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Off-topic forums => Completely Unrelated => Topic started by: DarkFang on 2011-05-02 03:11:57
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Apparently so.
What is in store for our country now?
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A counter attack. You can't kill an idea without completely crushing all people who believe in it and all evidence of its existence. Nothing will change. You heard it here first.
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Conveniently, 8 years ago Bush said his "Mission Accomplished" Speech to. Or so I've heard/read.
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http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01112/mission_accomplish_1112950c.jpg Any re airings of that speech have it removed/changed to say something else.
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I'm in shock, I honestly thought he was never gonna be found.
Guess he bought an iPhone
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I agree with ObeseBear, for the most part. I don't believe there will be a counterattack, as the US will not be pulling its forces out of the middle east simply due to Osama's demise.
It helps radical Islam's goals having the US over there. They'll attack if the US starts moving out of the middle east as a whole, just to keep it in line.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpppG9-qkG4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpppG9-qkG4)
If its actually fake, there will be repercussions.
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A counter attack. You can't kill an idea without completely crushing all people who believe in it and all evidence of its existence. Nothing will change. You heard it here first.
This is completely correct. The only way to defeat an idea is to destroy the idea. Killing 1 man or even 100 makes no difference. With Hitler, it was possible to kill the leaders and creators of Nazism. I am afraid you cannot kill Muhammad...
The only way to defeat Islam is to attack the ideology head on, and have an open and frank discussion about it, not blinded by PC nonsense. The Koran is full to bursting with hate and racism and instructions directly from muhammad. Do not mistake the Koran for the bible. Whilst the bible also has some fairly dodgy quotes it is not in the same league. The Koran is written by 1 man who gives instructions to his followers and states that the later passages supercede the earlier.
In that way, the more tolerant and peaceful quotes are the first ones, and the later ideology is war mongering hate which Muslims are instructed should be obeyed. Not what came earlier (when 1 teaching contradicts another).
The truth is, you learn what an ideology is about by its followers. Sure most Muslims are not war mongering fools like their prophet was, and I am sure most obey law. But the problem is, a sizable and significant number of them obey the Koran and take everything literally (and most of the Koran IS literal). As Dawkins said, there don't need to be a majority of Muslims causing trouble, it only needs to be a small fraction.
If one looks at the Ivory coast and almost ALL places where Muslims are a near majority or a majority, they see war, second class social structure, strife, lack of rights for Women/gays/other faiths and often dictatorships.
You learn what an ideology is about by looking at countries with a large Muslim following. Muslims are the effect, Islam is the cause. It is not peaceful, it is dangerous. It is as dangerous as Nazism was.
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You can't kill an idea without completely crushing all people who believe in it and all evidence of its existence.
But a terrorist organisation needs a strong leadership. When it doesn't have one, people get bored and it fades into obscurity. Its members cease to be militants and become bitter and angry but relatively harmless people.
That said, this doesn't mean the end of Al-Qaeda because I doubt that Bin Laden was still the big cheese. What they need to do is get all of the top brass.
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What did the Al Qaeda learn from Osama Bin Ladens death???..... Location - Location - Location...
In other news, Chuck Norris returns from vacationing in Pakistan...
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Oh yeah, and nice to see Pakistan, our "ally" doing something about him.
Yeah he was only hiding out in Islamabad in an absolutely obvious hideout.
Also anybody who votes Obama purely due to this is an idiot.
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What did the Al Qaeda learn from Osama Bin Ladens death???..... Location - Location - Location...
And more importantly, don't use your real name and address on your PSN account.
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Too bad bad he got pumped full of lead. Think of the information that could have been obtained. Perhaps he is in custody and we say hes dead so we can torture him? hmmm
I definetely agree with KM on this one, the goal is now to eliminate everyone else at the top.
