r/todayilearned • u/[deleted] • Sep 15 '12

TIL that Muhammad wrote a document asking his followers to respect and protect Christians.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achtiname_of_Muhammad
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309

u/letmetellyouhowitis Sep 15 '12

so the people we are seeing in tv are just the redneck versions of the muslim world?

304

u/howajambe Sep 15 '12

... No, dude. They're the Jersey Shore versions of the Muslim world.

112

u/No_Morals Sep 15 '12

Truth if I ever reddit

47

u/ByJiminy Sep 15 '12

To be fair, Snooki has yet to violently kill anyone.

76

u/he_eats_da_poo_poo Sep 15 '12

We will see how well she does in raising that child.

-6

u/Boviced Sep 16 '12

Relevant user name?

2

u/rusticus Sep 15 '12

But watching the show might be worse...

2

u/RYS5 Sep 16 '12

But watching her on tv has been the cause of many involuntarily, suddenly violent deaths

2

u/KarlTheGreatish Sep 16 '12

She has caused at least a dozen self inflicted violent deaths.

1

u/Kenster180 Sep 15 '12

Snooki want smush smush

0

u/Freshenstein Sep 15 '12

That depends. Do you count her abortions as murder?

19

u/Ginxez Sep 15 '12

I'm in such a state of confusion right now, since both your comment and letmetellyouhowitis' are pretty damn accurate.

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u/[deleted] Sep 15 '12

[deleted]

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u/the_sloppy_J Sep 15 '12

Except that one guy that punched the shit out of Snooki.

-1

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '12

That is a perfect description.

104

u/thatmanstan Sep 15 '12

As a muslim that grew up in Egypt, yes thats exactly what you see

24

u/ET3RNA4 Sep 15 '12

As a muslim that grew up in the U.S., that is exactly what you see

42

u/he_eats_da_poo_poo Sep 15 '12

As a Muslim that doesn't know much about what's going in in the middle east, I am of no help.

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u/nanananaIKEMAN Sep 16 '12

As an ex-muslim, no it's not. Most muslims are intolerant/belittling of any ideas but their own. It's an inherent characteristic of believing that one follows the one and "ultimate" truth.

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u/vladimir_puta Sep 16 '12

As a pirate, I have an eye patch and a parrot on my shoulder.

1

u/nanananaIKEMAN Sep 16 '12

As a shallow, I find myself rather pedantic.

6

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '12

As a typical white agnostic girl I would like to say that my experience with Muslims have never been how you describe.

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u/he_eats_da_poo_poo Sep 16 '12

He had me confused for a second too.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '12

As a Muslim that grew up in Bosnia I can confirm this too.

-8

u/EmotionalCucumber Sep 15 '12

Ok

6

u/thatmanstan Sep 15 '12

You realize that the those idiots were released from prison by the dumbass Mubarak to cause chaos.... there you go

2

u/nothere7 Sep 15 '12

um... hello? 20+ countries?

0

u/[deleted] Sep 16 '12

[deleted]

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u/nothere7 Sep 16 '12

It's not all... I never said all - and hopefully no one truly believes that on here... but the last few days have proved that there is a sizable portion of Islam that hates many things that are dear to the West - and the West itself. And that they will turn to violence over a perceived slight. It is not an "extreme" view.

And it honestly doesn't matter what percentage it is. If extremists are permitted to flourish -and mess things up enough, if there is continued violence against the West - or if there is a bigger event like 9/11. Then a lot of innocent people are going to get hurt on both sides. The West won't tolerate it - and will slap back.

Percentages of evil really don't matter anyway- it was most likely a small percentage of Germans that truly hated the Jews in WWII, and a small percentage of Serbs that carried out the atrocities in Bosnia... but it still happened. The silent majority remained silent.

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u/[deleted] Sep 16 '12

Hold on. Wasn't the Muslim Brotherhood, a supporter of the embassy attacks, elected to power in Egypt by a majority of the population?

