Is this board anti-muslim?

i'm not, and it doesn't sound like many others are

Well, according to the poll about 44% of those responding to the poll are

I'm not sure, Intrepid. I think it would be safe to say that some are anti-Muslim and that may show in particular words they use. However, I think in light of what is going on in the world today concerning Islam, it might just have people a little more edgy than they usually are.

I am not sure that I have run across anyone that is anti-Muslim to the extent that you could call them a bigot or something like that though. Just my opinion.

But, I think we definitely have established that rednecks are NOT terrorists. :wink:

Re: the "how so", Mesquite.

Steve said that "The muslims [..] still chop off heads and limbs".

I pointed out that they don't actually, in many or most countries; that the practice is quite concentrated in some countries. So more a problem to do with a specific subset or area (eg, mostly the Middle East) of the Muslim world than with "the muslims", per se.

You said, well they do it in Nigeria too.

I said, er yeah, thats why I said "mostly" - point is that in most of the Muslim countries of Africa, or outside the Middle East for that matter, they dont.

You said, well you gotta look at population numbers instead.

I pointed out that those dont really make any difference, since theres not that many people living in north-Nigeria and the Sudan either, compared with all those Muslim countries outside the Middle East where they dont still chop limbs off.

Now you say: well, but the relevant point is that its on the increase. It is, I agree, and thats a bad thing. But what does that have to do with pointing out that its not "the muslims" that generally get in the habit of chopping off limbs in sharia style, but that it seems mostly focused in a specific area / subset of countries/muslims?

You pretty much give the very answer yourself. You say, whereever fundamentalists get the power, they start pulling such ****. Exactly, I agree. Whereas in other countries where the power is also in the hands of Muslims, just not fundamentalist ones, they dont.

Ergo, seems to me the problem thus is with fundamentalists, specifically, not with Muslims overall.

Meanwhile, all those Muslims that are resisting the gradual upsurge of the fundamentalists themselves will look up pretty surprised if they'd heard is talking about how the chopping off of limbs is what "the muslims" do, and thats why we should be wary of muslims. That attitude'll surely be of a lot of help to them ... or not.

oh...well...
anyhow

The victims of Timothy McVeigh and Eric Rudolph might not agree with that claptrap.

I would venture a guess that the number would even be higher if the poll was on Christians rather than Muslims. :-)

what, that a large majority of people are anti - christians?

Yes

seems strange to me. i think it depends on the country, really.

From previous posts....U.S. for sure. At least, on this board.

Let me rephrase my statement: I think it has been established that NOT ALL rednecks are terrorists, just as all Muslims are not terrorists.

Nice to see you.

So far we have hear of 2 possibles.

Well, rather - according to the poll about 44% of the respondents think the board is.

That includes me - yeah, I think this board is pretty anti-muslim. I wouldnt wanna be a muslim posting here. Or a christian for that matter, really - it'd be too tiresome.

For 70% its just a matter of a dominant group on this board being anti-religion, period; hence, also anti-muslim (just like they're anti-christian). Then on top of that you've got a smatter that specifically thinks Islam is bad / dangerous / should be fought (Islam, period, that is, not some particular strand or anything).

All in all, a pretty clear bias in whats vocalised on the board. That may not correspond with what a majority of overall posters thinks - what counts I think is what gets out, whats said and heard, not what others who dont actually post in threads about muslims silently think.

For me, as an atheist multiculturalist, its been frustrating. Some of the muslim posters here have made me sink to my knees to thank Darwin that I'm not religious, with all their literalist dogmatism and lack of critical self-reflection. Some of those stridently denouncing everything Muslim have done so in such irresponsibly broad-brush and needlessly offensive ways that several times I wanted to convert to Islam just so I could wave a big green flag around as a demonstration of resistance to their mindset.

Guess I should just become communist, than I could be against both. But I dont like communists either. Woe me.

The majority of people i see here who complain of christians complain of fundamentalist particularism, and not of christians in general. I know it helps Captain Kirk's persecution complex to suggest that Americans are bad people, and that the atheists and agnostics are the worst of a bad lot--but you'll get that with Canajuns who delude themselves with religious fantasies.

Nimh,
Thank you for an excellent answer. Your correction regarding the board rather than respondents was spot on...thank you


Setanta,
Your post was totally predictable based on your dislike of me. Religion doesn't even enter the equation. BTW, You lied when you said that I think Americans are bad people. I did not say that and I do not think that. Do you argue the point that a majority of Americans on this board dislike Christians. Sure you talk about fundamentalist Christians, but you still include those of us who are not.

i don't think people should speak badly to a person if they don't like that religion, because people are born into it, and if they change religions they are often frowned upon, and disinherited.
i know that would happen to me if i changed.
(just a random comment )

hey, apart from Christians, what other religions are there on this board? (i've fogotten them )

Setanta doesn't quite know if he is an agnostic or atheist and feels persecuted and put upon by Christians because they do not agree with him. Setanta likes to be at the top of the class and cannot bear to have anyone else have an opinion. Actually, he doesn't seem to single out Christians. He seems to disklike all religions.

i've always wondered why humans fight over such measly things - what makes us like this? it's just terrible. and it's always the well off - we don't seem to understand how lucky we really are. there are others who can't afford to fight. i'm not trying to imply anything, of course. i just like to say things.