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I think its bullshit and they did it on purpose as a way to collectively unite the American public by creating a common enemy, in order to rally support for elite interests, similar to what Hitler did before WWII. The proof is already in the pudding, just look at this rediculous *Tea Party* movement happening all over the country. Whether we really killed him or not is of little consequence since we let him escape 10 years ago, over restricted air space deliberately. Don't believe me, but there is video recording of an American general (don't remember his name) stating as much, as well as a plethora of other evidence, so I don't care to argue this fact. Also Osama himself was an ex CIA operative and America funded his rise to politcal power in the first place. Whether 911 was an inside job or not, this is clearly a stunt in my eyes and I'm not falling for it.
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Liberal Consipiracy Theorist! :-P It would be difficult to prove that the Tea Party is any more ridiculous than any other party. Anecdotal examples ludicrosity are abundant in every party. Is that stuff true about Osama?
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Call me a liberal if you want. I tend to rely on facts not political affliations so I don't really give a shit. labels are about as useless as opinions in my eyes when it comes to politics. As for Conspiracy, its blatantly obvious that those that have power, use that power for the advancement of themselves and their families and leave the majority high and dry. They tend to lie, cheat, steal, kill and whatever else is required to accomplish this end. Again, call it a conspiracy if you want, but I think this is actually quite common knowledge that this has been going on in a traditional and standardized format for roughly 10,000 years, give or take.
As for what I said about Osama, do some research, it should take you about 2 hours to confirm what I've said, if that.
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I'm not disagreeing with you, and I was half jokingly applying the label (didn't mean them as dirty words). Of course power corrupts, but society, in all its forms, is responsible for differences in power. Governments and Kingdoms are just carrying the torch that was lit for them when people decided to all populate the same geographic locations. I was once an idealist that thought that inequalities could be abolished and power evenly distributed, but like you said..."I tend to rely on facts." A utopian illusion is possible through absolute brainwashing or totalitarian destruction of all conflicting ideas but I don't think people can come together and say, "We are all equals, let's live in harmony," although those with power are currently trying to implant that idea in our minds.
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while I agree that a utopia is essentially an impossible goal. There is nothing that anyone can say that would convince me that things cannot be a lot better than they currently stand it terms of quality of life for the common man. This is because tehcnologies like 3d printing, tesla coils, geothermal energy, hydroponic grow houses, advanced robotics, mag lev trains and a million other extraordinary inventions that go entirely unused. ENTIRELY with one exception, WAR! Even though the tesla coil is older than the fossil fuel powered engine, we continue to rely on the latter specifically for the sake of milking the public dry of all its worth. the soul reason why we didn't go with the Coil in the first place is because it would have made energy access too abundant and therefore you wouldn't be able to put a price on it. In other words we shit in our own bed and we have been refusing to clean up the mess as we lie in it night after night, year after year, and the smell progressively worsens and the state of human health cognitively and physically deteriotates. There is no excuse IMO for not using what science has already acheived for the sake a a better society. Yes there is no such thing as perfection but that is no excuse not to try. In fact given that we only have a finite period of time until this planet becomes unsustainable, I'd say its our duty at this point to use our technology rather than letting it lie dormant for no excusable reason. IMO we are already 100 years behind where we should be because we didn't use Nikola Tesla's ideas to form this society. Keep in mind that the construction of a Tesla Coil for commerical and residential use actually began in 1906 somewhere on long island and still stands today. It would have sent electric energy flying through the skys all the way to china. The project was stopped deliberately by its investors JP Morgan, to move to the use of fossil fuels specifically for the sake of profit. However money is only paper, free energy is free energy, which would you rather have? There is no excuse or idealology which makes that okay for me. Sorry for going so far off topic but these are real heated issues for me. Might have to start a new topic or something.
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Excellent points. I agree.
Guess nobody will be able to collect on this.
(http://montrealradioguy.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/osama_bin_laden_wanted_poster.jpg?w=450&h=562)
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Pretty sure it was 25 miliion USD.
It doesn't matter that he's dead. Case in point, we're still over there doing EXACTLY what we've been doing, and will continue to be until we get a President who has the balls to completely leave the middle east and apologize saying, "Sorry we messed up your countries with our pointless 'war', but best of luck".
