I don't need anyone to garner my position. I have a huge, massive, gargantuan dislike for Islam. As it goes I'm not really a fan of any religion.
I have nearly the same amount of dislike for the Waily Mail. Personally, I would love to see Mankind outgrow religion but we are a long way from that yet.
Religion is one thing. What's a real pain is when it actually starts deciding what you can or cannot do. One of the problems with Islam is that it feels it has to run society. It's not just a religion you can ignore. It decides on art, dress, the law, eating habits, investments, as well as what you can or cannot say. None of this seems like a good idea to me, none of it is compatible with the sort of liberal society Britain pertains to be be and any acceptance of its intrusion into any element of everyday existence seems like a retrograde step in my view.
Indeed, and unfortunately we are not just talking about a tiny minority of extremists. If only it was. Sadly we have to face the facts that it is a large and significant minority which causes these problems. People can believe whatever they choose, and those beliefs are harmless enough - so long as they actually are harmless. When the actions they take as a result of their beliefs start to do real harm to other people, and to society, they cannot just be ignored.
Religion is pretty much the biggest confidence trick ever. It meets the needs of the masses, the simple folk, by giving them a sense of security and of belonging. It can be administered by a powerful, charismatic minority who have no need to share any of its beliefs and who are free to pursue their own agendas. It's a brilliant blueprint for a control system, whose only important enemy is knowledge. The real wonder - miracle, if you like - is that any of us has escaped its clutches.
How long until Sharia law gets added to the UN list of crimes that come under Universal Jurisdiction? First you couldn't be a pirate and now you can't have your wife stoned for adultery. The 'man' ruins everything.
I think most religions would like to run society if they could but for some reason we in the West seem to worry more about listening to Islamic ideas than other reasons. Not entirely sure why but could it be they have a higher % of fruitcakes and their fruitcakes are more likely to be dangerous than say Hindus or The Judean Peoples Front ?
Three hundred years ago there was no escape. Everyone was ensnared by religion, and anyone bright enough to realise had to keep silent, or they were persecuted, imprisoned, tortured or killed. It is a fascinating story, the slow but persistent progress of the enlightenment, emancipation, and moves towards reason and equality down the centuries. By now we are 90% of the way to throwing off the shackles. There's no room for complacency though. Freedom cannot be taken for granted. There are plenty of evil people who would love to drag us back to the horrors of the past. Many, but not all, of them are Muslims.
All beliefs are dangerous. Even the most benign will one day try to enslave us. All the while we allow people to become and remain stupid, we endanger our existence. Stupidity is a crime against humanity but we permit it to exist because it suits the purpose as religions replacement. However it just festers and lays renascent ready to spring back and scythe us all down again. All the while we let the stupid prosper the longer it will take; the more extreme the path to the Brave New World will be. Why must I have faith? Can I not just accept what I see instead? To what purpose is this faith? I shall not be controlled by faeries. The inverse square law keeps my feet on the ground. Religion is for people who have lost control of their minds and refuse to think and shy away from conclusion. I'd fucking twat the lot of em. Give me the button. I will press it. Sorry Grandad. But you were a fool.
Slightly off topic depending on your point of view but why is Great Britain run for the minority? It seems that he who shouts loudest (or gets more press) gets there way. Fox hunting, smoking ban in certain places, Sikhs being allowed to ride with out helmets, GM foods, Fracking. I could go on but I won't. All of these and probably many more had a minority support and the majaority of us did not have a strong view either way. Of course I cloud be wrong being in the minority for liking the Diavel....!!!!!
I would suggest that you are only aware of those policies which do not relate to you because they were pointed out to you by the media, who want you to buy their papers. There are probably one-hundred-fold more policies that do affect you for good but you don't know about them because no one puts it in the news. News by definition being interesting things that are unusual and warrant discussion in the eyes of the imagined readership.
May be a fair point but I only mentioned the popular ones to make a point. I follow polices and politics quite closely but I find politics, religion & race all all no-no subjects as it divides people too much. How many of us are farmers and have suffered bovine TB in cattle or had to destroy herds due to foot and mouth? Yet many of us have an opinion on bagger culling even though it does not effect us directly. Local councils have money put aside for ethnic minority projects. How many have you seen that do not involve Afro-Caribbean or Indian groups? Chinese, Greeks, and many more live in England and have communities but we never see any money spent or allotted to them? Injustice is everywhere in society, I know this. But surly there would less if the country was run for the majoirty of good law abiding populous! Just a thought.
Fox Hunting and Smoking Bans are supported by the majority of people in this country, Sikhs being allowed to ride without Helmets makes no difference to anyone else's life, if it concerns you that much become a Sikh. GM Food and Fracking are vigorously opposed by a vocal small minority the rest of us don't really give a monkeys
A mixed bag of issues there. Let's take a look at them. Fox hunting - a large majority of the population wanted hunting wild animals with dogs banned, and it was banned Smoking - opinions were mixed initially, the ban was introduced, a large majority now support the ban. Sikhs helmets exemption - negligible public opinion one way or the other. GM foods - a majority opposes GM foods, and the majority view has prevailed so far (even though based entirely on ignorance). Fracking - shale gas is an enormous energy resource which the UK has, and needs, so it will have to be used of necessity whatever anyone's views are. Not sure what point you were trying to make, DD, but the only point illustrated seems to be that the democratic process often works.
I think the point he was making is that sometimes the "minority" gets their own way just by shouting the loudest. So it's not democratic at all in those instances.
