@transmorpher
so when i point out the historical implications,i am somehow automatically disregarding the inherent problems within islam itself?

and your counter is to not only NOT counter,but refuse to acknowledge the historical ramifications,because that is some political,agenda driven-drivel.

that the ONLY acceptable argument is to focus on the religion itself,and ignore all other considerations,because,again..just tools to be used and abused by the left to fuel the far right.

am i getting this right so far?

that to include history is actually the path that stops that path to move forward?

and here i was still hanging on to that tired old adage "those who refuse to recognize history,are doomed to repeat it".

i am glad that you found those authors so respectful and admired their analysis and dedication to research,but you didn't even bother to use one of THEIR arguments.you simply made claims and then told us you read some books.

dude..now i am just kinda...sad for you.

i am sorry that you are oblivious to your own myopia,and that you are coming across as condescending.yet really haven't posted anything of value that you have to contribute.

you are just pointing the finger and accusing people of their arguments being dishonest,when it appears to me that everyone here has taken the time to try to talk to you,and your replies have been fairly static.

hitchens tried to make the case,and failed in my opinion(i am not the only one),but a case i suspect you are referencing.that even if we took the history of neoliberalism,colonialism and empire building OFF the table.islam would STILL be a gaggle of extremist radicals seeking a one world caliphate.

which is why i referenced dearborn michigan.
it is why i mentioned kabul afghanistan.

we are talking about the radicalization of muslims.
why are they growing?
where do they come from?
why do they seem to be getting more and more extreme?

which many here have attempted to answer,including myself.

but YOU are addressing and entirely different question:
'what is wrong with islam as a religion"

well,a LOT in fact and i already mentioned islams dire need for a reformation,but it goes further than that.you see the epistemology of both judiaism and christianity have been thoroughly argued over and over....and over..that what you find today is a pretty succinct refinement of their respective theologies.

agree/disagree..maybe you are atheist or agnostic,that is not the point.the point is that the so-called "finished' product has pretty clear philosophies,that adherents can easily follow.

for judaism this is in large part to the talmud,which is a living document,where even to this day rabbis debate and argue the finer details.not to be confused with holy scripture the torah.

christianity was forced to acknowledge its failings and flaws,because the theology was weak,and was becoming more and more an amalgamation of other religious beliefs,but most of all,and i think most importantly,the in-fighting with the vatican and the church of england had exposed this weakness,and christianity was on the brink of collapse due to its own hubris and arrogance.

they had no central authority.no leadership that the people could come to in order to clarify scripture.

so thanks to the bravery of martin luther,who risked being labeled a heretic,challenged the political power,which in those days was religious,and so began the process of reformation.

and also ended the dark ages,and western civilization stepped into the "age of enlightenment".

islam has had no such reformation,though is in desperate need of one.they had no council of nicea to decide what was holy canon and what was not,which is why you have more gospels of jesus in the quran than you do in the actual bible.

the king james bible has over 38,000 mis-translations in the old testament alone,whereas the quran has....well...we don't know,because nobody challenges the veracity of the quran.

am i winning you over to my side yet?
still think i am leftist "stooge' and "useful idiot"?

look man,
words are inert.
they are simply symbols.
they are meaningless until we lay eyes on them and GIVE them meaning.

so if you are a violent,war-loving person-------your religion will be violent,and warmongering.

if you are a peaceful and loving person----then your religion will be peaceful and loving.

the problem is NOT religion itself,and i know my atheists really don't want to hear that,but it's true.religion is going nowhere.

the problem is fundamentalist thinking.
the problem is viewing holy scripture as the unerring word of god.
which is why you see creationists attempt,in vain,to convince the rest of us that the earth is only 6,000 yrs old,and their only proof or evidence is a book.

so we all point and laugh.....how silly..6,000yrs old.crazy talk.

but WHY is the creationist so adamant in his attempts to defend his holy text?
because to accept the reality that the earth is not 6,000 yrs old but 14 billion yrs old,is to go against the word of god,and god is unerring,and if the bible is the word of god....and god is unerring.........

now lets go back to dearborn michigan.
if hitchens and harris are RIGHT,then that relatively stable community of muslims are really just extremists waiting for the angels to blow their horn and announce the time for JIHAD!!!

and,to be fair,that is a possibility,but a small one.

why?
because of something the majority of christians experience here in the states,canada,europe,australia...they experience pushback.

does this mean that america does not have radical christians in our midst?

oh lawdy do we ever.

ok ok..i am doing it again.
me and my pedantic self.

suffice to say:
islam IS a problem,even taken as a singular dynamic,that religion has serious issues.
but they are not the ONLY problem,which is what many of here have been trying to talk about.