Until then, let's waste all of our money and allow our soldiers to die for nothing! yippee!
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he's dead but his organization isn't... i am against war but i really wish my country would more actively help in taking these immoral bastards out.
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Pretty sure it was 25 miliion USD.
It doesn't matter that he's dead. Case in point, we're still over there doing EXACTLY what we've been doing, and will continue to be until we get a President who has the balls to completely leave the middle east and apologize saying, "Sorry we messed up your countries with our pointless 'war', but best of luck".
Until then, let's waste all of our money and allow our soldiers to die for nothing! yippee!
They messed their countries up looooong before we got involved but yes, we are dying for nothing, because as soon as the troops leave they will go back to the rigid law of Islam and be back where they started.
Ask the russians.... they saw it happen last time.
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GOD DAMMIT! from what I've read some of you are completely retarded. To kill people because of what they believe in is horrible beyond recognition. Rather, we need to destroy the people responsible for this radical action. I'm atheist, though I have read both the Koran and the bible. No where in the Koran does it state that it is okay to kill someone because of what they believe in. It was manipulative bastards like Osama that disgraced it and used random ass quotes and things that make no sense to convince uneducated people to commit these crimes. I am sick of this. My aunt is muslim, and she is one of the nicest people in the world. so, are you people going to keep acting like uneducated 12 year olds, or, even worse, uneducated seniors? or are you actually going to do your research and start thinking for yourself, rather than what Fox news tells you to believe?It's obvious the people who need to go are the people who manipulate the lower class, people like Osama, not people who follow a religion for all the right reasons(as an atheist, I consider religion stupid, but I really couldn't care less if you followed one). Same goes for our side of the world. My point being, stop acting like this! In considering completely destroying Islamic religions, you sink to the level of Hitler, A GENOCIDAL MANIAC! Many of you need to grow up.
A counter attack. You can't kill an idea without completely crushing all people who believe in it and all evidence of its existence. Nothing will change. You heard it here first.
and to you, obesebear, you are the worst of all. You and DLPB. This quote proves how ignorant and backward you are. Do you really think that killing these people will solve anything? Do you really think you can erase history? No, knowledge stays. Would you kill the innocent, who have done nothing wrong their entire lives, because they simply believe in something you don't understand? You are just as bad as Hitler, because you know what you're considering? Genocide. You bastards.
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GOD DAMMIT! from what I've read some of you are completely retarded. To kill people because of what they believe in is horrible beyond recognition. Rather, we need to destroy the people responsible for this radical action. I'm atheist, though I have read both the Koran and the bible. No where in the Koran does it state that it is okay to kill someone because of what they believe in. It was manipulative bastards like Osama that disgraced it and used random ass quotes and things that make no sense to convince uneducated people to commit these crimes. I am sick of this. My aunt is muslim, and she is one of the nicest people in the world. so, are you people going to keep acting like uneducated 12 year olds, or, even worse, uneducated seniors? or are you actually going to do your research and start thinking for yourself, rather than what Fox news tells you to believe?It's obvious the people who need to go are the people who manipulate the lower class, people like Osama, not people who follow a religion for all the right reasons(as an atheist, I consider religion stupid, but I really couldn't care less if you followed one). Same goes for our side of the world. My point being, stop acting like this! In considering completely destroying Islamic religions, you sink to the level of Hitler, A GENOCIDAL MANIAC! Many of you need to grow up.
and to you, obesebear, you are the worst of all. You and DLPB. This quote proves how ignorant and backward you are. Do you really think that killing these people will solve anything? Do you really think you can erase history? No, knowledge stays. Would you kill the innocent, who have done nothing wrong their entire lives, because they simply believe in something you don't understand? You are just as bad as Hitler, because you know what you're considering? Genocide. You bastards.
