Cenk Uyguy gets it

[GrandizerII]

The problem with 'it's a cultural thing' is that you see similar problems across the Muslim world, which extends to many different cultures. All of them have problems with the oppression of women, all of them have problems with the repression of free speech, all of them have theocratic elements. To try to seperate culture from religion is to ignore that Islam have a profound and deep effect on the culture itself and that in the middle east especially, the culture stems from Islam as much as Islam stems from the culture.

I'll never understand left wing people like Cenk defending an extreme right wing ideology like Islam.

Well, I'm not too keen with your usage of the word "all" because that's not exactly true. Would you like to be a little less misleading?

Furthermore, many cultural practices such as FGM preceded the advent of Islam, and in fact some Christian and Jewish groups also perform these barbaric rituals. It is not just Muslims who do it, and not all Muslims do so anyway.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/art...0413000258

I will agree with you that religion can have an impact on the culture itself, but it's not an absolute rule and it's not something you can determine confidently with just speculations and selective observations. Relationships between variables can go both ways, and don't have to be in one direction only. And it's more nuanced than that anyway. Relationships don't tend to be so simple.