Bravery = openly critical of Islam

[Moliere]

This interview of Wafa Sultan, an American psychiatrist from Syria who now lives in Los Angeles, is from was Al Jazeera's "The Opposite Direction" shown February 21, 2006.

As much as I might be an outspoken atheist I would hesitate to put this kind of target on my back. I guess that's the point. Until enough people start standing up to religious intimidation these thugs and bullys will continue to rule the playground.

[Jeff]

This interview of Wafa Sultan, an American psychiatrist from Syria who now lives in Los Angeles, is from was Al Jazeera's "The Opposite Direction" shown February 21, 2006.

As much as I might be an outspoken atheist I would hesitate to put this kind of target on my back. I guess that's the point. Until enough people start standing up to religious intimidation these thugs and bullys will continue to rule the playground.

I hear ya. Another atheist here, and I realize that Islam is nothing to trifle with. I occasionally work with some Egyptians who are from around Cairo and they happen to be Christian. They were telling me how rough it is there for Christians trying to live amongst a mostly Islamic population. These people I work with told me that they left the country and came to the U.S. to live in peace. They told me stories about Christian businesses being set on fire, their cars torched as well, and street beatings were common. I'm not sure I can buy into the whole 'religion of peace' thing.

[denoginizer]

I'm not sure I can buy into the whole 'religion of peace' thing.

Now you've done it.  That just earned you a big red bull's eye.

[Jeff]

I'm not sure I can buy into the whole 'religion of peace' thing.

Now you've done it.  That just earned you a big red bull's eye.

Hey c'mon, it's not like a drew a cartoon of Mohammed or anything

[Moliere]

I occasionally work with some Egyptians who are from around Cairo and they happen to be Christian. They were telling me how rough it is there for Christians trying to live amongst a mostly Islamic population. These people I work with told me that they left the country and came to the U.S. to live in peace. They told me stories about Christian businesses being set on fire, their cars torched as well, and street beatings were common.

It's like going to a Raiders home game and cheering for the other team. Not the healthiest of habits.

[CSL]

I'm not sure I can buy into the whole 'religion of peace' thing.

Now you've done it.  That just earned you a big red bull's eye.

Hey c'mon, it's not like a drew a cartoon of Mohammed or anything

The iconoclasts won't know that until they behead you in your home.

[Jag]

Religions seem to all go through their own 'dark ages'. No one expected the Spanish Inquisition. Judaism wasn't all matzoh balls and bagels in the early days. Hopefully in 1000 or so years, we'll be joking about Mohammed over falafels.

[gameoverman]

Not only religions but societies in general.

It's all well and good to mock them for their malevolent backwardness, except in that even in this country people owned other people as slaves as recently as about 150 years ago.  That might seem like a long time ago but when you consider that span of time is almost half the time of this country's existence...

Even more recently than that it was against the law to sell alcoholic beverages in this country, we were so uptight.   Even more recently we had laws on who can sit where, who can drink from which fountain, who can marry who...oh wait, we still have those laws, hehe.  

Even now, as we speak(or type), we can spy on our own and make people we don't like 'disappear' with the best of them.   And we have no shortage of people who are willing to kill others to enforce those things.

So yeah, plenty of 'dark ages' to go around.