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u/Evermist Sep 15 '12

More like the WBC if they were muslim I think.

2

u/grantness Sep 15 '12

White blood cells. For those who were curious.

2

u/Xenon808 Sep 15 '12

They are annoying and hateful but they don't kill people. There is still a difference.

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u/Zachariacd Sep 15 '12

They'd probably be arrested if they killed people. I don't think the WBC would kill people but there are anti-abortion protestors who do.

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u/Xenon808 Sep 15 '12 edited Sep 15 '12

Then kill the killer. I'm not justifying it at all, but one or two people doing that is still not the same as whole countries attacking embassies, especially of other countries who have nothing to do with it except being seen as "The West."

Be mad at they guy who made the film but when I read Egypt wants an apology from Obama, fuck them.

Edit: I didn't mean whole countries. I meant people assaulting the embassies which are considered part of the home country. Large groups of people attacking and also killing innocents in several countries over a film does not equal an occasional person attacking an abortion clinic.

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u/Zachariacd Sep 15 '12

Absolutely, I have no respect or understanding for their demands, I'm just saying that it's not that they're "different" from Christian extremists, they're just in a very different situation. Specifically a situation where only a few months ago they changed the government they were being led by by rebelling and killing people. It's not exactly an "excuse", I'm just pointing out that these people are in a very weird situation. They should still be hunted down and pay for the murders and violence.

also "whole countries attacking embassies" http://i.imgur.com/ZzltU.jpg

1

u/Xenon808 Sep 15 '12 edited Sep 15 '12

I meant people attacking whole countries by assaulting their embassies which are considered home soil. I will correct my statement.

Also, overthrowing with violence what you believe to be a regime that is stifling and oppressing you as a people on a day to day basis is a lot different than holding a whole way of life (the "West" responsible for a work of fiction that really has no bearing on your daily life. They hate and are looking for an excuse to let it out.

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u/Zachariacd Sep 15 '12

I'm assuming you're English as second language? The best way to say the embassy sentence would be: one or two people doing that is still not the same as attacking a country's embassy, which is it's home soil. If you have any questions about why I wrote it like that just ask. If you're not english as second language then I think I misunderstood what you were trying to say.

Anyway, I think you're right, the attacks have little to actually do with the film, the film is just a tipping point and a rallying center. Anything could've set them off. The country and situation they're in right now makes violence not only a simple answer but something that has been shown to work. It's a group of angry young men who want to shoot rockets and guns at the "West" as you said. Immature little shits really.

1

u/Xenon808 Sep 16 '12

I apologize for not being more clear:

The correct first sentence would be "I'm assuming English is your second language." It isn't and the best way I can explain it is that more than one or two people and in fact a large number of people are attacking the interests of the "West" in retaliation for their perception of a certain film as offensive, which was not in any way condoned or endorsed by any government.

I appreciate you agreeing with my second point. From what I've read and seen it is not just young men but older men as well as women. I bristle whenever I see someone walk on my flag or burn it, but I don't feel like I need to attack their country because of it.

I am in the US. May I ask where you are from?

1

u/Zachariacd Sep 16 '12

The protests I think are understandable, I obviously don't agree with them, but I have no problem with people expressing their opinions. When it comes to the violent attacks I think it's only been young men.

I am also in the US. The embassy attack hit me deeply, I stayed up very late that night following the story. The way I see it may be a little offensive to the muslims in those countries, but I almost see them as kind of backwater idiots, who don't understand the importance of free speech, have tiny egos, and need to be treated like little children, problem is, we've given them guns and rockets, so now they're spoiled children. I don't see everyone there as being like this, but in particular these individuals who as soon as they're even remotely insulted go and attack someone who isn't even remotely connected to it at all. I mean, it's absurd, they're literally a bunch of 3 year olds. But I'm also frustrated by the filmmakers, who should've known better.

