(December 31, 2014 at 3:39 am)robvalue Wrote: I realise this all probably sounds ridiculous and I'm throwing some sort of self pity party. That's not the intention, I just wanted to try and sort things out without having to wade through what else might have been said. It's totallly my problem, not anyone elses, that I sometimes take things to heart too much which is why I haven't read any more comments before posting this. I'm taking a break from the forums for a while, as I've been too obsessed lately. I want to thanks everyone though, I've felt part of a great community and felt very welcomed. I'll probably be back after a while.
I hope you come back soon. This particular issue is a really sensitive one among liberals and needlessly so in my opinion. A lot of emotion gets dumped into it, as evident from how you saw Affleck literally turn red in the face with rage before he tried to shout Harris down, proving Harris' point that liberals are unwilling to oppose or discuss Islamic theocracy.
To some on the left, to criticize Islam is the same as saying we should round them all up and kill them. To suggest there might be a relationship between Islamic violence and Islamic theology, or to even want to discuss the issue, earns you the label of "racist".
By the way, if a Muslim loses his faith and becomes an atheist, has he changed his "race"? Does that mean that atheism is also a "race"? I'm still fuzzy on the whole Islam-is-a-race thing. I do agree that "race" is an arbitrary, poorly defined concept anyway but I was under the impression that a "racist" was someone who hated people for their genetic heritage rather than what nutty ideas they decided to adopt.
Is the hysteria among some liberals based on slippery-slope thinking, that today we are criticizing Islam and tomorrow we'll be sending them off to concentration camps? Or is there some other reason why we're not allowed to have a discussion about Islamic teaching?
If it helps to reassure some liberals concerned about the prospect of violent persecution of Muslims, let me remind you that all religions die with the utterance of two magic words:
"PROVE IT!"
Thomas Paine once wrote in his conclusion to The Age of Reason, that where ideas are expressed and exchanged freely, Truth will finally and powerfully prevail.
Atheist Forums Hall of Shame:
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
