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Gary L. Bennett

Reader comment on item: Islam Dispatches Santa Claus, the Bible, and Winnie the Pooh
in response to reader comment: Re: "Islam dispatches Santa, the bible and Winnier the Pooh"

Submitted by Daisy (United States), Feb 9, 2006 at 00:17

Mr. B. FYI ...
# Prayer was the norm in public schools in America until prayer was dragged out by force a few decades ago.
# The 10 Commandments are foundational to the moral structure of the West.
# I was not aware that equal rights for women were banned in this country ... and guess what? I'm a woman.
# As for gays .. mainly they are men and women and as such, have equal rights to each other and everyone else. Social acceptance of same sex marriage deserves, and is receiving, full civil discourse.

Having said all this, do I believe there is such a thing as a literalist approach within religions other than Islam? You bet. Here's the big difference: if some Christians, or a few Jews or a group of Buddhists decide to go concrete in their beliefs .. it hardly makes a social difference; this is because the greater religious bodies they belong to are healthy enough to absorb (and even reprimand) the relatively few literalists who comprise a subset of the main (and flexible) religion. This is a VERY different phenomena than seen in Islam which, in it's mainstream, suffers severe literalism (and tyrannical dictatorial governing forces that keep Islam petrified add significantly to this problem).

Mainstream Islam is not up to correcting the even more extreme fundamental expressions emanating from all sects of Islam. I believe the main corrective to Islamic fundamentalism is to help Muslims to dismantle their dictatorships ... which rely on Islamic fundamentalism to forward their awful tyrannies. ME (and other) Muslims live within this destructive cycle every day .. the cycle of fear creates rigid thinking. Of course, this fear cycle is not limited to religious fundamentalists ... It's possible to see abundant examples of concretized Liberal Fundamentalism every day of the week.

Finally, you misapprehend the Constitution when you say: "The founders were right -- get religion out of the government.
Thank the Enlightenment for our godless Constitution!"

Mr. Bennett, you have it exactly the opposite of accurate: The 'founders' wanted the government out of religion/ not religion out of the government .. and our Constitution is most certainly not 'godless'. Some movements within the Enlightenment tried, but did not succeed (one is tempted here to say, "Thank God") to eliminate God. If you don't appreciate religion, just say so. But, if you want to know about the Constitution, might I recommend that you take the time to read it and understand what it says? It's a marvelous (and miraculous) document and deserves to be understood. And, as an American, I think you are actually obligated to know the Constitution's meaning.
Submitting....

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Reader comments (25) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
1Islamic theocracies need to be abolished [77 words]PrashantDec 8, 2017 12:05241500
North America [62 words]bradJan 19, 2011 13:59181906
Within Christianity men and women are equals. [300 words]Christian SoldierSep 4, 2008 17:39137924
1piglet will destroy islam ? [103 words]Phil GreendJun 2, 2007 02:2295737
This is Islam Way to conquer the world - See the Egyptian Case. [128 words]Egyptian ChristianApr 1, 2007 14:1288370
Enough, enough, enough !!!!!!!!!!!!! [119 words]dfwhite19438Mar 23, 2007 23:3787811
I'm Muslim [91 words]HindMar 16, 2006 19:0140466
Hind [123 words]DaisyMar 22, 2006 12:3240466
Banning the St. George's Cross [124 words]Peter TsourasMar 10, 2006 22:5539696
Peter Tsouras [36 words]DaisyMar 11, 2006 17:2539696
Distortions of the faith [156 words]Najm AhmedMar 4, 2006 21:2438918
Najim Ahmed [256 words]DaisyMar 5, 2006 11:5138918
Islam is peaceful??? [44 words]BEULAH WallMar 26, 2006 17:4238918
1Great to See Muslims think this is stupid too [176 words]DebraTApr 11, 2007 14:3038918
Re: "Islam dispatches Santa, the bible and Winnier the Pooh" [108 words]Gary L. BennettFeb 8, 2006 16:2034444
1Gary L. Bennett [440 words]DaisyFeb 9, 2006 00:1734444
Re: "Islam dispatches Santa, the bible and Winnier the Pooh" [190 words]Gary L. BennettSep 28, 2006 19:1034444
Santa, the Bible, and Winnie the Pooh [84 words]Rex GildingOct 6, 2006 07:5634444
Dumb, Dumber, Dumbest [22 words]DaisyFeb 8, 2006 13:1934402
stand up against intimidation [46 words]dan teasleyFeb 6, 2006 19:2633981
Stupidity at work [273 words]NewgamersDec 25, 2005 04:1030527
DO NOT TOUCH OUR PORK SOUP ! [479 words]IdentitaireJan 25, 2006 19:3630527
I dont want no pork soup [292 words]Usama MunirSep 29, 2006 12:4530527
2THIS IS UNFAIR! [111 words]theodoreNov 23, 2006 21:2930527
Not it is not [26 words]Usama MunirMay 4, 2007 08:1730527

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