I smell a 'No True Scotsman' here.
What mo3 is doing is this:
1. Finding the most liberal sounding bits of the koran, and then taking the most liberal possible interpretation of them. Rather shockingly, this still supports wife-beating.
2. Claiming that muslim groups and societies that follow more oppressive readings of the koran and the hadith aren't really following islam (aren't true scotsmen).
3. Thus leading to his conclusion that islam is really okay- it isn't anti-woman after all.
Which is bullshit. Islam is hideously oppressive towards women.
The point being that these texts are ambiguous, much like the bible is, and are open to multiple interpretations. Mo3 is a liberal muslim following a liberal interpretation of the koran. The Taliban are at the opposite end of the spectrum- they're a group of sickos who do things like gas attacks on girls schools. But as far as they are concerned, they are following the true islam, and mo3 is not.
Mo3 and the Taliban are both muslims. If we want to evaluate islam, with regard to, say, its attitudes towards women, we need to consider both the liberal islam of people like mo3 and the brutal fundamentalist islam of the Taliban. Plus everything in between. And the picture that emerges is not good.
What mo3 is doing is this:
1. Finding the most liberal sounding bits of the koran, and then taking the most liberal possible interpretation of them. Rather shockingly, this still supports wife-beating.
2. Claiming that muslim groups and societies that follow more oppressive readings of the koran and the hadith aren't really following islam (aren't true scotsmen).
3. Thus leading to his conclusion that islam is really okay- it isn't anti-woman after all.
Which is bullshit. Islam is hideously oppressive towards women.
The point being that these texts are ambiguous, much like the bible is, and are open to multiple interpretations. Mo3 is a liberal muslim following a liberal interpretation of the koran. The Taliban are at the opposite end of the spectrum- they're a group of sickos who do things like gas attacks on girls schools. But as far as they are concerned, they are following the true islam, and mo3 is not.
Mo3 and the Taliban are both muslims. If we want to evaluate islam, with regard to, say, its attitudes towards women, we need to consider both the liberal islam of people like mo3 and the brutal fundamentalist islam of the Taliban. Plus everything in between. And the picture that emerges is not good.
He who desires to worship God must harbor no childish illusions about the matter but bravely renounce his liberty and humanity.
Mikhail Bakunin
A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything
Friedrich Nietzsche
Mikhail Bakunin
A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything
Friedrich Nietzsche
