The complexity of the muslim world

[junglee069 0]

A leader who could unite the millions of Muslims is as unlikely

If Osama Bin Laden can unite thousands of extremist muslims preaching unimaginable hatred, then why is it unreasonable to assume that someone could unite millions muslims in the call for peace?

we are too fragmented a group - too many sub-sects, too divided. shia's, sunni's - and amongst those two major divisions, there are further divisions. the sunni's have varying schools of thought - although not conflicting. there are agha khanis, ismailis (same i think), deobandis, sufis (that are further divided into different tareeka's), shias have the sistani shias, then shias that are jafri, and then some other shias......i mean i could go one forever and ever and ever about the different sects of muslims. there are political parties, missionaries...everyone has a different agenda.

how you anyone believe that 1+ billion muslims can somehow be on the same page?

In the major religions, slavery was accepted and condoned for a very long time. Eventually we all got on the same page and decided slavery was bad and removed it from our societies EVEN THO every major religous script (bible, koran, etc.) condoned slavery.

Its about time we all got on the same page about things like cartoon carictures and revenge killings, don't you think ??

isn't comparing cartoon carictures to slavery like comparing apples to birds?

[Chuckles 0]

isn't comparing cartoon carictures to slavery like comparing apples to birds?

[almaty 19]

isn't comparing cartoon carictures to slavery like comparing apples to birds?

[mawilson 2,133]

They wouldn't. But Israel will bomb Iran's nuclear facilities no later than March or April 2006, so it's not really up to them.

u really think?

It's now or never. It will be very difficult to do afterwards, once Iran gets hold of Russian surface-to-air missiles.

[tnh9479 1]

I found this interesting opinion article written in The Guardian. It really struck a chord with me and how I see things. I'll post the link and give y'all a quote too.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoonprotests/...1703496,00.html

"We are at a crossroads. The time has come for women and men who reject this dangerous division of people into two worlds to start building bridges based on common values. They must assert the inalienable right to freedom of expression and, at the same time, demand measured exercise of it. We need to promote an open, self-critical approach, to repudiate exclusive truths and narrow-minded, binary visions of the world.

We are in dire need of mutual trust. The crises provoked by these cartoons shows us how, out of "seemingly nothing", two universes of reference can become deaf to each other and be seduced by defining themselves against each other - with the worst possible consequences. Disasters threaten that extremists on both sides would not fail to use for their own agendas. If people who cherish freedom, who know the importance of mutual respect and are aware of the imperative necessity to establish a constructive and critical debate, if these people are not ready to speak out, to be more committed and visible, then we can expect sad, painful tomorrows. The choice is ours."

[mercuryroad 0]

I found this interesting opinion article written in The Guardian. It really struck a chord with me and how I see things. I'll post the link and give y'all a quote too.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoonprotests/...1703496,00.html

"We are at a crossroads. The time has come for women and men who reject this dangerous division of people into two worlds to start building bridges based on common values. They must assert the inalienable right to freedom of expression and, at the same time, demand measured exercise of it. We need to promote an open, self-critical approach, to repudiate exclusive truths and narrow-minded, binary visions of the world.

We are in dire need of mutual trust. The crises provoked by these cartoons shows us how, out of "seemingly nothing", two universes of reference can become deaf to each other and be seduced by defining themselves against each other - with the worst possible consequences. Disasters threaten that extremists on both sides would not fail to use for their own agendas. If people who cherish freedom, who know the importance of mutual respect and are aware of the imperative necessity to establish a constructive and critical debate, if these people are not ready to speak out, to be more committed and visible, then we can expect sad, painful tomorrows. The choice is ours."

Now that's the truth!

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

... it is imperialist and insulting to assume that it is the job of the west to bring other nations freedom. Same goes for women's right. Talk to some feminists from the Middle East and they would prefer to liberate themselves.

Culture wars don't work and noone will win. The great plan to bring democracy and freedom to the Middle East currently looks like it's doing the exact opposite, namely win over the masses to fanaticism which causes more oppression and less freedom.

I agree with that. We can't force our (relatively) open society model on other cultures. Ain't gonna fly. They'll have to find their own voices and ways. What we can and (imho) need to do is stand up to their radical elements on our soil and leve the standing up to the fanatics on their soil to them. We ought not to tolerate or excuse in any way, shape or form the radical haters that run around terrorizing our streets or trying to tell us how to live our lives - or rather trying to scare us into submission. We ought to stand firm and defend our ways of life here and let them find theirs there...

Sadly it seems we haven't learned a whole lot in the last 100-150 years. The British and the French (back when they had their little experiment with empire) went into Asia and Africa with the apparently 'high ideal' of civilising the savages. Fast forward to today - and many of those places are still languishing in the grip of 3rd world poverty, and are mostly ruled over by despotic tyrants or religious theocracies. Great 'help' we were there.

Look at the former Yugoslavia - we forced all those divergent people's to live together until sectarian tensions boiled over into genocide. Most of the worst atrocities of the last century have their roots in European imperialism. We forget for instance, that the Rwandan genocide was actually largely due to the French influence back in the 18th - 19th century.

I hope that doesn't happen in Iraq, but from a historical perspective the odds are not good.