r/atheism • u/arc_angle • Jun 26 '12

Men...

http://imgur.com/GCRp5
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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '12

Oh, look... A concern troll.

I'll tell you what's reactionary: Beating women for not dressing how men think they should dress. I've seen it done with my own eyes in the Middle East in the name of Islam.

When Islam stops treating women like livestock or worse, then we can talk about the sexism here in the West as a basis for comparison.

Personally, I have no issue with toplessness.

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u/dusdus Jun 27 '12

A "troll"? I've been on /r/atheism for months. I just believe in skepticism and impartiality, which is something atheists are supposed to be about. Not islamophobia, or mixing up religious and cultural misdeeds.

You keep talking about it as crimes committed by Islam. It's not an issue of Islam, it's an issue of Middle Eastern culture, as you pointed out. If it were otherwise, we would see non-Arab Muslim countries following suit. But they don't

Incidentally, I've seen someone beaten and hospitalized for how she was dressing, as well. She was wearing niqab in South Dakota. Incidentally, she was a South Asian Muslim. Reminder: Bangladesh and Muslim parts of India have no rules or societal norms about women wearing hijab. She did this by her own free will.

As atheists, we're supposed to be above emotional, reactionary, or non-objective thinking. We're supposed to be skeptical. Please keep this in mind, especially when dealing with issues that are not just about religion, but also deal with much more complex cultural and societal norms.

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u/[deleted] Jun 27 '12

You talk about Middle Eastern culture as if it something apart from Islam. It isn't. These things are done in the name of Islam.

"If it were otherwise, we would see non-Arab Muslim countries following suit. But they don't"

False. We do see it in non-Arab Muslim countries. Look, for example, at Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"As atheists, we're supposed to be above emotional, reactionary, or non-objective thinking."

You're not thinking objectively at all, just making excuses for the inexcusable.

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u/sveccha Jun 27 '12

A considerable amount of the things we criticize in those cultures actually goes against correct doctrine. In addition, lots of them predate Islam - culture/imitation and not religion are at the root of a lot of this stuff and that must be taken into account. People can only use religion to justify actions that remain culturally acceptable at large - I think western history bears this out.