re: #3 Son of the Black Dog

The more I learn about Islam, the more strongly I believe that it IS primarily a political institution, dedicated to social control, but wrapped in a thin veneer of religion. Not that I think we should ban it, but it does need to go through a reformation.

re: #4 Racer X

I keep trying to wrap my head around this one.

Is Islam truly a “religion”? By what definition?

Islam, to me, appears to be way more than simply a religion. It is a culture; it is a form of government; it is a form of social justice.

Spirituality? Not so much. It seems more about control and power. Kinda like the mafia.

My vote? Not a religion.

re: #17 jcm

Islam doesn’t separate the religion and the politics. The religion demands political control. The are so commingled as to be inseparable. Islam demands “virtue” and that “virtuous” behavior will be imposed by a theocracy.

Be careful in ascribing the motivations of a billion people to a fundamentalist interpretation of the faith. What you say will be true for some and not true for others. The challenge is in discerning the numbers—I know of one sure way to make the numbers turn out the wrong way, and no sure way to make it right.
There have been several liberalizing reformations of Islam attempted, but the chronic, endemic mismanagement of an entire swath of the world has resulted in the failure of all but the most simple, pernicious, ignorant movements. Their Martin Luthers have all been killed by their Torquemadas.