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Originally Posted by belugagirl  Despite my hope that this could be a fruitful and thoughtful discussion, it's looking like contributions like Minnie's and Ali's are either being delivered to the choir (those who already believe that Islam in its essence is not the problem) or are falling on deaf ears. |
I'm not sure what you mean by this. The discussion started with the postulation that Islam is inherently violent and denegrated from there.
I do not believe that Islam is any more or less inherently violent than other religions like Christianity or Judaism.
Might I offer an alternate hypothesis?
Many (most) of the regions which are predominantly Muslim also happen to be part of the developing world. If anyone's been to the developing world, you'll know that many people there live and work out of a constant sense of fear, anger and paranoia. People who live in that state happen to be fairly susceptible to being brainwashed and manipulated. Most of these people haven't actaully read the teachings of Islam (or understand them, if they don't speak Arabic or can't find translations). People who feel victimized are also very likely to lash out against others in irrational ways.
I take the alternate view, that most of hte Muslim world of today is not unlike the Western world as little as a hundred years ago. Look at the rights and role of women a hundred years ago.
I am not saying that the Muslim world should come in line with teh rest of the world, just that that is the state of affairs right now.
Hehe, I suppose I am saying that Islam is not the root cause. I may be falling prey to liking distortion or I may be offering an alternate hypothesis which I feel accounts for more.
BTW, it would appear that KevinG has been banned. I like Pavlina's style--no trolls whatsoever.