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Muslim Wife Beating

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by fshagan, Sep 21, 2007.

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  1. MegansPrius

    MegansPrius GoogleMeister, AKA bongokitty

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(fshagan @ Sep 22 2007, 12:13 PM) [snapback]516196[/snapback]</div>
    Absolutely, whenever the text is the "literal" word of God, wiggle room decreases. Hence a fundamentalist will rely on a literal Koran, and a moderate can rely more on the commentaries that have brokered the original text into something that works in a more modern society different from that of the text's origin. Note, I do think we some of this same sort of thinking with Christianity in regard to the evolution debate, where the Bible -- irregardless of its numerous translations, etc -- becomes again a literal word of God that cannot be questioned and the earth is suddenly 6000 years old.

    The spread of Wahabi influence in the U.S. and around the world is, to me, of major concern. I find it of much more primary importance in the "War on Terror" than, say, Iraq. That it is promoted worldwide by our ostensible ally, Saudi Arabia, with enormous investments of cash make it even more alarming.
    Ostensibly, since it is our ally spreading this doctrine, we ought to be able to apply political pressure, something noted clearly on PBS in 2001 and before Congress as far back as 2003. Recent reports, presented to Congress and reported in newspapers seem to indicate little progress. Maybe with another administration that isn't quite such a buddy of the Saudis. ;)

    Yet another reason to drive a Prius. :)
     
    #41 MegansPrius, Sep 22, 2007
  2. fshagan

    fshagan Senior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MegansPrius @ Sep 22 2007, 11:30 AM) [snapback]516232[/snapback]</div>
    Right ... even in the face of overwhelming evidence that a literal 6 day creation has not been a historic Christian view (St. Augustine argues against it, for instance).


    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MegansPrius @ Sep 22 2007, 11:30 AM) [snapback]516232[/snapback]</div>
    Independence from middle eastern oil is an absolute must, as are rational measures to protect our future civil rights ... that will include limiting the influence of fundamentalist Islam by the Saudis within our borders. They would not allow the Southern Baptist Convention to build a church in their country; they should not be able to finance a Mosque here.

    We don't push back as strongly against the Saudis because of our commercial relationship with them. That's the same reason the French appeared to be buddies of Saddam in Iraq. The West's relationship with the middle east has been a disaster, and it would be appropriate for us to develop other energy sources so they can go back to being backward, nomadic tribes that we hear about only on the occasional National Geographic special.
     
    #42 fshagan, Sep 22, 2007
  3. apriusfan

    apriusfan New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(fshagan @ Sep 22 2007, 06:23 PM) [snapback]516372[/snapback]</div>
    It would have been nice if that could have happened. Unfortunately, that opportunity never really existed. If it wasn't going to be the Western economies that developed the middle east petroleum resources, it would have been the Eastern economies.

    The reality is that we now have a post cold-war adversary that replaced the Soviet Union - radical Islam. Radical Islam will be nourished by petrodollars, so it is not going to go away. The challenge is going to be to develop policies and tactics to blunt it.
     
    #43 apriusfan, Sep 27, 2007
  4. fshagan

    fshagan Senior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(apriusfan @ Sep 27 2007, 03:47 AM) [snapback]518381[/snapback]</div>
    That is the challenge. The idea of "mutually assured destruction" (MAD) worked when our adversary was someone who, in the words of Sting, "loved their children too." But when the adversary is not a country, but an ideology, and when that ideology celebrates death and rewards those that help strap suicide bombs onto their children, you have a whole new ballgame. MAD only works for sane people.

    Colin Powell is rumored to warn against a "terror-industrial complex" in an upcoming interview. I'll be interested to see it; he's been prescient throughout the years, including with Iraq ("You break it, you bought it").
     
    #44 fshagan, Sep 27, 2007
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