I think you misunderstood what he said. It seemed pretty obvious to me that he was referring to al-Qaeda, not Islam in general. And he has a good point there; it's quite likely that members of al-Qaeda will seek revenge for Osama bin Laden's death. Eliminating an extremist sect is NOT the same thing as destroying all Muslims, and I don't think that's what obesebear was suggesting.
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I want to jump to obesebear's defense on that one. If he was saying that the Muslims should be mass-murdered, then that response (see above) would've been appropriate. But that's not what he seemed to be implying, so give him the benefit of a doubt.
Anyway. I would be very cautious when talking about Islam and its followers. If Islam were the root cause of the problem, then we'd be lucky to find a single likable good-natured Muslim out there. As it just so happens, there actually are likable good-natured Muslims out there.
In all honesty, the Muslims are an okay bunch of people by my book. Those people who execute women for being raped on the grounds of promiscuity, those people who hijack planes and fly them into tall buildings, and those people who are committed to raining terror on the world around them, aren't really Muslims. They're just freaks.
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You and DLPB. This quote proves how ignorant and backward you are. Do you really think that killing these people will solve anything?
I think, given the level of that foaming at the mouth emotional outburst, you are a devout religionist- possibly Muslim. But that changes nothing. Islam especially is responsible for the massive majority of death today because it inspires death with its holy book and all through its history to the present day it has raised fearless warriors who will die for their cause in the belief they are going to heaven with a ton of virgins. Christianity adapted and people moved on, but Islam remains as deadly as ever.
It is not backward to suggest that killing people ends a struggle. Indeed, you may remember how Nazism was defeated and let me give you a clue: it wasn't by talking nicely to Hitler.
On the other hand, Nazism was a much more localised belief system and did not have the same pull as a religion. Islam is worse than Nazism because it rewards death and it promises bliss for believers. It is also widespread. I don't want to kill innocent muslims or want innocent people to die. However, I do want the likes of Osama dead yes, and I do want Islam to be resigned to the dust bin of history.
In fact I want all religions resigned to the dust bin, but Islam is the worst of the bunch by far and is a deadly, backward ideology. It is a plague of modern of times and before you come back calling me racist, let me remind you that Islam is a belief system and ideology, NOT a race.
If Islam were the root cause of the problem, then we'd be lucky to find a single likable good-natured Muslim out there.
No that isn't how it works. Obviously a lot of Muslims (a majority) are not going to take the more deadly passages seriously. However, it can be no surprise that nearly all terrorists are Muslim and that nearly all Muslim countries have some sort of social or economic problem. Anywhere this religion goes it breeds chaos. Ivory coast is the latest in a LONG line.
The Nazi followers probably had many decent people among their ranks who would not kill a living thing, but that didn't make any difference. Most Muslims do not wage war or blow themselves up, but their holy book is not like the bible and is in fact a lot worse. This is why there are more Muslim problems around the world than ANY other religious group.
If Islam did not exist, America would not have been attacked. The holy book gives reward and justification for jihad. The religion IS the root cause.
Just read this:
Qur'an 5:17 "Verily they are disbelievers and infidels who say, 'The Messiah, son of Mary, is God.'"
Qur'an 5:51 "Believers, take not Jews and Christians for your friends. They are but friends and protectors to each other."
Qur'an 5:72 "They are surely infidels who blaspheme and say: 'God is Christ, the Messiah, the son of Mary.' But the Messiah only said: 'O Children of Israel! Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.'"
Qur'an 72:15 "But the Qasitun (disbelievers) are the firewood of hell."
Qur'an 2:61 "Humiliation and wretchedness were stamped on the Jews and they were visited with Allah's wrath."
Ishaq:240 "The Jews are a nation of liars.... The Jews are a treacherous, lying, and evil people."
Ishaq:250 "The bestial transformation occurred when Allah turned Jews into apes, despised."
Qur'an 59:14 "The Jews are devoid of sense. There is a grievous punishment awaiting them. Satan tells them not to believe so they will end up in Hell."
http://prophetofdoom.net/Islamic_Quotes_Jews.Islam
It goes on and on and on and on. It is not hard to see where the problem is coming from.
