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Wrong, wrong, wrong...Reader comment on item: How the West Could Lose Submitted by Noah Wilk (United States), Jan 8, 2007 at 04:22 Sorry, CanadianChris, but I think you're wrong on several points. First, you wrote: "The Real solution as I see it is to make all sectarian religious displays a private matter and outlawed in public. Especially in government, that is not to say that we do not acknowledge that religion exists and respect that each religion offers important perspectives on spirituality, but using sectarian perspectives in religion should be outlawed with regards to making public policy and law." In America, we have separation of church and state, which apparently fewer and fewer people these days understand. the problem is not with public displays of religion. The problem is allowing the inclusion in our society of a religion that encourages and in fact demands violence, killing, intolerance, fanaticism, and terrorism from its adherents. A "religion" which, if the minimalist apologists are right about only 10-15% of them being violent, creates at least a quarter of a million enemies of the state right here in the homeland. Enemies whose sworn goal is to destroy this country. What sane person would tolerate such a large number of subversives in their society? Also, I disagree when you said that each religion offers important perspectives on spirituality. Islam is a religion of violence. It's more a death cult than a religion. Where in this world has it offered anything good? Where in this world is it creating peace, prosperity, freedom, and happiness? Next, you wrote: "Islam will remain a threat as long as we try to protect one religion above another, because in creating policy for one religion we open doors for policy in cases of more extreme philosophies." That's untrue for many reasons. America and many other western countries treat all religions equally. In theory at least. Islam is given a free pass, while Christianity is being trampled, but that's another argument. Our Constitution grants all religions equality, and prevents us from establishing an official state religion. Islam, however, is not content with being a co-equal religion among others. As CAIR chairman Omar Ahmad said: "Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to be dominant. The Koran should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth." The problem once again, is Islam itself, and its depraved, barbaric need for supremacy. You also wrote: "Christianity, Islam, Mormonism, Jehovahs Witness, and many more are expansionist religions and will seek to further their doctrines as long as sectarian religion is a part of governmental policy." Every religion by definition is expansionist (Taoism being the one exception I'm aware of at the moment), as almost all religions proselytize to some degree. Each will seek to influence society on some level. Which is fine. However, our Constitution declares that there can be no official American Religion. So that's not the problem. We also have to remember that America was founded on Christian principles and that 80% of America is Christian, so of course that's going to have more of an influence. It's just natural. You then wrote: "All these religions are beautiful when they are constrained to private life, but in outward displays we begin to see clashes of ideology." The clashes of ideology start within the human mind. It has nothing to do with public displays. For example, I believe it's in Saudi Arabia, that you cannot even practice Christianity privately in your own home. You can get arrested for that. You are only allowed to practice Christianity in one of the few churches which are tolerated by the state. Muslims don't want the Jews living amongst them, even if they practice privately. Their very existence is anathema to the barbaric Muslims. There is no problem, in a free society, with public displays of religion. If people want to put a Menorah in their window at Passover, or display one on the front lawn, that should not be a problem in a truly free society! Likewise with crosses, Nativity scenes, etc. The problem is that our society has become sick, demented, depraved, and warped. People take it upon themselves to be "offended" by such displays. Why would anyone in a free society be "offended" by the public display of a cross or a menorah or a Nativity manger? How does that become "offensive"? It's not attempting to convert anyone. It's not attempting to deprive another of his religions freedoms. It's simply a free person in a free society exercising his right to freedom of religious expression. The fact that people find such displays "offensive" has to betray, by its very nature, an intolerance of the very existence of or practice of that religion. Why else would anyone be offended by someone exercising their rights in a free society? How does that display harm a non-believer? The clashes of ideology have nothing to do with public displays and everything to do with intolerance on an internal level, a deep-rooted hatred of the thing being displayed. Banning public displays of religion will not only make the problem worse, it is also totally unconstitutional. Next, you wrote: "To those who say that the west is failing, I call 'Hogwash', The west is still going through growing pains as the future is wide open, the law of nature is that everything will move toward equilibrium so extremism in any form cannot prevail in the long term picture." Sorry, gotta disagree there as well. We have the highest rate of teen pregnancies in the developed world, our schoolkids are falling far behind their foreign counterparts, we have a disturbingly high number of single-parent families, our freedoms are being eroded at a stellar pace, and so on and so forth. The West is getting weak because it is forgetting and abandoning the very things that made it once great. You also wrote: "The solution is compromise and co-operation, not conflict and domination. Islam is moving toward a huge correction because domination is only a temporary moment in history." Wrong again. Islam has always spread by domination and conflict. It has always been repressive and intolerant. This is not a temporary blip on the radar screen. It's how Islam is. There can be no compromise or co-operation with a death cult that denies the legitimacy of all other religions and pledges to dominate the world by force. All Islam understands is force. Like a bunch of brutal, uncivilized cavemen. All that it will respond to...all that it has ever responded to...is force. That's the only thing its adherents understand. Finally, you wrote: "The world will conspire against Islam as long as they seek to dominate, but that same shoe fits on any other force that seeks to dominate." The difference is that other religions do not seek to dominate. America isn't trying to force Christianity on other countries. Did we force Christianity on Japan? Iraq? Germany? Afghanistan? No. Islam, however, professes to become the dominant and only religion in the world. So once again, all the blame can be laid at the feet of the mass psychosis commonly known as Islam.
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