From the article:

A Shia cleric in Baghdad spoke to IPS on the condition of anonymity to defend
such killings.
"We are an Islamic country and we must commit to the restrictions of our
religion," he said. "We must not allow corruption to invade our families
under the flag of freedom and such nonsense."
Sunni clerics offered a different view.
"It is against Islamic regulations for women to expose their hair and
bodies," Sheik Tariq al-Abdaly told IPS in Baghdad. "But this is not
an Islamic state, and so all we can do is to advise women, same as we advise
men, to follow those regulations. In any case, punishment for such mistakes
should certainly be much less tha...

From the article:

A Shia cleric in Baghdad spoke to IPS on the condition of anonymity to defend
such killings.
"We are an Islamic country and we must commit to the restrictions of our
religion," he said. "We must not allow corruption to invade our families
under the flag of freedom and such nonsense."
Sunni clerics offered a different view.
"It is against Islamic regulations for women to expose their hair and
bodies," Sheik Tariq al-Abdaly told IPS in Baghdad. "But this is not
an Islamic state, and so all we can do is to advise women, same as we advise
men, to follow those regulations. In any case, punishment for such mistakes
should certainly be much less than execution."

Just breaks my heart that so many women are so oppressed by their religion. They deserve the freedom to decide if they want to wear makeup, go to school, chose a profession, etc. Maybe I'm too simple-minded to understand this. Peace.

For anyone missing the point, here,....
Sharia Law.
Radical fundamental Islam.
I know it is uncomfortable to name such things because, after all, one may be part of a group that has stayed in a p.c. mode and if one named the offending structure, they may be outcast by their fellow clippers,...OOOPS, I mean their fellows in whatever group.
PLease, I mean NO offense, please don't feel assaulted by this, but I think if you came ANY closer to the truth than naming "all the Abrahamic religions",
you'd not be in the good graces of your "group".
I used to feel restricted in how much truth I allowed myself to accept as it was often defined by what was acceptable to the group and what would allow ME...

For anyone missing the point, here,....
Sharia Law.
Radical fundamental Islam.
I know it is uncomfortable to name such things because, after all, one may be part of a group that has stayed in a p.c. mode and if one named the offending structure, they may be outcast by their fellow clippers,...OOOPS, I mean their fellows in whatever group.
PLease, I mean NO offense, please don't feel assaulted by this, but I think if you came ANY closer to the truth than naming "all the Abrahamic religions",
you'd not be in the good graces of your "group".
I used to feel restricted in how much truth I allowed myself to accept as it was often defined by what was acceptable to the group and what would allow ME to remain acceptable to the group. I know how many would back away quietly if they saw you correctly analyzing the matter you've clipped here.
The psychological elements raised above, though, sound to me to be on the money in terms of the group and cultural dysfunction which inspires radical fundamental Islam. That's worth exploring for understanding it. I think the important understanding is that those people aren't interested in self-exploration or therapy to restore themselves to sanity.
Unless it's a Walid Shoebat, Hirsi Ali, or someone who has freed themselves first then wondered about the nature of Sharia Law in its violent repressive forms.

1.The interaction of Jesus with women was truly, profoundly radical. Talking alone with the Samaritan woman would produce the same reaction that fundamentalists would have upon finding Jesus in a gay bar. Read Luke's gospel: again and again women are the heroes of the stories or the examples to which Jesus points.
2. That the Jewish/Christian God is male is fiction. He is characterized throughout Scripture with both male and female metaphors. It appears that Adam may have a being with both male and female characteristics, which were separated into male and female creatures at the creation of woman "from Adam's side."
3. The early church had female apostles.
4. Christians ought to see m...

1.The interaction of Jesus with women was truly, profoundly radical. Talking alone with the Samaritan woman would produce the same reaction that fundamentalists would have upon finding Jesus in a gay bar. Read Luke's gospel: again and again women are the heroes of the stories or the examples to which Jesus points.
2. That the Jewish/Christian God is male is fiction. He is characterized throughout Scripture with both male and female metaphors. It appears that Adam may have a being with both male and female characteristics, which were separated into male and female creatures at the creation of woman "from Adam's side."
3. The early church had female apostles.
4. Christians ought to see male domination as a result of the fall - something to be reversed - not as the way it is supposed to be.
5. The Roman church imposed Roman views onto Christianity. It's culture, not Christianity, that oppresses women.
6. Evangelicals in US history were pioneers in women suffrage.

Would you benefit from subjugating a man or instilling terror in him? or should I ask would you desire that? Probably not.

No, but sometimes it's fun (or profitable). (kidding!!)

I'm not trying to say that having power means a person will misuse it, but rather that they can and some will.

BNM, I agree... there's no benefit to subjugation or holding power over anyone else, except to ones' ego (on both sides).

arifsali is correct in saying that anyone can offer examples from their religion in favor of respect offered to women, but what is their motivation? If I choose to say I am of a particular faith and MY faith respects women better than other reli...

Would you benefit from subjugating a man or instilling terror in him? or should I ask would you desire that? Probably not.

No, but sometimes it's fun (or profitable). (kidding!!)

I'm not trying to say that having power means a person will misuse it, but rather that they can and some will.

BNM, I agree... there's no benefit to subjugation or holding power over anyone else, except to ones' ego (on both sides).

arifsali is correct in saying that anyone can offer examples from their religion in favor of respect offered to women, but what is their motivation? If I choose to say I am of a particular faith and MY faith respects women better than other religions (and provide countless examples), what do you think my real motivation is? Why does a woman have to have it written in a holy text somewhere that she is deserving of respect??

