sideoftheroad

An issue going on right now in Canada (my country! ) is the allowance and recognition of the Sharia (Islamic law).

Basically, they want formal tribunals to be setup and recognized. An example was a few years ago a woman punished her child by burning her with hot spoons. The court went against her, but she said that they were not respecting her religion, which deems this a permissable form of punishment for children.

Now obviously treating woman like subordinates and allowing such punishments are against our Charter of Rights and Family Law. However, this overlaps with Canada's inherent want to respect and tolerate all religions. How can we be truly tolerating a religion if we deny certain aspects? Islam does not distinguish between religion and life/law, so some feel that it is hypocritical to choose to tolerate one facet of a religion yet condemn the other.

I guess what I wanna bring into discussion is how do you all feel about Canada allowing this? There is much outrage and I doubt/hope it'll never happen, however my country has given the same rights to the Jewish and Christian faith, so why not the Islamic religion?

But on another topic which sort of ties in, can anyone name one predominantly Islamic country which is not considered to be a major violator of human rights? Syria? Saudi Arabia?

Human rights are universal - yes we have all have different customs and must respect others, we must also take precedence to our own. All of these discussions (ie: Where is the outrage?) are taking place and blaming the US for violations, yet this is because we have high standards for certain countries. Where is the outrage? How about the outrage for female circumscision, mercy killing, tolerance of rape, treating women like second citizens? Just because it is now expected from these countries, where is the outrage?

One of the main arguments I hear is "Well Mohammed gave woman lots more rights in his day, such as owning property..."

Well that was over a thousand years ago, we have come along way and the world is changing. You either have to change with it or get lost and become obsolete.

Stephanie S.

Kuwait, maybe? Egypt?

I'd love to be a woman in Kuwait. Hell, I'd like to be a dog in Kuwait.
From what I've read and heard, it's a pretty cool place.

As for Islam in Canada, I think Muslims should be given the same rights as anyone else. However, when the religion goes in the direction of child abuse, then I think the abuser should be held accountable, regardless of their religion.

There are religions which prohibit blood transfusions and there has been some controversy when a parent refuses certain medical procedures for their child because of religious belief. There is a fine line between being humane and being religious. I think that when the line is crossed and abuse is the result...it should be handled accordingly.

You know, in France they are prohibiting girls from wearing the Muslim head scarf to school. In the US, they are allowed. I guess it's a matter of Canadian law and what the people as a whole want.

peace

__________________
"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." —George W. Bush, Greece, N.Y., May 24, 2005 (Listen to audio)

sideoftheroad

Egypt is pretty well-known for torture, especially against political dissidents. Women can't vote in Kuwait. Not my idea of a cool place.

In a way I really respect France's strong secular view. The idea of not allowed visible religious symbols seems to be going a little bit to far, but the other extreme (full religious tolerance) is also a little scary.

It just seems very one-sided - as 'civilized' western countries we must be very tolerant, yet in the other countries they completely go against some of our views and don't show us a mutual respect.

If you went to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Afghanastan, Iraq (pre-war too), Syria, etc. and said you hated all Americans and wanted them dead, think people would get upset? Come to Canada and say the same things about people from Saudi Arabia and you'd be a rascist asshole (with just cause). So how come people are so against the US for infractions and violations, yet they conveniently turn a blind eye to the countries with REAL problems.

MickityMike

They apparently view the US as the bigger of the two evils.

__________________
I'd be delighted to live in a country where happily married gay couples had closets full of assault weapons. - Glenn Reynolds

^_^truth

Let me see if I can give a correct answer to this one: Indonesia. It is one the most Islamic countries in the world, and yet it tends to be at least somewhat civilized (the lack of comforts are not a violation of human rights).


Because unlike those other countries, the U.S. attempts to impose it's views upon other countries. Islamic countries, for the most part, hate America because they support their view of infidels (U.S.'s support of Israel: BIG F**King Mistake!).

When people of the "western world" say things like "Kill Muslims" or "Death of Saudi Arabia" they are viewed as racists because they are going against the grain of bigotry.

I agree it is wrong, but until the "Western World" learns to be either entirely secular in it's policies, or overally accepting and tolerant of the "Eastern World" this bigotry will continue.

We can only hope, as a global community that something brings us together and we realize that all we were fighting for was pointless (countries and religions: The two fundamental causes of war, that are both in our heads; that's right there is no tangibility to these two).

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Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.
Nietzsche

MickityMike

They didn't behave so well in East Timor. What with all the slaughtering of civilians and war crimes in general.

The Islamic countries that support Palestinian terrorists against Israel (and the West) aren’t trying to “impose their views”?

Israel is an island of representative government in a sea of tyranny – in what way is our support a mistake? I find it EXTREMELY interesting that the only places in the Mideast that have a chance for free elections are Israeli-controlled Palestine, and Western-controlled Afghanistan and Iraq.

Ironically, the very secularity of the Western world is one of the many reasons why the Islamic extremists view us with such contempt.