Very interesting Examinator and Foxy, thanks for the heads up!

the intensification of Islamic fundamentalism is the death throes of
patriarchy, the terminal use of religion as an excuse for men who
fear women to maintain control, coming two thirds of a century after
other men, since largely enlightened, bombed whole cities in pursuit
of the same goal, best countered with law enacted by agreement
between the women's cabinet and the men's cabinet of the parliament
of an equal rights republic.

" You make no distinction between Islam and it's fundamentalists." foxy.

This is the biggest insult one can say to a Muslim. Erdogan, the PM of Muslim Turkey finds it a big insult to make distinctions in Islam. Islam is Islam he says.
http://sheikyermami.com/2009/04/05/turkish-pm-erdogan-moderate-muslim-label-unacceptable/

The Muslim-majority country of Turkey has already closed down all abattoir for pigs. Egypt has slaughtered all pigs using the excuse that they spread the H1N1 virus. One wonders why they did not kill all the chickens during the bird flu epidemic.

If Obama is serious about fighting Islamic terrorism, he should close down ALL Islamic schools, close as many mosques as possible and put all mosques under surveillance.

The script for Islamic terrorism is found in the Qu'ran. Anyone below the age of 18 should only be allowed to read this hate manual under guidance.

Dear HermanYutic,

Me having a heart of gold?
Nah, - mine actually beats!

Seriously though all jokes aside -
I'd like to Thank Everyone for their
inputs.
It's been a "robust" discussion to say
the least.

I started this thread with the intention of
learning a bit more about the topic.
I thought that since globally -
1.25 billion people are Muslims,
(approx. one in five of every 5 people follows Islam),
and the total of believers has surpassed two older
religions (Hinduism and Buddhism) with only Christianity
having more followers - it was a topic worthwhile
discussing.

I've found that -
part of the problem is that many people in the West
are uninformed about Islam. Their only contact is
through news reports about wars in Muslim countries,
terrorist attacks, or fundamentalist denunications of
Western corruption.

As we enter a new century, cultural and political tensions
between Muslims and non-Muslims continue. Now more than
ever it is important for people to learn more about their
neighbours of all faiths. It's only through education and
tolerance that we will be able to build a new world in
which fear and mistrust are replaced with understanding
tolerance, and peace.

I fear that our world can become so obsessed with the
problems of hatred and aggression, that it will allow peace
and love to be regarded as soft and weak.

Yet our survival on this planet depends on their dominance.

Last words of the Khost CIA base suicide bomber.

NB: This has nothing to do with Islam

"By God, if the reward for martyrdom for the sake of Allah had only been forgiveness of sins and the exemption from being called to account for one's sins, I should sacrifice my property and my life for it. All the more so, since the reward includes also the uppermost paradise. How much more so since it also includes being in the company of the Prophet Muhammad….

"Oh God, I beseech Thee not to let me die except as a martyr for Your sake. Oh God, I beseech Thee that I would [be given the chance to] massacre Your enemies and then be killed under the ruins of a building destroyed by the Jews and the crusaders, and that the rescue people shall not take out my body, so that my corpse should turn into human fertilizer that will bring forth fruit upon which a Muslim child shall feed and become a jihad fighter when he grows up,"

"My heart burns to ashes because of my love for jihad….This is a nightmare which makes me sleepless and it wrecks my nerves. I'm afraid that on the day of resurrection, standing before a mountain of [my] sins, I shall be asked to account for each and every one of them, and it shall be a long account, and I will be covered with sweat, while they [i.e. the martyrs] will be moving about the rooms of paradise in everlasting pleasure. One of them will say to the other: 'What do you say about him who used to be called Abu Dajana Al-Khurasani, who used to urge people to go to jihad?' And the other one will answer: 'But he died in bed, a contemptible death, having stayed away from jihad. I wish for him that he had benefited by his own words….He was like a wick that burned itself to give light to the others.'"

http://www.memrijttm.org/content/en/report.htm?report=3886&param=APT

Raja Petra Kamarudin is a secular Malaysian Muslim who reports honestly about Islam's moral police(RELA). He is now in hiding for his life.

"...the Federal Territory Religious Department who arrested 17 or so Muslim staff who were working in a disco in Kuala Lumpur. And all except one pleaded guilty and paid the RM400 fine. One, however, decided to sue the Malaysian government...,

According to the police report that this Muslim woman made, which is the basis of the suit, she plus all the others were handcuffed and placed in the police truck. After some time she needed to answer the call of nature and requested permission to go to the toilet. However, they refused to allow her to go to the toilet and asked her instead to just pee in the truck.

This woman could not hold her bladder and had no choice but to pee there and then. Her colleagues helped guard her modesty by placing a scarf in front of her so that she could at least have some privacy. But the RELA officers pulled away the scarf and started taking photographs of her peeing, of course with her private parts fully exposed.

In the police station, the men were separated from the women...

Then the women were told they could avoid getting charged by settling the case 'outside court' in exchange for sexual favours. All they had to do was drop their panties and after a quickie they would be allowed to go home without any further action taken against them.

Yes, these are the upholders of the dignity of Islam. These are the defenders of Islam...Now do you know why the non-Muslims fear the prospects of Malaysia being turned into an Islamic State? Hey, I don't blame them. If this is the Islam they are talking about then I too fear Malaysia being turned into an Islamic State. I fear my wife and daughter getting picked up by these perverts because they are perceived as dressing too sexily and then being asked to grant these 'officers of Islam' sexual favours as out of court settlement."http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/1252/46