Radical Islam in Somalia

[Lulu2]

Right-wing fundamentalists have begun wresting power in Somalia, making television illegal. Two fans watching the (now illegal) World Cup broadcast were murdered by militia after they opened fire on a crowd, killing a young woman and a businessman.

Movies and television are banned unless they fit into the range of religious instruction acceptable to the Islamic regime.

If I haven't said this before, I've made many visits to Africa and have met some lovely Somali people in Kenya. Some of the most beautiful women I've ever seen were Somali. Guess what's on the slate for THEM?

Like their Afghani sisters, they'll be wearing burkhas, forbidden education or employment and thrust back into the 14th century, along with the rest of the country.

Yet another example of why radical Islam is a scourge on the planet!

[golem]

Not to mention female 'circumcision'. Not a specific directive in islam, but interpretation of the koranic verses are used to justify the practice.

O well know that we are frequently criticized for practicing male circumcision, but there are well proven medical advantages to it and the findings coming out regarding the transmission of the HIV also is worth note, but female genital mutilation?

No way. It is barbaric and hidious as are the results.

No benefits AT ALL, loss of sexual pleasure, and horrific pain when it is carried out, as it usually is, on a pubescent or pre-pubescent girl using a (frequently old) razor blade or even a piece of broken glass. Just to keep the woman "modest" and in reality, in her place.

There is no place for islam in the modern world.

This is well understood by the islamic adherents who, rather than try to bring islam into the modern world (actually and in spite of the BS to the contrary it can’t be done) instead have an agenda to drag the modern world back to the 7th. Century ‘morality’ that existed in tribal and frequently nomadic states and tribes.

I utterly detest islam as it is the very antithesis of decent and moral and evolved civilisation. I pity the people brainwashed into actually wanting its claw like hold over them.

[gmc]

Maybe there's no place for intolerant religon of any kind in the modern world. You can find similar intolerance amongst fundamentalist christians in attitides towards sexual freedom and women or trying to insist creationism be taught in schools as an established fact rather than the myth it is. You get religious terrorists prepared tp blow up abortion clinics and murder those who work there all in the name of their religon.

Any religon that preaches their way and no other has the capacity to produce extremists. Maybe a love of violence and intolerance is a basic flaw of religons that stem from harsh desert environments. You don't have to look very far back in history to find christians every bit as barbaric as present day fundamentalists.

Let's rid ourselves of all the superstititions. What a wonderful world we'd have without religion. Imagine a world totally rational, devoid of the irrational notions of religion. I can only hope I suppose.

[venus]

I know many muslims who like those of you who are reading this are shocked by the treatment of people under radical beliefs..

they have left countries of their birth for these very reasons..

so please people remember it is the radicals who are behaving this way not peaceful democraric 21st century living muslims..do not tar with the same brush all who have a common word associated with them..


personally lm with lennon on this..."imagine no religion.........only the brotherhood of man"

I feel sad about ideas that say "islam is out of modern world".

I'm a muslim. I live in Turkey. I support democracy, human rights.
As venus said, you should not tar all muslims with the same brush.

Osama bin Laden is a muslim. And he has supporters.
But are we in same class? He is one of the people i hate most on earth.

There are bigoted people in all religions. All the muslims are not bigoted. There are millions of democrat muslims on earth.

Islam is not in contradiction with democracy and human rights.
I wanted to give some links but the software says i must have 15 posts before posting links.

Sorry for my poor English.

[Bryn Mawr]

Originally Posted by onsekiz

I feel sad about ideas that say "islam is out of modern world".

I'm a muslim. I live in Turkey. I support democracy, human rights.
As venus said, you should not tar all muslims with the same brush.

Osama bin Laden is a muslim. And he has supporters.
But are we in same class? He is one of the people i hate most on earth.

There are bigoted people in all religions. All the muslims are not bigoted. There are millions of democrat muslims on earth.

Islam is not in contradiction with democracy and human rights.
I wanted to give some links but the software says i must have 15 posts before posting links.

Sorry for my poor English.

Welcome, your English is very much better than my Turkish so I hope you persevere

I think that those who hate the Muslims as a general group are the exception and most people will not tolerate that kind of racial bigotry.


One of the problems is mis-information and misunderstanding and only seeing the extremes of behaviour being reported. Getting to know a person or a culture is the best way of coming together – out of ignorance comes distrust and out of distrust comes hated.

[Lulu2]

Venus, please read this thread carefully and you'll see that, with one exception, we have all spoken against RADICAL religions. Nobody has painted all of Islam with that same "brush."

Certainly radical Christians exist and perpetuate terrible crimes against health care workers. They also spend considerable resources to deny civil rights to people with same-sex partners.

Much has been done in the past by Christians to eradicate cultures and religions of other groups.....just as radical Mulims are doing today in many parts of the world.

I've been to Turkey and seen that women do have some rights there. Take care--radicals are waiting to take those rights away. You must admit that the greatest danger to human rights in the world today (especially the rights of women) is posed by radical Islamic forces.

[Sheryl]

While I'm not exactly ready to jump on the no religion band wagon, I am tired of all the radical sects of all the religions that exist today. I've worked with folks whose faith was Islam, and they were nice folks with morals very similiar to mine. I've also met several fellow Christians in my church who'd I'd like to string up due to their narrow mindness toward other folk's beliefs.

[Lulu2]

amen!