gets more confusing when you try to figure out what the other percentages are for---example: if 56% of the people polled think Islam should remain a legal religion here, reading on horizontally seems to say that of those people, 33% support making Christianity our official state religion, 78% oppose it, and 27% are not sure. 33+78+27 is far more than 100%, folks. Those polled can't offer multiple options on an answer. If they're indicating the opinions of the 56% who want Islam to remain legal on the other question (Christianity as official religion), they're barking out their ass.

5. Polling size and info on those polled MATTERS. For instance, if you went to the small bible-belt town where I grew up and polled 1338 people on whether or not Christianity should be our official state religion, you'd likely get a much higher percentage of people saying "Yes" than you would if you polled the same number of people in, say, one of the avant-garde areas near where I live. If you poll on the campus of Liberty University, you're going to get a much higher percentage than if you poll on the streets of San Francisco.

Basically, this "poll" is JUNK. Shame on the diarist for using it. Next time, find a comprehensive poll by a reputable source, that actually offers and documents the specifics needed to show that the information has some relevance... not something that has less veracity than a social media quiz."

...Found this on the comments section. Obviously this person could be making this whole thing up, but if anyone cares enough to fact check go right ahead.

[abaris]

Here's a video of Bill and Sam talking about it. Obviously I don't agree with all their sentiments here, but they are 100% correct in pointing out the double standard. I am not fans of these men but they hate Christianity as well, so they have no dog in this fight and are being objective. The way Ben freaked out only further proves their point.

Harris, for various reasons, doesn't have any credit in my book. Maher is at least funny. But both are known to make blanket statements, especially when it comes to muslims. Maybe Harris is just provocative, but personally I don't believe that. He's always butthurt when being called out on one of his statements, going on and on about how he's misunderstood and feels the need to explain himself even after a televised interview. For me, the most dubious of all the prominent atheists.

[GrandizerII]

But let's assume that such a number is uniform to all Republicans, that still isn't the majority of Republicans.

So? Still a large number. Perhaps it needed to be 51% for you to be disturbed by it?

And a few hundred is still a good sample size. I don't know if this is representantive of the population of interest, but one can ask the same about the poll results you quoted.

[GrandizerII]

You saw the polls I linked to in another thread, but perhaps you forgot.

Halfway to Theocracy

44% of American Republicans want Christianity to be the official religion of their country, and a slightly less percentage want Islam to be made illegal. Yet no one criticizing Muslims (I do not mean you) is batting an eye at results like this even though this is just as disturbing as the poll results they like to state regarding Muslim opinions.

For me, this is just as bad.

Lots of liberal European countries have official religions. Does that make the English government as bad as Islam? An official religion is hardly the same as a theocracy and 44% is hardly 80%.

Sure, but it's not like 80% of Muslims in the West want an Islamic theocracy as well.

I'm keeping it in perspective. But are you?

[CapnAwesome]

Lots of liberal European countries have official religions. Does that make the English government as bad as Islam? An official religion is hardly the same as a theocracy and 44% is hardly 80%.

Sure, but it's not like 80% of Muslims in the West want an Islamic theocracy as well.

I'm keeping it in perspective. But are you?

We aren't talking about Muslims 'in the west' we are talking about Muslims. Also there's only a 16% difference between Democrats and Republicans who want Christianity to be the state religion. Maybe they are just about as bad as well? Also everything else you ignored in that post, like England having a state religion and what 'state religion' meaning as opposed to theocracy meaning.


Edit: and yes I am keeping it in perspective, and no you are not.