Extremism and Liberalism .......

Seriously it can never be a good thing..be it in religion, ideologies, habits, love, whatever.. being an extremists just sucks. IMO taking the middle path, aka moderation is always safer and better.

s_isale,

Perhaps the type of fairness where no religion is imposed or rules anyone.

I personally am not looking for anything because I had the luck to be born in a liberal free thinking society, governed by a secular government who embraces all religions including the non religious people, equally.

However, you can see all around us that isn’t always the case, as religion is indeed used to control people and to conquest power.

Religion is a dangerous weapon that can easily manipulate and control people's mind.

Usually fear sin and guilt are the bullets used by the master minders.

In modern developed thinking, religion is considered as a very private affair between an individual and his perception of the divine. No one can claim that his views are better or more accurate than other’s. All are man-made, being it a personal view or a well spread major religion. Once it becomes public and preached to others it carries the risk of being used as a control weapon.

what sort of fairness are you looking for in the first place?

The definition changes based on perception...

@ cryspy,seems like you're trying desperately,although i have to say,completely unsuccessfully,to prove that some QL'ers have different standards for different religions,i agree that some do,but which ones do is the question? get it?!...The rabii in the OP is as much an extremist as those guys who go around blowing themselves up in churches or market squares...he's not practicing his extremism but he's preaching it,so it amounts to the same......Nic's,mine & a lot of other QL'ers views are the same & unbiased on this issue,an extremist is an extremist is an extremist,IRRESPECTIVE of which religion they belong to...so as much you're trying to prove that we're biased in our views,the fact is we're not,which is obviously something you're not used to because you lot think that people like us are ok with extremism as long as it's non-Muslim extremism...sorry but that's not true...extremism in ANY form & of ANY religion must not be tolerated.period...

s_isale,

How on earth, separating religion for politics, removes freedom of expression?

Imagine a multicultural society with multi religions including no religious people. How can you ensure fairness in such societies if you don’t remove religion from politics?

exexexpat it has been only in the past 50-100 years that there has been an attempt to separate religion and politics. That has also led to repression of of freedom of expression in the so-called Islamic world.

Prior to that religion and politics had been intertwined.

Yeah

any sort of extremism is perfect and there will be a lot of excuses for them, but the bassic requirement for them, must be a non muslim or should i say "Infidel"?

There's always a reason behind extremism. I simply highlighted the reasons why that particular town may be extremist. People should always look for the context of a situation before jumping the gun and crying wolf.

if i'm not mistaken, the thread is showing face of Jews Extremism, can't U guys left your bias thoughts regarding Islam and Muslims for a while?

ex.ex.expat,

I agree with you. there are many people that are educated enough to think and see out of the box.

There are some here in QL too, Genesis is a good example who I admire.

who in my view represent the good qualities of their religion. They are able to see how religion and politics have been bound together in the last 50 years in a way that amounts to holding the religion hostage for political gains. Of course, they find it difficult to speak out publicly in front of other Muslims because their scholars and religious leaders have done such a great job of labeling anyone an apostate that doesn't march in step. I feel for them. It must be very difficult.

ex.ex.expat,

I agree, they are taught to see perfection only in their religion and that undermines the ability to be objective.

The difference is that we can think freely with no fear of offending any divine or divine's representatives on earth or elsewhere; we see the good and the bad and we can criticize openly and equally any religion or religious leaders. They, on the other hand, are restricted and conditioned to only see the good of their side and the bad on the others'.

taught. I think that is unfortunate for Islam at this point in time that they have been so bound up with religious-polical propaganda.

lol

My mistake.

They assume that we have different standards for different religions (as this is the way they are educated. I keep reminding them that I consider extremists all the same, regardless their ideology and all religions are equal for me: all are man-made and can be used as dangerous political weapons.

Some of us have the ability to think freely and independently. On the other hand, anyone who has been coercively indoctrinated into any ideology since their childhood, might not be able to think or at least to express in public anything out of that box. Too bad for them, I do understand where they come from, just don’t endorse their views.

Also (and btw link please!) it doesn't say this 89 year old man is the ONLY person coming under flack, just that he is one person, from one rabbi. For all we know the rabbi is his crazy ass next door neighbour, or is simply the rabbi for the synagogue in his neighbourhood.

Everything I've googled about the town makes it sound like it's the new Israeli hot spot for arts and culture, which generally means it's a pretty liberal spot (Think Austin, Texas)

And really, just to put into more context, you could write the same article about some of the nutter Imam's out there.

Just to put a little context into this Tzfat (also know as Safed) is a small town of 31,000 people that has found itself in the middle of a hell of a lot of fighting in the last hundred years or so:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safed

More importantly, this happened:

"In 1974, 102 Israeli Jewish school children from Safed on a school trip were taken hostage by a Palestinian militant group Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) while sleeping in a school in Maalot. In what became known as the Ma'alot massacre, 22 of these school children were among those killed by the hostage takers"

Now I'm not saying what the rabbi says is in anyway correct and to me he's just a hateful old bigot, but 43% of the town in old enough to remember that massacre and/or have lost children/siblings in it....Perhaps that's coloured their thinking a bit?

some of these guys think they will have evidence of a gross double standard, when in reality we agree with them? How many times do you think they will be shown up and still try the same trick. Must be old dogs ;)

Cryspy,

The rabii in Tzfat is an intolerant extremist and he should be prosecuted.

now sharon is a vegetable. will the others also become like him??

since 2000 when Sharon kicked off the 2nd intifada. Hopefully more level headed people who stand for the ideal of democracy will stand up to the fascists.

More residents should stand up against this Rabii and tell him to mind his own business

3 hours 34 minutes

and only 9 comments!!!!

where are the QL typing experts???

lllllllllolllllllll

Israel is secular then where is the Jewish State in the world?

brit

they are democratic extremists and will not offend west.

The gist is that this single old person is saying "enough"..

The Arabs in Israel are a demographic threat which will be eliminated sooner or later.

naan cholay??

Well said.. We seem to learn nothing from history. There will always be voices of extremism - both left and right. We , the majority should not be swept along with them, but stand up and be heard.

So what do we do ??????????????????????????

Brit we should go back to old anarkali and eat naan cholay :)

It is telling that a holocaust survivor sees it worthy to 'break' that social taboo based on humanity, yet the new breed of rule-makers who have never endured such atrocities, living sheltered lives, see fit to implement such 'utopian' (and inhumane) 'ideals'.

2010, and we have learnt nothing from World Wars, Apartheid, Slavery and opression, because the 'new generation' don't carry the haunting memories of their forefathers.

Did all the dead die for nothing?