BF2S Forums Religions of the world Thread

lol 'they're still sacrificing animals! check out this scapegoat stuff!'.

and americans don't all insist on having a turkey at thanksgiving? what does your family's christmas meal consist of? lentils and a pious reading from a haines manual?

how many israelis do you think take an interest in that sort of thing? probably about as many spaniards go to bull-fights, or irish bet on cock-fights. 'western civilization has made no progress at all!' meanwhile the english upper crust throw wodges of cash at watching horses run themselves to death over steeplechases.

Last edited by uziq (2020-11-12 02:24:47)

i'm sure you know a great deal about jewish theology and are familiar with the entire rabbinical tradition, dilbert.

'christianity hasn't changed at all in 2000 years! look! these baptists still dunk themselves in water!'

here we go, the richard dawkins school of critique. 'look at these harmful verses taken from their religious texts!'

every religion has various schools of interpretation and multiple 'faiths'. just as there are biblical literalists who would be considered extreme (and, connectedly, as there are constitutional literalists), there are the ascetics in the islamic tradition too. different branches of a religion will emphasize different aspects or parts of their holy canon over others: that's just how it is.

'do not flaunt your finery' is a simple moral lesson in humility. almost all of the ethical content in the old religions comes from a basic need to have large communities of people coexist without strife or civil/marital conflict. people flaunting their wealth and worshipping said material things isn't an uncomplicated or altogether happy situation in 'secular' society, you know; neither is adultery. of course, no western liberal will consent to this perennial social problem being solved by 'making the women cover up', but you're being rather selective there. modesty of dress is not an alien concept to non-religious cultures, either, and for much the same reason.

you could quote things from a 1500- or 2000-year-old book until the end of time and conclude that, yes, wow, many of these attitudes are in fact 1500 years old. religions change and adapt: some parts are preserved, others are left behind. most christians in the world today do not behave like puritans or dress like the amish. most catholics do not have any especial zeal or fervour to go and convert (or burn) heretics. religions become moderate, they modernize, they adapt; or they don't. just quoting random bits of scripture does not exactly constitute 'analysis' of said issue. the matter of scriptural interpretation and adherence is not exactly simple and unambiguous. indeed, religious groups have been bickering over just such things for almost as long as the fucking books have been around.

in terms of the islamic world, look at how the women dress in turkey for a good indication of how 'punitive' and 'restrictive' such verses from the quran are. look at how iranians dressed up until the UK and US decided to destabilize their liberal, elected government.

Last edited by uziq (2020-11-12 09:27:35)

just so long as you know that you sound about 15 when you take the dawkins route. 'religion is evil! look at this line i can quote!'

like there is no wisdom or ethical content in all of christianity because jesus said (or had interpolated by matthew) a few lines like 'I did not come to bring peace, but a sword'. wow! an extremist and violent religion! i'm an atheist bro kekekeke.

the majority of muslim families, particularly the young, don't cover up in day-to-day life in the UK. perhaps the grandparents or the older generations, but not the young. you will only see them in traditional dress outside the mosque or on holidays. and that is the prevailing trend in the more modern, economically developed muslim countries, too, no matter how much larssen wants to make out that turkey is a reactionary state full of sunni extremists hiding in the caves of anatolia.

you might get a sort of counter-movement in the deprived areas or housing projects, where young people without many prospects embrace their religious identity to distinguish or contrast themselves from mainstream society. that happens too, just like you get nation of islam people in new york or whatever. the dynamics are fairly obvious there.

Last edited by uziq (2020-11-12 09:34:17)

I'm waiting for macbeth to argue how catholicism has brought us south american women. This is your chance man!

Larssen wrote:

I'm waiting for macbeth to argue how catholicism has brought us south american women. This is your chance man!

if he's still a disaffected gulf war vet, he might actually resent catholics now because of anyone from south of the american border.

why don’t you let muslim women make up their own mind about what they want to wear to the beach?

Google search for beach in Turkey:



Oh no.

Also imagine stressing over burqinis in 2020. They were designed by a woman ffs. Sometimes modest swimwear is even worn outside Muslim tradition if, for example, a woman feels self-conscious about aging. Literally their choice.

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

Google search for beach in Turkey:



Oh no.

turkey is an incredibly popular tourist resort for most middle european nations. it's a cheaper and less-explored version of greece. probably not the best experiment. turkish beach resorts are about as representative of their culture as the costa del sol is representative of 'authentic' spain (the beaches of which are covered in lobster-red northern europeans).

Macbeth losing it over the Muslim Beaches is a bit silly. And by way of comparison, the west isn't too far ahead of shit like Iran's modesty laws clashing with female cyclists.


the shame!

Most cultures have changed, judaism basically hasn't in 4,000 years.
Islam hasn't either really, there is the odd outlier like turkey but otherwise the basic religion hasn't changed either.