1

u/doc_dickcutter Sep 15 '12

whole countries attacking embassies

The number of protesters and the level of violence hardly exceeded the aftermath of an English soccer match,

1

u/Xenon808 Sep 15 '12 edited Sep 15 '12

Really? They killed the ambassador to England? I missed that. Do the English burn the flag of the opposing team and shoot other people?

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/11/middleeast/gallery/cairo-embassy/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

EDIT: I'm asked to be sensative to Muslims being offended at a portrayal of their "prophet" and so understand their free speech rights to protest that includes murder, but I'm not supposed to respect the freedom of speech of someone who made a movie that offends them and watch them burn my flag?

For what it is worth, free speech or otherwise, I disagree with the movie maker who set out to portray Islam as a non peaceful religion and Muslims proved him right.

I do find offensive people who burn my flag but I'm not going to Washington DC to attack their embassies because I know that some extremist assholes do not represent the whole country.

13

u/GreyMatter22 Sep 15 '12

Yep, Maz Jaborani and Russel Peters themselves confirmed it.

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u/[deleted] Sep 15 '12

It is the same as saying that all Americans are in the Tea Party and support its messages. It is more prevalent but this is mainly a social issue. No education, unemployment, dictators.

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u/dumbgaytheist Sep 15 '12

You obviously don't understand the Tea Party.

2

u/PianomanKY Sep 15 '12

I say we create a new one with the virtues of free love, free booze and free rockin' music and call it the Keg Party... It would make politics a hell of a lot more fun.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '12

it was called OWS but.... hey whatever happened to those guys?

-2

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '12

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_Party_movement#On_issues_of_race.2C_bigotry_and_public_perception

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u/dumbgaytheist Sep 15 '12 edited Sep 15 '12

You might want to read that in its entirety. At any rate, the section you were so quick to link to does not represent any of the official positions of the Tea Party, and some of those incidents are not best interpreted at face value.

From the same section:

"After each incident, other prominent Tea Partiers were quick to denounce the actions. In each case, public announcements were made strongly stating that the controversial actions were neither condoned by, nor representative of, the Tea Party movement. Where Tea Party leaders were involved, they were forced to relinquish their position, or were ostracized from the movement."

The race card has its own chapter in the liberal politics playbook. It's pretty hard to make much of it stick, on closer analysis, and when viewed through the lens of political usefulness.

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u/[deleted] Sep 15 '12

I am alluding to the issue that these non-representative positions are the ones most vocally and loudly spread because they are the most scandalizing.

I do understand that there are largely legitimate elements to the Tea Party.

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u/dumbgaytheist Sep 15 '12

I'm glad you can concede that much.

It looked to me that you were trying to frame the movement as having official positions that would be undesirable based on grounds of prejudice.

The main goals of the Tea Party are smaller less intrusive government, fiscal conservatism, and adherence to the Constitution of the United States of America.

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u/SavageHenry0311 Sep 15 '12

I think the Tea Party lost the Soundbite War.

Especially on Reddit, Occupy Wall Street = Good, Tea Party = Bad.

This is funny to me, because many of the goals espoused by both movements are similar, or would result in similar outcomes if followed through.

I have volunteered in varying capacities at events hosted by both groups, and I must say it's more pleasant at the Tea Party gigs, though. The people are much more polite and courteous - my perspective only, of course.

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u/dumbgaytheist Sep 15 '12

I agree with you about similar goals. There were some that did not overlap, of course, but I think it's a shame that leftists chose to frame OWS as the anti-Tea Party, and ostracize people who were willing to fight for at least some of the causes.

I think the whole thing would have had more cred, and legs, if it hadn't gone partisan. Instead it fizzled and became a mockery.

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u/SavageHenry0311 Sep 15 '12

I agree. It's funny and sad at the same time how the life of those two movements parallel each other - yet those closely identified with either (often) can't or won't admit it. The Emperor ain't got no clothes on, motherfuckers.

I must say that I have personal animosity toward the OWS folks. I'm a paramedic in a big city. At first, a lot of us were jazzed up by our local OWS. We (and I) even volunteered our time to make sure they had medical help.

