The point I was originally making, which apparently you seem to have missed completely in your haste to say I was making a completely different point, is that the religion Islam is not a religion of peace.

This is the same point that they are arguing about in this video. One side is describing intelligently why Islam, the religion, not everyone who lives in a country who practices it, is a religion that promotes violence and strife. The other side is blindly throwing out incorrect terms and trying to claim bias, racism, or is generally just frothing at the mouth.

You seem to be following the second group's methods for whatever reason. I am not sure why, but I will ask you once more to answer a simple question.

Do you or do you not feel that a religion that promotes killing people who leave it/don't follow it, killing homosexuals, performing acts of terror in the name of jihad, and oppresses women to be a religion of peace?

Again, please note that in no way, shape, or form am I saying that everyone who professes to follow the religion, independent of their location in the world, believes these ideals or acts them out. All I am saying is that the religion itself specifically calls for people who would be 'true' Muslims to perform these acts and that evidence shows that the Muslims who do not feel this way are actually the minority of those following Islam.

The website may be biased, but the polls listed are world recognized polls that are mostly above reproach. Christianity is not at the table on this, nobody is saying that there aren't wackos involved in any religion, but realistically how many christian holy war incidents can you list in the last 20 years? I mean real incidents, not just some random guy doing one thing to a doctor or clinic, but a group of holy christian fighters blowing up swathes of people or beheading them. It's not in the same ballpark, in fact it isn't the same league, or sport.

As far as US international policy goes, we do stupid shit a lot of the time. Other times we get dragged into shit because people complain if we don't. Personally I wish we would cut our defense budget in half and tell the rest of the world to go pound sand when they ask for help, but again it is not the issue of discussion we are looking at.

The issue is whether or not Islam, due to the nature of it's teachings, promotes certain things that lead to war and/or brutal acts. The fact is that it does, assuming you follow the tenets laid forth in the Koran and other works, such as the Sunnah and the anecdotes of the 12 Imams.

What other religion currently follows these tenets in it's religious laws?

- Leaving Islam is a sin and a religious crime. Once any man or woman is officially classified as Muslim, because of birth or religious conversion, he or she will be subject to the death penalty if he or she becomes an apostate, that is, abandons his or her faith in Islam in order to become an atheist, agnostic or to convert to another religion.
- If a person has never been a Muslim, he or she can live in an Islamic state by accepting to be a dhimmi and pay a Jizyah tax. They cannot practice their religions openly and they also do not have the same rights and legal protections as Muslims.
- Death penalty for Homosexuals
- Numerous women's rights violations and restrictions
- Child marriage
- Jihad is an important religious duty for Muslims. It is only very recently that it has started to be redefined by a small amount of Muslims as being possible to be non-violent in nature.

As it stands, Islam is not a religion of peace but of strife. Unless you are a casual follower, you will be trying to promote tenets of this religion either through non-violent or violent ways. As we can see around the world and even through the events of the Arab Spring, the violent ways are far more likely.

This is a fallen man. GOD does not make religion a joke but men like this does.

I'm not saying religion is the only (or even the most pressing) issue facing us, but yes, it does have a real and significant effect on the world.

If you want an example of stifled scientific research, stem cells.

Not forcing you to be gay. They are trying to force you to believe that its a natural thing. Not all religions believe that is natural. Gays should respect that.

Well.. Assault for the threats. Extortion for threatening their customers. I'm sure there are numerous other laws they are breaking but nobody wants to persecute in fear of the mafia... excuse me... LBGT turning on them.

Ah. A lame statement for somebody who has a weak argument.

To you and to anyone who upvoted this I don't believe you have a fundamental grasp on how religion works.

Look its fine if you want to pretend that people who worship something are just being fools because "statistics say" whatever. But at least have a good understanding of what makes the believers tick first.

I am not a religion person and I am sure there are probably not a lot of them on this site. But I would rather not see people diversify themselves from part of the population.

Religion is a necessary tool in a lot of places and we should not be so dismissive.

After all isn't there enough of that already in this world? Division?

If we lose a shared perspective on tomorrow what then?

Bill Maher just lying right out, like Christians haven't been fanatical or some shit?

Cmon, oh maybe it was some hundred years ago, but you know it's not the church fault they've stopped burning and crusading, it's the society and people that got fed up and got educated and stopped their bullshit - not the religion.

I sometimes wish I had this much passion and conviction about something that I could react in the same way. About anything, not necessarily religion say the Government or animals, but I just dont give a shit.

It's true, here we see it develop as a kid exposed to violence. Daddy hits mommy so thats how you treat women and it keeps on going until someone stops. It's not only religion that is responsible for violence, plenty of athiests are to blame too I'm sure.

Not defending religion here, but a lot of high horsing going on.

So, did you guys know that a recent discovery has called into question one of the 2 main assumptions underlying the big bang? The cosmological principle to be exact, which means that we have to revisit that assumption and the big bang theory again to account for this.

Now, if after hearing this ur "belief" in the current existing big bang model was not refuted or shaken, IE if u still believe 100% that the big bang created the universe...then technically ur a baby step closer to being like everyone who believes in a religion.

"Well thats a bit of a leap!" you might say, however if when faced with scientific evidence contradicting an assumption needed for the big bang theory u don't adjust or modify ur belief system, ur no different than ANYONE who believes a partial truth or outright falsehood in the face of contradicting evidence.

So the next time ur explaining how much better science is at explaining the world with a religious zealot, before looking down your nose at them remember that sciences current golden child theory for the creation of the universe is being challenged and so maybe YOU shouldn't be so certain about your beliefs.

FYI I'm still fairly certain that a big bang type event created the observable universe.

Defending the poor is all well and good but that costs money too. If the poor aren't contributing to the economy, who ends up being penalized here? The inherent problem here is with irresponsible people. People who have children when they don't have enough money to support them. It seems like such a simple consideration yet so few seem to heed it. Don't start a family unless you have a steady and secure job that can support one. Think of the long-term expenses that a family entails, save your money whenever possible and make safe investments. If people did all this, both poverty and crime would decrease significantly.

Also, the pledge of allegiance is ridiculously antiquated. What exactly is it supposed to accomplish? Loyalty to the nation? When kids only regurgitate it as a matter of routine at the start of the school day, it holds no meaning. It's not like religion which is ingrained through constant reinforcement and conditioning both at home and in church.

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