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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (29025)	9/24/2001 5:54:39 AM
From: Solon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 82486

I don't know your bias, but I'm glad you agree. I think that freedom of religion is perhaps the most visible coefficient of freedom of thought. For the state to sanction religion, either for or against, is to sanction thinking and the expression of thought. To do so is to deny both human rights and democracy. These can not exist where freedom of religion is compromised. This is one of the (usually) unconscious reasons that Islam hates the West. All ancient religions were based on a patriarchal and feudalistic hierarchy running from the priests on down to the non believers. This is fundamentally incompatible with the equality which is implicit in the democratic ideal. Democracy and personal freedom are enemies of those old religious structures where people are stratified in various levels of inferiority. After all, how could having 70 virgins servicing you in paradise be reconciled with an idea of democracy and equality? It just can't. In Islam, the women are only in paradise to service the men. As far as I know only virgin women get to paradise. And seemingly, they get to stay that way throughout their time of eternal service. Freedom of religion, freedom of thought--democracy? None of this comports with Islam, Judaism, or Christianity. The dismissive and misogynistic essence of these religions argues forever against true human freedom and true democracy. Human rights is antithetical to these primitive belief systems. They can never co-exist peacefully.