ALL religions have a problem,and that problem is fundamentalism.which for christianity is a fairly new phenom (less than 100 yrs old) whereas islam has suffered from this mental malady pretty much since its inception.

ok..thats it..im done.pooped,whipped and in need of sleep.

hope i clarified some things with ya mate,but i swear to god if you respond with a reiteration of all your comments.i am going to hunt you down,and BEAT you with a bible,and not that wimpy king james either!
the hefty scofield study bible!

That comment would ring a lot truer if you hadn't just called a bunch of people you don't know "fat slobs" in a "gene pool of wimpiness and sarcasm".

Yeah just sit in your house and get fatter slobs.

Gene pool of wimpiness and sarcasm.

Face it some people like to challenge themselves and are equipped to do so.

It's a win-win for everyone to watch such great cars race. The AC Cobras are cooler than just about everything, though. *sports
Too bad the wimpy mic doesn't pick up the growling bass tones of the engine.

I doubt it. Drone propellers are pretty wimpy on purpose and eagles drop flying thrust kicks on other (heavier than drones) animals all the time.

It totally fucked that shit up though.

Chris - assaults somebody for no reason in a situation he's not even involved in
Wimpy - rather than helping someone and taking a stand against an arrogant dick, took the easy way out and refused to get involved
Brutus - showed questionable morals by offering a ride for sex, but Olive was free to refuse the deal so it's not comparable to sexual assault
Popeye - Reacted predictably

Don't know where to put Olive on this list. It depends on her own views about sex outside a committed relationship and any understanding she had with Popeye.

Brutus
Wimpy
Olive
Chris
Popeye

Brutus- Because he's extorting sex from Olive, effectively raping her.
Wimpy- Because he knows what Brutus has planned, and can stop it but does nothing.
Olive- She should have trust that Popeye (a sailor man) can get a boat to come to her. She betrays him by not trusting him.
Chris- Jumps to violence rather than trying to solve the problem peacefully.
Popeye- He should have gone to see Olive before she sold herself, or broken off the relationship before it got to that point.

Popeye
Olive
Brutus
Wimpy
Chris

Popeye's the sole reason these shenanigans even got started. Everyone else is a victim of their own weakness, exposed by Popeye's cavalier existence. Olive Oil is co-dependent and is #2 because she posed the question to the rest of them. They were just minding their own business until she came along (thanks to Popeye). Brutus, an opportunist, took advantage of Olive Oil for selfish, but natural reasons. However he nearly trades spaces with Popeye for #1 for inexplicably wanting to bone Olive. Wimpy's sort of a puss, let's be real. Inaction is the same as action, but at least he didn't get all Brutus with Olive, and only offer conditional help in the form of really garbage sex. Chris, although being named Chris (bad outside this context), beat up Popeye, who's the worst on this list, so Chris is #5 in this scenario.

Chris
Wimpy
Brutus
Olive Oyl
Popeye

is the correct order, given various reasonable assumptions about some murky variables. Chris attacks someone for no reason. Wimpy refuses to help under any circumstances. Brutus offers to help only under what we assume are unreasonable terms. Olive Oyl barely does anything wrong, but she does effectively reward Brutus' presumably unethical behaviour. Popeye does nothing wrong at all; he just chooses not to be in a relationship, which is his right, however stupid his reason.

How is the fact that this is Lord-motherfucking-British asking the question not remarked upon?

Another reason to learn the 24 hour clock. Also, this prank was in that Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie. Except it was a Saturday I believe.

>> ^PoweredBySoy:

Wimpy avalanche.
Well... from the camera's perspective, anyway. Probably scary as hell to be in it.

Wimpy avalanche.

Thanks my friend!

In reply to this comment by ponceleon:
This needs a LOT more votes. The faces of those people as they read the messages on the buns is pure awesome. If we had Wimpy's here I'd go get a damned burger.

*promote

This needs a LOT more votes. The faces of those people as they read the messages on the buns is pure awesome. If we had Wimpy's here I'd go get a damned burger.

*promote