Women made sit at back of bus in Jerusalem.

joseph brand

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/14/us-israel-segregation-idUSTRE7AD0WE20111114

DANCING GIRLS

Tzaphira Stern-Assal, a secular mother of two who volunteered for the photo shoot, said she once put an ad for a dance class in the window of a dance school she runs, only to see it defaced the next day, along with posters of a dance group, with graffiti that read "Blasphemy."

Whenever the school's curtains are left more than a third open, Stern-Assal said, Haredi men soon show up and start banging on the windows.

A sidewalk barrier to segregate the sexes went up last month in the Mea Shearim religious neighborhood of Jerusalem during the celebration of a Jewish holiday, mirroring the separation of men and women in Orthodox synagogues.

Secular activists who came to inspect the partition said they were chased away by residents, some of whom threw stones.

One Haredi woman, who asked not to be identified, said she tried to buy a public transport pass in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in Jerusalem only to be turned away and told the ticket stand was for men only.

Her husband said they received threatening phone calls when word got out that they had lodged a complaint about the incident.

This is news to me. I knew those ultra-orthodox whackjobs were crazy but I never knew they treated women as second class citizens.

JustinDee

Religion forum surely?

Memnoch

It's actually an interesting political point. A lot of talk of religious fundamentalism centres around Islam and Islamic extremism and Jihadi terrorists. Rhetoric that is used to justify vilification as a prelude to violence and war. But the truth is that these kinds of attitude aren't really unique to any particular religion. Fundamentalist Christians and Fundamentalist Jews are just as bad as fundamentalist Muslims. The problem is that as a religion, the practice of Islam is a couple of decades (at least) behind others and so some elements of their fundamentalism attract more mainstream acceptance then similar ideas in more 'western,' religions. This is not surprising considering how many Muslim countries have still not attained democracy and how religious theocracies in many of these countries are actually supported by Western leaders in order to further their own selfish agendas.

All that being said, the more I look at the American right and their 'Guns & Religion,' (TM), and their denial of evolution as well as man made global warming, the differences seem less and less acute.

whatstherush

joseph brand wrote: »

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/14/us-israel-segregation-idUSTRE7AD0WE20111114



This is news to me. I knew those ultra-orthodox whackjobs were crazy but I never knew they treated women as second class citizens.

Was to me also until I saw that a Hasidic newspaper photoshoped Hilary Clinton out of the white house pic where they were looking at the op to kill Osama.
Time Magazine Article

irishh_bob

Memnoch wrote: »

It's actually an interesting political point. A lot of talk of religious fundamentalism centres around Islam and Islamic extremism and Jihadi terrorists. Rhetoric that is used to justify vilification as a prelude to violence and war. But the truth is that these kinds of attitude aren't really unique to any particular religion. Fundamentalist Christians and Fundamentalist Jews are just as bad as fundamentalist Muslims. The problem is that as a religion, the practice of Islam is a couple of decades (at least) behind others and so some elements of their fundamentalism attract more mainstream acceptance then similar ideas in more 'western,' religions. This is not surprising considering how many Muslim countries have still not attained democracy and how religious theocracies in many of these countries are actually supported by Western leaders in order to further their own selfish agendas.

All that being said, the more I look at the American right and their 'Guns & Religion,' (TM), and their denial of evolution as well as man made global warming, the differences seem less and less acute.

fundies are a pain regardless of which religon they stem from , the trouble with islam is that thier is such a higher proportion of fundies within that group

Manach

irishh_bob wrote: »

fundies are a pain regardless of which religon they stem from , the trouble with islam is that thier is such a higher proportion of fundies within that group

As compared to those nice sane people that brought us the French, Russian and Chinese revolutions.

Memnoch

irishh_bob wrote: »

fundies are a pain regardless of which religon they stem from , the trouble with islam is that thier is such a higher proportion of fundies within that group

I believe I already mentioned that in my post.

The situation isn't helped by the west engaging in wars for profit in many Muslim countries, disenfranchising their youth and robbing them of any hope of a decent future, sending them rushing into the arms of the clerics who of course (like countless other religious figureheads throughout history) are only interested in furthering their own personal power and wealth.

Israel is another good example. The fact that they can act with utter impunity and are protected from UN sanction by a ludicrous US veto only adds fuel to the fire and credence to the claims of Islamic clerics when they preach to their followers about western hypocrisy and double standards.

Of course, keeping theocracies in power helps global megacorporations rob the natural resources of these countries with the help of their undemocratic leaders.

What kind of out come do you really expect from such environments?

It's easy to say that there is something fundamental about Islam that creates greater fundamentalism. I don't believe this to be true as its core teachings seem no different to that of any other mainstream religion. Like I said, it's just a couple of decades behind the curve in many places right now.

A serious examination is needed to understand why extremism seems to be more prevalent among Muslims.

Then again, is it really? There are so many extremist christians in the US that are considered mainstream republican right currently. The only difference is that they aren't constantly under attack from the world's greatest super power and its allies and have hope for some kind of decent future thus providing other, more fruitful avenues to direct their energies rather than suicidal martyrdom.

alanmcqueen

Memnoch wrote: »

It's actually an interesting political point. A lot of talk of religious fundamentalism centres around Islam and Islamic extremism and Jihadi terrorists. Rhetoric that is used to justify vilification as a prelude to violence and war. But the truth is that these kinds of attitude aren't really unique to any particular religion. Fundamentalist Christians and Fundamentalist Jews are just as bad as fundamentalist Muslims. The problem is that as a religion, the practice of Islam is a couple of decades (at least) behind others and so some elements of their fundamentalism attract more mainstream acceptance then similar ideas in more 'western,' religions. This is not surprising considering how many Muslim countries have still not attained democracy and how religious theocracies in many of these countries are actually supported by Western leaders in order to further their own selfish agendas.

All that being said, the more I look at the American right and their 'Guns & Religion,' (TM), and their denial of evolution as well as man made global warming, the differences seem less and less acute.

Just butting in here as it's the second time I've seen that association - creationists and 'denial' of global warming. First time was an article recently by Frank McDonald in the IT.
There are many who don't believe the case put forward for carbon based global warming; including me. I'm not in 'denial', I've made an informed decision without prejudice. How can there be informed debate about anything when such generalisations are made i.e. if you don't agree with something you're in denial? Fundamentalism is about absolutes - that's why I don't agree with it in any form - including global warming fundamentalists.

And just for the record, western leaders are not alone in supporting regimes for their own selfish agendas.

Other than that you may have a point.