The examples are there, certainly, and not only in regards to women.

But where is it in reality?

Mental illness aside, where does a person get off thinking they can treat a human being as less than a human being at any point in time?

Mental illness aside, where does a person get off thinking they can
treat a human being as less than a human being at any point in time?

Right on!
That's getting to the bottom of it.
---
I still say, granted it is a valuable conversation to discuss the treatment of women (or other elements) in religions and cultures comparitively, but when it comes to ritual murder and publicly accepted assault,injury,as well as beating, maiming, and ostracizing people (mostly women in these cases) it has gotten to a whole other level and degree. I AM enlightened by such discussions for what they are, but is ANYONE enlightened in terms of the original issue of the clip by drifting away from ...

Mental illness aside, where does a person get off thinking they can
treat a human being as less than a human being at any point in time?

Right on!
That's getting to the bottom of it.
---
I still say, granted it is a valuable conversation to discuss the treatment of women (or other elements) in religions and cultures comparitively, but when it comes to ritual murder and publicly accepted assault,injury,as well as beating, maiming, and ostracizing people (mostly women in these cases) it has gotten to a whole other level and degree. I AM enlightened by such discussions for what they are, but is ANYONE enlightened in terms of the original issue of the clip by drifting away from it?
Can we as free people not ask Muslims to, themselves, speak out against those who are either brought up in 1000 year old mindsets, or are at best victims of a collective insanity?

All religions are just mental illness. Faith is declining the truth. I hope in future all religions will be prohibited and people start thinking with their own brains.

I think Jesus mush have been a good man, someone who cared about people and if even half of "his" words in bible are true he was leading people to right direction. However then came other people who wrote a book, changed it thousand of times and made a religion adjusted to their needs. I'm pretty sure Jesus didn't even say he was a son of God or if he did he had to because Jews suffering from religion (mental illness) didn't took him seriously otherwise....or then Jesus was just another man suffering from this paranoia.

Ther...

All religions are just mental illness. Faith is declining the truth. I hope in future all religions will be prohibited and people start thinking with their own brains.

I think Jesus mush have been a good man, someone who cared about people and if even half of "his" words in bible are true he was leading people to right direction. However then came other people who wrote a book, changed it thousand of times and made a religion adjusted to their needs. I'm pretty sure Jesus didn't even say he was a son of God or if he did he had to because Jews suffering from religion (mental illness) didn't took him seriously otherwise....or then Jesus was just another man suffering from this paranoia.

There's no life after death, other people inherit your life from your words and your actions. You who read this inherit me and that's only eternity there is.

All those who don't believe this madness called religion should speak up to stop this kind of actions we "allow" in the name of "gods".

You know what the real problem is?

Us.

The whole human race is nothing but a pack of liars. The difficulty is that most of us don't even realize it.

How often can you get a 100% accurate report of an incident even from witnesses who were there? If at all, very few times. We as a species cannot, without fail, record and reproduce history. If it isn't political pressure or a kindness in the withholding of information that would (potentially) harm, then it's our brains filling in "logically" the bits that we don't know.

Then we have thoughts and ideas that are modified and "clarified" until they resemble a game of "telephone", where the original message resembles the final one, but ther...

You know what the real problem is?

Us.

The whole human race is nothing but a pack of liars. The difficulty is that most of us don't even realize it.

How often can you get a 100% accurate report of an incident even from witnesses who were there? If at all, very few times. We as a species cannot, without fail, record and reproduce history. If it isn't political pressure or a kindness in the withholding of information that would (potentially) harm, then it's our brains filling in "logically" the bits that we don't know.

Then we have thoughts and ideas that are modified and "clarified" until they resemble a game of "telephone", where the original message resembles the final one, but there are enough translation errors to make the meaning unclear...

Lastly, even if we are telling the truth, how much of it was really true when we first believed it? Or for that matter, was the process that led us to that belief one that can be trusted without evidence? And the evidence...is IT trustworthy. No, I say. Not fully, anyway.

To reiterate, the human species, (without the advantage of some sort of mind reading ability or device to record unabridged ALL experiences) is unable to unerringly tell the difference between a truth and a lie.

Oh yeah, this is going to be flamed by religion and privacy advocates, I can just see it.

Saying that rape is about power is trite. After all, what isn't about power? Money, fame, sex, war, politics, justice... Human society is strewn with power struggles. The imputation that rape is symptomatic of more general maladies in the male population smacks of the insult that all men are potential rapists. (because we can, sheesh!) Others will speak of our "rape culture" and see the evidence everywhere just as religious neurotics see sin everywhere. This may come as a surprise to some, but rapists are not one homogeneous and unified group. That said, the atrocities in Iraq will undoubtedly have their explanations in religious puritanism, sexual neuroses, and rogue individuals whose viole...

Saying that rape is about power is trite. After all, what isn't about power? Money, fame, sex, war, politics, justice... Human society is strewn with power struggles. The imputation that rape is symptomatic of more general maladies in the male population smacks of the insult that all men are potential rapists. (because we can, sheesh!) Others will speak of our "rape culture" and see the evidence everywhere just as religious neurotics see sin everywhere. This may come as a surprise to some, but rapists are not one homogeneous and unified group. That said, the atrocities in Iraq will undoubtedly have their explanations in religious puritanism, sexual neuroses, and rogue individuals whose violence is, nonetheless, atypical. Blaming these reprehensible acts on Muslim culture as a whole or male dominance specifically (as if the phenomena of male dominance, repressive religion, and puritanism were essential components of one another rather than mere adjunctive) requires a grander (and more tedious) theoretical framework which I'll leave to those in the feminist camp.