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Originally Posted by Akashic_Librarian  Islam at a fundamental level is a barbaric religion that advocates stoning for homosexuality, behading for adultery, and amputation for thievery along with hangings and flogging and who knows what else.
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I don't want a legal system which means my future wife or daughter has to cover her flesh, or who can't leave the house unless she is with a male relative, or who could get killed for being raped. |
Islam, at a fundamental level, does not favor any of the punishments you've outlined. As a Muslim, the ideas of fundamentalists frighten me as much, if not more, than you. These ideas scare me because they distort the beauty of my religion into its opposite...
They also scare me because they are interpreted as the religion itself by outsiders. It is certainly not racist to oppose violence, to exhort reason, and defend those who would be victimized. The problem occurs when a person assumes that fundamentalists represent the majority.
Some fundamentalist Christians believe that the verse in Leviticus to put homosexuals to death should be taken literally, as a religious command. Some fundamentalist Muslims believe their religion requires them to do the same. Neither group is representative of the majority. Yet violence on the part of otherwise rational people will continue so long as the beliefs that cause fear and hate are assumed to be the beliefs of the majority.