The Catholic Church is getting much better...

[UnstoppableForce]

The U.S. HAS to rebuild Afghanistan and Iraq for its own good. It's not really a moral choice, it's a financial one and one that has much to do with security. The U.S. failed to do that in Afghanistan after the Cold War, and look what happened. It became a playground for terrorists, Taliban gained control, etc. Now the U.S. HAS to help the countries after it BOMBS them, don't you think?
I agree with you when you stated that "More extremists in Islam than other religions....", but that's exactly my point: THEY ARE EXTREMISTS. They do not represent the religion, nor do they reflect the true meaning of the teachings of the religion. Palestinians praising U.S. deaths shouldn't be such a shock to you. I don't blame them. I don't share their views, but since I'm not living there, nor do I go through what they go through who am I, or in this case you, to say how they should feel towards the U.S.

By the way. the war effort in Iraq costs us $1 billion a week. Do you honestly believe that's worth it? Take into account the fact that there were no weapons of mass destruction found, Iraq didn't get the uranium, and all the other false accusations made by the Bush administration.

To sum everything up, the U.S. knows it HAS to spend the money in the reconstruction effort, it realizes know that it had no real reason to invade Iraq, it realizes that world/UN support was necessary, and it's stuck in a shithole which it seems to be burrying itself deeper and deeper into without being able to get out. U.S. doesn't want to stay, nor can they control Iraq, but it also can't just come out. Bush is one of the worst decision-making presidents ever. He completely ignores past treaties, alliances, and such, and thinks he can do everything his own way.

[Woodrow]

Let's take a look at some quotes from the Quran:

Surah 2:191: "Kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from wherever they drove you out..."

Surah 2:193: "Fight (kill) them until there is no persecution and the religion is God's."

surah 9:29: "Fight those who do not believe in God and the last day...and fight People of the Book (Christians), who do not accept the religion of truth (Islam) until they pay tribute by hand, being inferior."

Surah 2:216: "Fighting is obligatory for you, much as you dislike it."

Surah 5:51: "Believers, take neither Jews nor Christians for your friends."

Surah 9:73: "Prophet make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites and deal rigorously with them. Hell shall be their home."

Surah 9:121: "Believers, make war on the infidels who dwell around you. Deal firmly with them."

I'm sure some of those were taken out of context, but you have to admit you can see where the Extremists get the fuel for their fire.

On to your post...

The main point I'm trying to get across is: In the mid-east, the extremism present in modern Islam seems to be moving away from being a fringe way of thought and moving towards normality. These people are hijacking a religion by preying on disenfranchised people.

When you say you don't blame the Palestinians for cheering death what does that say about you? The way I see it is that you accept and apologize for the people who cheer for death. If Islam is a religion of peace, why would you do that?

I don't really want to discuss Iraq here, I'd rather stay on the current topic, so if you wanna create another thread I'll let you know my views there.

[Maestro Minded]

Let's take a look at some quotes from the Quran:

Surah 2:191: "Kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from wherever they drove you out..."

Surah 2:193: "Fight (kill) them until there is no persecution and the religion is God's."

surah 9:29: "Fight those who do not believe in God and the last day...and fight People of the Book (Christians), who do not accept the religion of truth (Islam) until they pay tribute by hand, being inferior."

Surah 2:216: "Fighting is obligatory for you, much as you dislike it."

Surah 5:51: "Believers, take neither Jews nor Christians for your friends."

Surah 9:73: "Prophet make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites and deal rigorously with them. Hell shall be their home."

Surah 9:121: "Believers, make war on the infidels who dwell around you. Deal firmly with them."

I'm sure some of those were taken out of context, but you have to admit you can see where the Extremists get the fuel for their fire.

On to your post...

The main point I'm trying to get across is: In the mid-east, the extremism present in modern Islam seems to be moving away from being a fringe way of thought and moving towards normality. These people are hijacking a religion by preying on disenfranchised people.

When you say you don't blame the Palestinians for cheering death what does that say about you? The way I see it is that you accept and apologize for the people who cheer for death. If Islam is a religion of peace, why would you do that?

I don't really want to discuss Iraq here, I'd rather stay on the current topic, so if you wanna create another thread I'll let you know my views there.

shall i take a look at the Bible and quote some parts?

[Woodrow]

shall i take a look at the Bible and quote some parts?

Look who came out of his cave?!  

The Bible isn't what we are talking about here so just do us a favor and let the big boys talk.

[UnstoppableForce]

Yes most of those are out of context, and if you read the entire surah, and not just one line, you'll see that it takes on a similar (not completely different) meaning. But, I do see where you're coming from, and you do have a point. What I'm saying is that those extremists did just that, take things out of context; take one line out of a surah and that's what fueled them, just like you said. In that I agree with you. The same thing applies to the Bible though, where if you take things out of context and just read one-liners, it can seem like something very radical and unethical, although there aren't as many Christian nutcases.

About my comment on Palestinians you're just assuming things now, which is clearly obvious in your "The way I see it...." You see, you're wrong. I don't accept and apologize for those who cheer for death. If you go back and read word by word, all I said was that I UNDERSTAND WHY THEY FEEL THE WAY THEY DO. I never said they were right in praising the death of people. All I said is that I can see why they would feel that way.

[Maestro Minded]

shall i take a look at the Bible and quote some parts?

Look who came out of his cave?!  

The Bible isn't what we are talking about here so just do us a favor and let the big boys talk.

just saying that the content in the Bible aint diffrent

[Z the laidback Virus]

This thread reminds me of some lines of a Dutch protest song:

"Toen het christendom op aarde kwam en iedereen het recht ontnam te leven zoals hij dacht dat goed was..."

the translation for those of you who don't happen to know Dutch  :

"When christianity came to earth and took away the right of everyone to live like he thought was right.."

I think there's quite some truth in that.

[Woodrow]

shall i take a look at the Bible and quote some parts?

Look who came out of his cave?!  

The Bible isn't what we are talking about here so just do us a favor and let the big boys talk.

just saying that the content in the Bible aint diffrent

How Dim are you?

WE AREN'T DISCUSSING THE BIBLE