Iraq and Afghanistan are unique because they are the first countries to have democracy imposed on them by a foreign power.

Japan…

France is really the only democracy that was established from within against a local oppressor.

South Korea, Sri Lanka, Venezuela, Mexico…

But you know what, in the Torah it is written, something to the effect that, “The parents will eat sweets, and the teeth of their children will become rotten.”

hmmm maybe but killing is the extreme…
if some1 was to ask the kids… thye wouldnt wanna b born like tht

This is why France outlawed the hijab in schools and public institutions. It is the mark of slavery and ignorance.

technically France is also doing the same thing : FORCING
its just forcing it off! so its guilty as too!

I guess women in Iraq will come to this conclusion that Saddam served them bette

in Saddam’s time atleast they knew wht they would b killed for.. now adays you can b killed just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time

and Abt Uday… ppl change when they are actually given the reins with nothing to fall back on..

Here’s the problem with the “from within” argument: Look at all the big democracies. Most gained their independence from an oppressor that was far away. The ragtag colonial forces in the US could not have defeated the British Empire if not for the fact that there was an ocean separating them. The same is true of the rest the British colonies. India got its independence in the aftermath of WWII when Britain was rebuilding after a devastating war. Russia was so weak economically by the late 1980’s, it could no longer keep the Warsaw pact countries in line, and eventually gave up on its own. France is really the only democracy that was established from within against a local oppressor. Had the King of France had the intelligence apparatus and weapons available to him that Uday would have had, chances are France would still be a monarchy. Iraq and Afghanistan are unique because they are the first countries to have democracy imposed on them by a foreign power. Only time will tell how all that will work out. The point is that, in a democracy, eventually everyone will get their rights. In a tyranny, getting your rights is like a crap shoot: if your rights coincide with what the tyrant wants, you get them. If not, you’re out of luck. You’re from Iran, you should know that. Ahmadinejad has jailed a lot of dissidents, most of whom probably thought they had the right to dissent.

Saddam did what Saddam wanted. When America was founded, black people were slaves and women could not vote. America ended those two things in time. That’s what democracy gets you: slow, steady, progressive change. Saddam was getting old. Soon the reins of power would have been handed to Uday. Since Uday was the inventor of the rape room, my guess is that things would have gotten a lot worse for women under his adminstration.

Innocent Children born out of wedlock being killed for a crime that they had no say in it?? What kinda message does this send? how do they know tht they are outta wedlock? What if they are wrong?

Many times, we reason our way toward ideas which make sense, and which take us to a place we want to be. But inherent in the ability to reason, is the ability to distort. The same skills that are used to formulate a logical argument, can also be used to manipulate facts and to come up with what seems to be logic, but which ends up in utter nonsense.

In other words, the ability to think necessarily implies the ability to think badly. And if you infuse that pocess with religious conviction, and with tenets which remain unquestioned because they represent the “word of God,” then so much the more reason that people go so far astray, and drift away from what makes sense. Today’s religious extremism is but one example. The 600 year Inquisition is another. And unfortunately, all religions suffer from scriptural passages which make no sense, and which are not palatable to the modern mind.

We need to empower leaders who are just. Not perfect, but just. And we can’t give credence to anyone, whether a political or religious or intellectual leader, who is trying to convince us of ideas which defy our sense of right and wrong. Thankfully, we know right from wrong. We feel it in our gut. And we should not become intimidated by those who would have us distort our innate sense of how we should treat one another. If we are to have any future, it will be because we remain true to ourselves.

I am coming to believe that many of us have filled our heads with B.S. in the name of religion. And we don’t hesitate to carry out evil, in God’s name no less. We act out, with respect to our religious beliefs, with no sense of proportion. Even if you believe that women should dress a certain way; how could such a belief justify the taking of a life, a life that brings life into the world, and that is the caretaker of life.

I hate to say it, but a lot of nonsense comes under the heading of religious belief. It is time, before time runs out, to rethink some of our deeply held beliefs, and to reconfigure those beliefs within the framework of what makes sense. That is the only way we can even hope to be able to hear the voice of God. Otherwise, we will not hear Him, but only our delusional interpretations of Him.