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Sun 30 Aug, 2015 10:11 pm
Does "an otherwise secular Europe, courtesy of Islam" refer to "however, Europe is a secular country with Islam; Europe is polite to Islam"?
Context:
Let us briefly consider where our discordant religious certainties are leading us on a global scale. The earth is now home to about 1.4 billion Muslims, many of whom believe that one day you and I will either convert to Islam, live in subjugation to a Muslim caliphate, or be put to death for our unbelief. Islam is now the fastest growing religion in Europe. The birth rate among European Muslims is three times that of their non-Muslim neighbors. If current trends continue, France will be a majority Muslim country in twenty five years—and that is if immigration were to stop tomorrow. Throughout Europe, Muslim communities often show little inclination to acquire the secular and civil values of their host countries, and yet they exploit these values to the utmost, demanding tolerance for their misogyny, their anti-Semitism, and the religious hatred that is regularly preached in their mosques. Forced marriages, honor killings, punitive gang rapes, and a homicidal loathing of homosexuals are now features of an otherwise secular Europe, courtesy of Islam.* Women are thought to "dishonor" their families by refusing to enter into an arranged marriage, seeking a divorce, committing adultery, even by being raped or suffering some other form of sexual assault. Women in these situations are often murdered by their fathers, husbands, or brothers, sometimes with the collaboration of other women. Honor killing is, perhaps, best viewed as a cultural (rather than strictly religious) phenomenon, and it is not unique to the Muslim world. The practice, however, finds considerable support under Islam, given that the religion explicitly views women as the property of men and considers adultery a capital offense. Throughout the Muslim world, a woman who reports being raped runs the risk of being murdered as an "adulteress": she has, after all, admitted to having sex outside of marriage.
-Sam Harris
Forced marriages,
honor killings,
punitive gang rapes,
and a homicidal loathing of homosexuals
are
features of a Europe ( that does not concern itself with religion.)
thanks to Islam.
Those figures are crap. Muslim or presumed Muslim birth rates are levelling off and approaching the mean in all European countries. Sam Harris is a nut who pushes illiberal, authoritarian, repressive and rabidly anti-Muslim political stances. He also has weird ideas about the paranormal, reincarnation, Eastern Mysticism and the persecution of the Jews. Hey! He'd fit right in on A2K!
If he didn't use Sam Harris as his screen name, you wouldn't be able to tell him from the every day crop of new nutters. I always find it hilarious when nutters show up and assume that atheists all take their cues from people like him or people like Dawkins . . . or anyone else for that matter. The religious nutters don't all peddle the same lunacy, so why would anyone expect anything different from atheists? My lunacy is my own, thank you very much.
@Setanta,
Sam Harris is a real person, not an A2K screen name.
@Setanta,
http://www.ted.com/speakers/sam_harris
One of the few atheist speakers who don't go overboard. A very good Ted Talk, well worth the time to listen.