Who am I ?

[Brian37]

Must suck to be from a country you can't, in good conscience, claim.  Similarly, it must suck to be from a religious tradition that;s been actively making that place shittier...so much so that you feel compelled to lay the blame for the current state of things on that one moment in time...when it's clear to anyone at all that had there never been such fuckery the middle east would still be a shithole, today.

Meanwhile, I'm over here wavin flags and shoutin murica!  Ever considered emigrating?  I think you'd like it here.

It does suck; and hurts a lot too if you think about it. It's more of a role you must act, an identity that doesn't fit, so you stay at this unrest all the time. You are judged by a role you were born into, carrying loads of weight that you never gained or even contributed to its gain.

That's how Sunnies and Shiites are coming to be: it's a matter of inheritance. If the family carries the religious affiliation, children carry it, and so the wheel keeps turning. Just like the nationality. The most fragile combination you might ever see; and when it's broken chaos invade the scene, producing that shitty world you see in the news.

Migration seems like a decent way out of this hell. But humans are not pretty nice; Multiple Sclerosis tops any considerations of leaving; they need healthy people to work; not sick ones that might infect the economy, forcing it to spend more on their wellbeing.

pocaracas

Atlas, would you like to live in a country where religion rules?... your religion...
Or a secular country where religion is a personal thing, like sexual orientation or the number of kids you want to have?

I would consider my religion to be leaving personal matters to people; things like belief and sexual orientation.
Forcing people to do something they don't want to; just doesn't fit my beliefs.

Secular systems are the closest to my beliefs. Attacking the personal beliefs of others is one thing the secular world avoided. And it's a good, good thing.

Um no, in the secular world we are allowed to blaspheme religion. I think what you mean is that ALL religions are protected equally under secular government. Humans deserve equal protection under the law, certainly, but claims as ideas do not deserve blind value.

[The Grand Nudger]

Hell, it's downright encouraged..and the only way to know whether or not you're truly living in a secular nation.  Keeps every imam in his place....which is far, far away from the levers of control. It's hilarious, and doesn't cost a single hellfire missile fired from a Predator's external pylon. Cost effective value-added freedom.

[ignoramus]

And all the imams are free and safe to complain about being persecuted! Win - Win.

[chimp3]

Hell, it's downright encouraged..and the only way to know whether or not you're truly living in a secular nation.  Keeps every imam in his place....which is far, far away from the levers of control.  It's hilarious, and doesn't cost a single hellfire missile fired from a Predator's external pylon.   Cost effective value-added freedom.

The U.S. was founded on blasphemy :

"Whenever we read the obscene stories the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness with which more than half the bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we call it the word of a demon rather than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind; and, for my part, I sincerely detest it as I detest everything that is cruel." Thomas Paine (The Age of Reason)