The apologists for Islam like to bring up bible passages, but the vast majority are in a few books of the old testament and are not literal instructions or aimed at any race. The koran and surra and other teachings are AIMED at JEWS and Christians. They are specific quotes against a section of people. It is also 1 man who is instructing, it is not a parable or a story or a book. The Koran and teachings are rigid and to the point and are often impossible to take non literally.
Many Korans have to come with notation next to all these quotes to try and dispel them or tone them down, but they exist and that's why the Koran is such a good recruiting Sargent.
There will never be peace between Jews, non believers and Christians while the Koran remains in its unaltered state.
Allah is an enemy to unbelievers. - Sura 2:98
On unbelievers is the curse of Allah. - Sura 2:161
Quran (2:191-193) - "And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution [of Muslims] is worse than slaughter [of non-believers]...and fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah."
Quran (2:216) - "Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not.
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GOD DAMMIT! from what I've read some of you are completely retarded. To kill people because of what they believe in is horrible beyond recognition. Rather, we need to destroy the people responsible for this radical action. I'm atheist, though I have read both the Koran and the bible. No where in the Koran does it state that it is okay to kill someone because of what they believe in. It was manipulative bastards like Osama that disgraced it and used random ass quotes and things that make no sense to convince uneducated people to commit these crimes. I am sick of this. My aunt is muslim, and she is one of the nicest people in the world. so, are you people going to keep acting like uneducated 12 year olds, or, even worse, uneducated seniors? or are you actually going to do your research and start thinking for yourself, rather than what Fox news tells you to believe?It's obvious the people who need to go are the people who manipulate the lower class, people like Osama, not people who follow a religion for all the right reasons(as an atheist, I consider religion stupid, but I really couldn't care less if you followed one). Same goes for our side of the world. My point being, stop acting like this! In considering completely destroying Islamic religions, you sink to the level of Hitler, A GENOCIDAL MANIAC! Many of you need to grow up.
and to you, obesebear, you are the worst of all. You and DLPB. This quote proves how ignorant and backward you are. Do you really think that killing these people will solve anything? Do you really think you can erase history? No, knowledge stays. Would you kill the innocent, who have done nothing wrong their entire lives, because they simply believe in something you don't understand? You are just as bad as Hitler, because you know what you're considering? Genocide. You bastards.
Please, please, please be trolling. Please. I couldn't take it if someone actually believed this nonsense.
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Astonishingly, the Daily Express (http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/244410) had the best front page today:
(http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/5320/20110503a.jpg)
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Do you really think that killing these people will solve anything?
No, But it increases the US moral! Thats reason enough for me.
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GOD DAMMIT! from what I've read some of you are completely retarded. To kill people because of what they believe in is horrible beyond recognition. Rather, we need to destroy the people responsible for this radical action. I'm atheist, though I have read both the Koran and the bible. No where in the Koran does it state that it is okay to kill someone because of what they believe in. It was manipulative bastards like Osama that disgraced it and used random ass quotes and things that make no sense to convince uneducated people to commit these crimes. I am sick of this. My aunt is muslim, and she is one of the nicest people in the world. so, are you people going to keep acting like uneducated 12 year olds, or, even worse, uneducated seniors? or are you actually going to do your research and start thinking for yourself, rather than what Fox news tells you to believe?It's obvious the people who need to go are the people who manipulate the lower class, people like Osama, not people who follow a religion for all the right reasons(as an atheist, I consider religion stupid, but I really couldn't care less if you followed one). Same goes for our side of the world. My point being, stop acting like this! In considering completely destroying Islamic religions, you sink to the level of Hitler, A GENOCIDAL MANIAC! Many of you need to grow up.
and to you, obesebear, you are the worst of all. You and DLPB. This quote proves how ignorant and backward you are. Do you really think that killing these people will solve anything? Do you really think you can erase history? No, knowledge stays. Would you kill the innocent, who have done nothing wrong their entire lives, because they simply believe in something you don't understand? You are just as bad as Hitler, because you know what you're considering? Genocide. You bastards.
my god if i were a mod i'd have banned you already for showing such disrespect to the people here.
and if your trolling its one thing but please PPPLLEEEAAASEE don't tell me your actually this self-righteous.
