You completely missed the point of my comments, Canadian Muslim

Submitted by CanadianChris (Canada), Apr 6, 2009 at 13:54

The fact that protesters are free enough to hold signs which promote extreme hatred and violence, and face nothing more than legal implications of inciting hatred, is an example of the kind of freedom which must protected from any form of religious fundamentalism.

Under an Islamic state, public criticism of Islam would not be tolerated, and the offender could face bodily harm for his actions, but under a free state, Islamists find a foothold to promote the ugliest form of protest and the observers are free to object to the protest. My own thoughts are that any promotion of hatred should be considered a legal infraction, and the punishment should fit the severity of the hate being promoted. If a person simply wants to use derogatory slang, then the punishment should not be the same as those who are actively seeking the destruction or persecution of entire people groups through the use of violence.

As with most discussions with Islamic fundamentalists, the point of the discussion gets lost in accusations of abuse and discrimination. There is a futility in discussing progress with any religious fundamentalist. Most religions see themselves as the source of healing for the world, and I see that religion is an enormous source of discord in the world. Any effective government which will take us into the future, needs to be guided by the internal morality which religion affords, but that same religion must be resisted as a formal component of politics, because if even ONE religion is given preference over another in government policy, the cohesiveness of that government and country will be at risk. Therefore, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, etc, must be resisted as policy makers of a healthy government, and reason and common goals for the future must be faced without superstition.

The road to the future will not be found by looking to the past to find motivation for retaliation. A human rights abuse against any people group, should not be the impetus for the exchange of continued rights abuses in the future. In other words, we will not find a bright future by taking turns at being abusive to each other. Revenge will be the path to our destruction, and reason will be the path to our future. Reason that is allowed to stand above religious sectarianism.

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