Al-Andalusia … Decline of a Plural Culture

Re: # 171 All are equal citizens of our country... and there is no threat of casteism .. alos there are other skirmishes of temporary nature.But not curse of casteism...

Re: # 170 May Bhegwan bless you peace of mind!

Re: # 168

Talking about the scared and dhimmified hindus in Pakistan as if they represent true hindu idolators is nonsense.
You have no idea about us idolators. WE are now fully educated about your cult of hate and are prepared to defend against your genocidal intents.

Re: # 167

How about telling this to your gali ka maulavi??

OTOH , you would nod vociferously when he curses the jews, christians, Amrikans and the mushriqs like me!!!

Re: # 168 well written keep it up!

While living in Pakistan I had 8 Hindu friends. I know personally that there are over a 100 Hindu temples in Karachi alone. I have been to few of them with my Hindu friends on the openly celebrated occasions of Deepavali and others. Similarly there are many active Gurdwara’s in Pakistan along with 100’s of Christian churches of almost all denominations. Ismaili Jamaat Khana’s, Bohri, Bahai & many other faiths have their temples in Pakistan. In last 60 years they are functional under full protection of the Govt of Pakistan. YES we have incidents of violence against these institutions every now & then, however they are not reflective of Islamic intolerance to these faiths or institutions, instead they were always the political act of few, who claim to be the representative of many.

The recent show of anger through out Pakistan after the death of BB does not mean that every single person in Pakistan who belongs to PPP hates Pakistan. It’s the few who did it, and guess what it turns out that it gave the advantage to the anti-PPP guys who wanted to postpone the election. Now it may be that they have a hand in this too.

As far as pluralism in modern societies: I now live in USA, and it does not seem to fit the definition either. Islam is the fastest growing religion here, and I do not see any Jihad happening inside USA against the so called “infidels”. However here is an example of how everyday Christian people react. About 25 years ago the Muslim community in this town where I live decided to build an Islamic center. The building was next to a Christian church which was there for many years. Now the new Islamic center is a 2 story building with a dome on top making it 3 stories tall. The church next door is a small single story structure. However once the design of the Islamic center was finalized & construction started the church decided to raise the cross higher to make it 3 inches taller than the highest point of the Islamic center which is the crescent on the dome. Every Christian friend I have who I have talked to laugh at that and agree that a 2 story tall cross on a small single story building does not look good at all. In fact it makes the building look bad. Now is that to be blamed at Christianity or just some over enthusiastic followers.

Forget about the cross at the local church. Let’s see what have happened in Iowa. Mitt Romney was the leading candidate in Republican Party, until his Mormonism became a liability, when Mike Huckabee ran an ad calling himself the true “Christian Leader”. Now any Republican I know agrees that Romney is far better choice than Huckabee but he will have the lead because of the Evangelical factor. Where does the pluralistic factor gone in the society?

The truth is that every religion is having the same problem. In India Hinduism is facing a grave challenge of losing its base. Hinduism is losing its followers to Islam & Christianity & even secularism. There are some conversions in its direction too but it is still a net-loss as the outward flow is more. The only way to spread Hinduism is by procreation, which was not an issue until recently, however Hindu leaders now fear that poor economy will lead to slow the population growth.

In neighboring Pakistan, the fundamentalist groups have the same fear. Due to economic condition & spread of modern secular education they are losing their extreme followers. That is why we see a fire on both sides trying to keep their followers. In USA, France, Brittan and other European countries Christianity is losing its followers to Islam due to conversion, illegal/legal immigration & procreation factor. Muslim in all these countries have a higher birth rate than any other group with the exception of Latinos in USA.

Now these pressures have changed the psyche of the common Christians to wards all issues. The Christians are not killing Muslims in USA, so does the Muslims are not converting Christians at the point of sword. However the war of Iraq & Afghanistan is mentioned as a Crusade in Churches all over USA & Europe.

The point of this article is that for any society to flourish, pluralism has to be in its heart and soul. The point here is that any community can & will flourish only when everyone respect everyone else’s opinion. It can happen in real life in any community.

I am amazed to see the hate level among the biggest proponents of “Pluralism & Secularism” on this forum

Vote Ron Paul for President.

Re: # 166 Hatred has short life , love is eternal!

Re: # 165

Tomorrow this guy is going to say that all hindus must apologize to muslims beause their idols are an affront to their religion!!

They are going to be wiped out this time like the vermins were done in the Eastern Europe!

What happens when some Muslim thinks you have insulted Islam:

Taslima should apologise to Muslims: Dasmunsi

By IANS
Sunday January 6, 03:53 PM

Kolkata, Jan 6 (IANS) Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi Sunday said controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen should apologise with 'folded hands' for hurting the sentiments of Muslims of the country, and hinted that her book 'Dwikhandito' could be banned.

Talking to reporters in Malda in West Bengal, he said: 'We are a pluralistic nation and we respect all religions. I love literature and I have nothing against her writing. But that does not mean she can use her pen to insult and hurt the religious belief of the Muslims or for that matter any religion.'

'The comments made by her in the book in question were uncalled for. She should bow down before the people whose sentiments she has hurt and apologise with folded hands, and expunge those pages from her book,' Dasmunsi said.

'We did not allow Salman Rushdie's book ('The Satanic Verses') when it caused a flutter and raised controversy. She will not be an exception,' said Dasmunsi.

Confined to a 'safe house' somewhere in New Delhi and shut out from the world except for phone calls and emails, Taslima Nasreen longs to come back to Kolkata from where she was shunted out in November after unprecedented street riots over her writings.

The Indian government earlier virtually told Taslima to leave the country or stay confined in a house away from Kolkata, where she had set up home for the past few years returning from exile in Europe after she was hounded out of Bangladesh for her writings.

Asked if she should be allowed to return to West Bengal, Dasmuni said, 'I will not make any comment on this. When the state government had welcomed her and asked her to settle down in Kolkata complying with her wishes, they were under the impression that they were about to bring a progressive revolution in the state.'

'So it is their headache now,' he said taking a dig at the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led Left Front government in the state.

But if Taslima has to stay in India or any other country, she has to honour and respect the philosophy and identity of that nation, he added.

At the beginning of 2008, the writer had described her condition as in a no man's land of fading hope, despair and crushing loneliness.

'I am only breathing. I don't think I am alive like you are. Can anybody live like this? It was beyond my imagination that in a secular democracy this can happen to a writer,' Nasreen told IANS from her room in an undisclosed New Delhi house recently.

Re: # 162 Yea your ideas prove this!

Re: # 160May Bhegwan saver you from your jealousy and hate!

Re: # 161

you are right - it's like asking drunkard to stop following aolcohol binge and cease being a fool... it can never been done...

laddu, my brother, please, you have to stop asking Muslims to not follow Islam or to cease being Muslims. That is neither going to work a tiniest bit nor is that at all fair.

With a calm head, try to understand. Once you succeed even partially, you may respect them (although respect is never necessary), or at the very least, will live more intelligently for yourself and for others.

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#160

For God's sake stop sympathizing with the entire world. Only absolute morons do that, or real saints. Few of us are saints.

Re: # 158

hey again, I do not hate people.......I only hate the ideology of Islam.....muslims are its victims and I have my full sympathies for them.......

Re: # 157 If you are not then why are you always obssssed to cut and paste references out of its context and trying to use them for your own personal agenda of hate mongering?

Re: # 157 If you are not then why are you always obssssed to cut and paste references out of its context and trying to use them for your own personal agenda of hate mongering?