I do

I have two Muslims in my family - one is married into it and the other is a converted Muslim. Both are really peaceful and lovely people just trying to get on with life.

I also had numerous friends who are Muslims when I lived in the UK. Some are a little on the fanatic side, but not to the extent some would have you believe. Obviously there's no doubt there's some extremists out there, but there's also some in the Christian, Jewish and all the other faiths that are out there.

A few of my old friends even went to the pub with us for our Ladbrokes Xmas Party and my leaving do.

i will use punctuation when you can spell
anyhow tell me again where are we fighting a war against the muslims as you put it. you can not answer to my previous reply :curse: and G where are you
i need educating

I presume he's in bed since it's the middle of the night in the UK

i thought he was a she gloves off then

Good on you Wendy. An enlightened person!

I don't understand what your point from the previous reply was. Was there one?

Oh yes! Christian extremists exist! Let us, for example take the Mid West America.... The teaching of evolution is some schools is actually BANNED because it conflicts with the creationist version of how the world came to being, as described in the bible... Apparently everything in this world was created by god and (Small g is deliberate... I am an atheist!) and everything has irreducible complexity... i.e. if any part of it was different it would not be possible!!!

Yeah, right....
I do not believe in god and mohammed/Muhammad was a delusional man.... so shoot me!

Absolutely!

I too don't believe in all that rubbish.

You two WILL be put in front of a firing squad if you say that in a muslim country!!!

well they should see the joke i've put in 'take it outside'
christ i'll be hung at dawn

I lived in and worked in a Moslem country in the 70s. They were extremely kind and welcoming, we were given endless hospitality and made lots of friends, some of whom later lived and worked in the UK. I went to school with lots of Jews at a time when some people were savagely anti-semitic, rather like some are anti-islamic now.

I'm an atheist and think anyone who tries to justify their actions by religion is potentially dangerous. I have no respect for religions but I do respect cultures, even if they are contrary to mine (Christian as I grew up in the UK).

Not everyone has had the luxury of education and freedom that everyone on BE does. People don't choose which culture to be born into and learning to live in another is not easy, no matter how hard you try.

Ah, but I wouldn't go to a muslim country I run away from Jehovah's Witnessess, wouldn't last two minutes somewhere like that!

Excellent post.

Thanks for such a balanced view.

Not in Turkey!!! Been said.. no repurcusions

'Tis true.
Religion is an indoctrination... mostly introduced by parents, who were introduced by their parents.... etc....Of course there are exceptions, late conversions etc... but they do not form the majority of most religious communities.
If this is the accepted way of life for the whole country then few people question it, indeed most go to lengths in order to preserve it....
The latest result of which we have seen in Sudan this week.
We are pre occupied with this presently, but on a wider scale we see women stoned to death for adultery (sometimes this is merely talking to a man who is not a member of your family)
We see girls undergo barbaric female circumcisions... in the name of religion
In the 60's we saw girls who had been raped/seen as provacative or promiscuous /fallen pregnant in Ireland admitted to a Convent (Magdalene Sisters),their babies forcibly taken from them and put up for adoption. Treated like slaves, made to work long hours for no pay, All of the money made from their toil was taken by the Catholic Church ... after all women are to blame for the dreadful actions of men... not so many years ago either! The only difference was that it was all done behind closed doors...
We can look further back to the Spanish inquisition to find truly terrible torture and punishment in the name of the Catholic Church... There is no religion that does not have blood on it's hands.....

The fact is that the most terrible things that happen in the world are done in the name of religion.... and it's still happening. It's unfortunate that a British teacher was foolish enough to make a simple error of judgement...
Politically it suits the Sudanese government to occupy the media with this whilst they get away with more serious attrocities against the people of Darfor

(Ali steps off soap box and slinks into corner!)