Ahmadi community is officially detested

[GeoffP]

If I offer the pretense that I don't know where you're going with that one, Geoff, it's because no matter how obvious some things seem to me, I'm frequently wrong. So rather than presuming that you mean what it seems quite obvious you mean, I figure it's wiser to just ask.

What, exactly, do you mean by that?

Well, societal disgust against religious minorities (Islamic and non-Islamic) is fairly common throughout the Islamic world: Morocco to Malaysia. Is it all poverty?

 

[Michael]

In light of all this, I would suggest that indicting Islam itself for Paksitan's sins is inappropriate. Rather, Pakistanis are humans, and behaving exactly as we might expect people to conduct themselves amid a seemingly permanent state of poverty and insecurity. If the faith has come to resemble the Ministry of Truth, one must ask why. And if the answer is the simple assertion of fundamental corruption inherent to Islam, we have chosen what seems the easy way out. But it is not, in the end, the easy way, as numerous wars and rumors of wars might attest. Peace and prosperity? The one results in large part from the other. No people will abandon superstition without enjoying the fruits of enlightenment, and those superstitions will, generally, become more stringent in the absence of succor.

Psychologically speaking, the accretions of religion are bricks in the wall of the psyche; they are ego defense mechanisms, armor plating against the wounds and anguish of human frailty and raw wounds thereof. Understanding the motivations driving such horrors does not require endorsement. Rather, it is a prerequisite to breaking the cycle.

Yes, I agree that as people are more prosperous they become less superstitious, less religious, more rational and generally tend to be more peaceful minded - overall. All societies harbor some violent people regardless (possibly due to the size of their amygdala). Money and Violence does seem to correlate. As so to does Religiosity. In the USA, you'll note the most violent neighborhoods in cities tend to be the poorest. Of course, one wonders if there isn't a two way street here. Poor and Violent beget more poverty, fear and aggression. The common denominator is fear (except for people born with a f*ck amygdala). That said, there are a number of poor counties that are, in general, not violent. Tibetans can be aggressive, but, in general they seem to be pretty peaceful. Thai are poor. Yet, as a people, they're generally quite peaceful. Lot's of poor people are peaceful. Superstitious yes. But many are also peaceful.

That said, the reason why the Ahmadi are attacked is specifically because of they are heretical against Islam. This exact same thing happened in Indonesia just a few months ago. The Ahmadi there were likewise victimized and murdered by fundamental Muslims. It's a problem with the tenants of Islam. Muslims are taught to HATE the Ahmadi and hate them they do. It really is that simple.

 

[GeoffP]

Agreed.

It's hypocritical and dishonest to put our hands in front of our faces and pretend it's a different duck. Pat Robertson is an asshole and that freak Phelps the scum of the earth; I don't care how bloody poor they are, and no one would ask me to.

 

[Michael]

It should be noted that burning witches at the stake was a problem with superstition as well - only in that case it was Christianity.

It should not be a bit surprising that, teaching people to hate = a lot of hateful people.
A no-brainer really.

 

[GeoffP]

I resent your implications: I was poor and didn't know any better. (Just teasing, Tiassa.)

And we had a legal system based on firmly established precedent. It's not for nothing we weighed all those ducks, you know.

O God, how we have fucked up.

 

[Michael]

Imagine having it drummed into your head 5 times a day, from childhood, every single day of the year, in meditation (and once a week in communal service) that Whites are superior. AND if that wasn't enough, that you would burn in pain and torment for disagreeing with that sentiment (in THIS life as well as the NEXT)! That would do anybodies head in.

An ex-Muslim friend of mine said we should look very kindly on Muslims who are open minded and accept people of different faiths and think all religions are equal. They do so in spite of Islam, not because of it.


Let's just hope that all this violence eventually leads to an internal discussion in the so-called "Islamic" world. Together with integration and prosperity, I still think things can and will come right over the long haul.

 

[GeoffP]

Well, I'll say "in spite of many modern interpretations of it".