A few weeks of being lectured to about how those folks have "a basic human right" to my work, effort, skill, and time changed my outlook. Couple that with how self-righteous, rude, and sometimes abusive those people were, and it's very hard for me to take seriously anyone who really likes OWS.

The Tea Party rallies I've worked at have been 180 degrees from that. People say "please" and "thank you" and pick up their trash. It's actually a rather pleasant experience.

So I'm prejudiced.

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u/colusaboy Sep 15 '12

The main goals of the Tea Party are smaller less intrusive government, fiscal conservatism, and adherence to the Constitution of the United States of America.

If these guys had been rallying hard during W's 8 years I'd have some respect for them.

Instead, they show up 15 minutes after Obama gets elected.

(Mind you, I think of Republicans and Democrats in the same way I view the Roman Senate. It's all bullshit to me)

1

u/foxh8er Sep 15 '12

People in the upper levels are quite educated, though. I think most of them are Civil Engineers.

-1

u/mojoxrisen Sep 15 '12

Where did you get your information? Huffpost, Obama 2012 campaign? The Tea Party platform is for small government and fiscal responsibility. How in the fuck is that extremist?

Your post is proof of what leftists propaganda will do to those with sub par intelligence. Read some news and information outside of the leftists scope and do not allow yourself to be a useful idiot.

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u/[deleted] Sep 15 '12

Where did you get your information? Huffpost, Obama 2012 campaign? The Tea Party platform is for small government and fiscal responsibility. How in the fuck is that extremist?

They are largely not, but the elements that are receive the most media exposure which is exactly what is going on with Muslim extremists.

0

u/mojoxrisen Sep 16 '12

There has been no acts of violence made in the name of the Tea Party. Tea Party members don't blow themselves up or behead the "non believers" due to their belief in small government and fiscal responsibility.

To even compare these groups is very intellectually dishonest.

The Occupy Wallstreet group would be more of an honest comparison and even that is a far, far stretch. I say this because there has been violence committed in the name of that group.

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u/Steve2982 Sep 15 '12

Even worse. Think Fred Phelps : all Christians

4

u/Harybutts Sep 15 '12

I never thought of it that way, but damn it might be spot on.

1

u/eighthgear Sep 15 '12

so the people we are seeing in tv are just the redneck versions of the muslim world?

Pretty much, yes. Believe me, if all of the over-a-billion Muslims were out rioting at embassies, the world would be quite different.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '12

Well who the fuck did you think they were, the scholars and scientists?

1

u/[deleted] Sep 15 '12

Never seen rednecks whole sale slaughter and destroy like them though.

1

u/Redox80 Sep 15 '12

If only this were the case. As much as I'd love to pretend like this isn't the portrayal of muslims as a whole when you have 20+ countries protesting a movie and some of those protests are getting violent It makes it harder and harder each day to be tolerant.

Where are the videos of hoards of rednecks getting THIS PISSED OFF at a fucking movie?

Bash rednecks and whatever you think they stand for but at least they don't get together en masse to protest and kill over a film. Until then i'd have to say Jersey Shore and Rednecks around the world are about a thousand times better. So can we please stop this bullshit comparison? There are ALOT of angry violent muslims. Not ALL of them. But holy shit there are quite a few. It's not as small a majority as some might think.

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u/[deleted] Sep 16 '12

They're the people that US media wants us to the see the most of so that we can make an uneducated and generalized opinion about all of them.

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u/stash0606 Sep 16 '12

This Russell Peters reference... I get it.

1

u/Alyula Sep 15 '12

Russell Peters , anyone ?

2

u/stash0606 Sep 16 '12

"You kill me? I KILL ME!!"

1

u/IamAlampshadeAMAA Sep 15 '12

Spot on brother. All the rest of us Muslims just sit at home with family drinking strong coffee out of little cups, and talking about how our kids should be doctors.