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and to you, obesebear, you are the worst of all. You and DLPB. This quote proves how ignorant and backward you are. Do you really think that killing these people will solve anything? Do you really think you can erase history? No, knowledge stays. Would you kill the innocent, who have done nothing wrong their entire lives, because they simply believe in something you don't understand? You are just as bad as Hitler, because you know what you're considering? Genocide. You bastards.
Thank you, thank you. First I would like to think all the people who made this ridiculous outburst possible. God, my parents, my teachers in grade school who enabled me to learn basic English while also teaching how to discern implications in sentences.
Seriously dude, you might need some help if you're always so apt to have your emotions control you.
Also, I only wish I could be half the man Hitler was.
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It won't be hard, if you have more than one testicle.
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So he is twice the man? :o
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To kill people because of what they believe in is horrible beyond recognition. Rather, we need to destroy the people responsible for this radical action.
No, the sensible solution is just to discredit them. Now you're the one advocating murder.
I'm atheist, though I have read both the Koran and the bible. No where in the Koran does it state that it is okay to kill someone because of what they believe in. It was manipulative bastards like Osama that disgraced it and used random ass quotes and things that make no sense to convince uneducated people to commit these crimes.
Seems to me you weren't paying attention to either. There are LOTS of stories in the Bible where God tells the Israelites to kill men, women, children and even livestock of their enemies.
I am sick of this. My aunt is muslim, and she is one of the nicest people in the world.
To YOU, perhaps. I doubt the entire world would think she is. This is your opinion of her based on what you've seen of her. Being "nice" isn't immunity from being dangerous (not necessarily that your aunt is).
and to you, obesebear, you are the worst of all. You and DLPB. This quote proves how ignorant and backward you are. Do you really think that killing these people will solve anything? Do you really think you can erase history? No, knowledge stays. Would you kill the innocent, who have done nothing wrong their entire lives, because they simply believe in something you don't understand? You are just as bad as Hitler, because you know what you're considering? Genocide. You bastards.
"Chop off the head and the body dies." It's a widely-used military stratagem. That's not advocating en masse killings.
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However, it can be no surprise that nearly all terrorists are Muslim
Only in more recent years, though. Don't forget the Irish terrorists.
My instinct has always been that people go to war because of material circumstances rather than ideologies. Folks in educated, well-off nations are pretty good at disavowing portions of their scriptures and edicts, and in any case, even without a religious ideology, people in poor economic circumstances get violent quickly.
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Only in more recent years, though. Don't forget the Irish terrorists.
My instinct has always been that people go to war because of material circumstances rather than ideologies. Folks in educated, well-off nations are pretty good at disavowing portions of their scriptures and edicts, and in any case, even without a religious ideology, people in poor economic circumstances get violent quickly.
Except there are poorer places than the middle east and the Muslim majority parts of south Asia. Although it is true that there is a correlation between poverty in a region and violence, it is not enough to fully explain the situation we see in the aforementioned places.
It is also the case that many of the extremists are well off. In Europe, Islamic extremism is closely associated with university education and middle class backgrounds.
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And Islam has had cut throat warriors all through the ages... whereas other religions became more tolerant and less violent. Islam has always been the same
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and to you, obesebear, you are the worst of all. You and DLPB. This quote proves how ignorant and backward you are. Do you really think that killing these people will solve anything? Do you really think you can erase history? No, knowledge stays. Would you kill the innocent, who have done nothing wrong their entire lives, because they simply believe in something you don't understand? You are just as bad as Hitler, because you know what you're considering? Genocide. You bastards.
