Epsilon Wrote:I don't think I am being unfair. There have been many other fatwas issued by imams that have resulted in either death (Theo Van Gogh) or their targets going into perpetual hiding (Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Salman Rushdie). And these were official decrees - death threats - issued by recognized, accepted officials of the community of Muslims.Logan Darklighter Wrote:EXACTLY. Why SHOULD she have to worry about offendingNow you're being unfair, Logan. There are many places in the US where one does not admit to things that would "offend" the Christians in the area. Being gay or trans, for instance.
Muslims? Nobody worries about offending Christians, Buddists, Hindus,
Wiccans or any other religion - not here in the USA at any rate.
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Epsilon
I can not think of a single example in modern times (let's call "modern" to go back to the turn of the previous century - 1900, just for the sake of clarity) of a Christian pastor, priest, bishop, cardinal or any other type or rank of official in any sect of Christianity issuing such a specific type of proclamation that "this person needs to die, and the Church authorizes you to do it". If such a call were made, that official would be drummed out, stripped of his office, and the church would probably cooperate with the state in pressing charges of making death threats. Furthermore, nobody would take such a command seriously.
The closest you'll get in this country are the nutballs who follow Fred Phelps, and nobody, least of all any actual Christians, considers him and his followers to be representative. They want nothing to do with him. The Phelps loonies are scorned and mocked by 99.99999% of everyone in this country. And well they should be.
What you are talking about is not a proper comparison. It is true that prejudice exists against gay and transgendered people. But the official stance of all sects of Christianity and the ideal that most Christians try to live up to is "hate the sin, love the sinner". (Incidentally, I do NOT agree with mainline Christianity on the concept of homosexuality being a sin. I think they're wrong.) They would never, ever condone killing someone because they were different. And if someone does, that person is considered to have gone against the ideals of their faith, if that is indeed how they try to justify it. And I can't remember a case where that has happened offhand. I may be wrong on that. But I can't readily bring an example to mind of that sort of thing. But the fact that I - and you, and many other people - can instantly think of many examples of Islamic fatwas should tell you something.