"Luckily for you, you live in a pluralistic, tolerant society.
There are no pluralistic, tolerant Muslim countries."
I feel quite fortunate for what I have been given and for the society in which I live.
I agree there are no Muslim Countries that match the criteria described in the article.
"either convert or pay tribute (DHIMMITUDE), or die."
Once again you seem to be going a little off the deep end here. During the ancient times when this type of tolerance was practiced...
As "People of the Book", Jews and Christians were regarded as protected people (dhimmi), who were permitted to retain and practice their religions, be led by their own religious leaders, and be guided by their own religious laws and customs. For this protection, they paid a poll or head tax (jizya).
It was quite a progressive step in the direction of tolerance in comparison with most other monoculture societies, of that period.
Paying the tax, while allowing you to participate in sub cultures lead by people of your choosing, who don't actually run the government should not sound that strange to people who can get their heads out of the ancient text for a second and consider the sensibility of it. After all we don't have to have a Nazi government to be tolerant of a Nazi group existing in our Nation. US Nazi's pay taxes, do they not? And Nazi's or Supremecists don't get to freely exercise every policy they may hold dear, where ever they want, when ever they want, do they? We don't have to let them run insurgencies against the current government to demonstrate our tolerance do we? |