What's wrong with you? Isn't it ignorant to refer to someone as ignorant just based on a sentence that you obviously did not comprehend correctly?
How the hell would you feel if your home was bombed? Would you still say "I must not fight I must not fight I must not fight because it will not solve anything. I'll just sit around, bite my tongue, and endure all the destruction heading towards me." Obesebear has served (or is?) his country, so he obviously knows more than I on this particular matter. I'm sure as heck he knows more than what you manage to conjure up with.
I believe, that you believe in the "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind" type of thing. I respect that quote, but that is only to a certain extent man get with the program!!
Oh and fyi, he didn't mean the Islamic religion. He meant the Al-Qaeda terrorist group. Who's ignorant now...
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I think that guy has received enough responses now. He's been active since posting that, so he's probably seen some of the posts afterwards, but he hasn't responded. Let's drop it.
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I think that guy has received enough responses now. He's been active since posting that, so he's probably seen some of the posts afterwards, but he hasn't responded. Let's drop it.
This was more of a general discussion rather than me wanting an answer.
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I wasn't talking about you, I was talking about the guy drfeelgud88 (and many other posters, myself included) quoted/responded to. I'm not saying "kill the thread", I'm saying forget about megaknight's post.
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When I mentioned this idea to an academic, they called it teleology and then tuned me out. I can't quite figure out what the hell that means; wikipedia isn't helping. There isn't a single sentence which clearly states what teleology is in the entire article. Apparently none of the English majors don't hang out with Philosophy majors, at least not with the ones who edit wikipedia.
He probably meant that you were looking at the result and inferring causes from it: you were talking about Islamic history as if all the things that happened over the generations were put into place so that a certain goal would be reached. He was saying that you were looking at things with too much hindsight and this hindsight was influencing your interpretation too much. Hindsight can be a dangerous enemy when you're looking at the past.
I think you're also forgetting one of the other major factors in the Arab expansion: the rest of the world was such a mess.
After the fall of the European classical civilisations, civilisations whose empires spread as far as north Africa and north-Western India, there was a power vacuum. Any large and vaguely organised empire would have been able to dominate the world west of the Ganges (China was the only other powerful empire, and they were too far away to be of any interest). Europe didn't get back on its feet until the Renaissance, and when that happened, the tide quickly started to turn.
The Arab and Ottoman empires rose to power not because of any great qualities that were later lost, but because there was no-one big or organised enough to stop them. Certainly not the Europeans, who were divided up into countless tiny states and spent all their time fighting each other over pointless crap and having schisms. Only England and France would have been sufficiently organised to mount any opposition, and they never needed to because they were so far to the north-west.
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Why was Europe such a mess? I heard an argument that Rome declined in three phases: first when it degenerated from republic to empire, again when Christianity became the norm for the ruling class, and lastly when East and West split in two. The guy who made this argument said that the newly powerful Christians drove the pagans out and, in doing so, deprived their nation of it's classically educated classes. So where did these people go? Many of them were killed, but he guessed that they went east to Byzantium and to the (I'm not gonna try to spell what he said) rival empire in what's now Iran.
Sounds like a questionable theory of Rome's decline to me, but I'll answer your question about where all the classically educated people went: a few of them fled to Byzantium, but most just died of old age and no-one replaced them.
Europe was a mess because of the power vacuum; where there had been strong leadership in the past, there were now various tribes running rampant all over the continent and warlords replaced emperors. There was no longer much of an educational system, so scholarship, and particularly secular scholarship, declined. Calling it the "dark ages" is a bit of an exaggeration, since there were still literate people around, but literacy was greatly reduced, kingdoms were small and the lifestyle for the average person was much like it was before the Romans or Greeks came, except they had a different religion. Since there was a power vacuum and the continent was unsafe and unstable, the economy was a mess too. It's much harder to do trade and grow a business in tribal societies. Roads aren't looked after, there's less law and order so you have a bigger chance of being robbed and there were probably problems with currencies too. During the Roman empire, inflation was low and everyone used the same coins.