Pew Poll: Egyptians Want Democracy -- And Stonings For Apostasy And Adultery
Welcome to The Dark Ages...with smartphones.
From the Globe and Mail, a 2011 Pew Poll says 59 percent prefer democracy to other forms of government.
20 percent think suicide bombings are sometimes justified;
82 percent believe adulterers should be stoned, and we're not talking about giving them a doobie;
And 84 percent believe apostates from Islam should face the death penalty, as per the Quran and Hadith.
(Here's one of the more well-known verses from the Hadith: Bukhari (84:57) - [In the words of] "Allah's Apostle, 'Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him.'")
From the Quran/Hadith link above:
The contemporary (i.e., 1991) Al-Azhar (Cairo) Islamic Research Academy endorsed manual of Islamic Law, Umdat al-Salik (pp. 595-96) states: "Leaving Islam is the ugliest form of unbelief (kufr) and the worst.... When a person who has reached puberty and is sane voluntarily apostasizes from Islam, he deserves to be killed. In such a case, it is obligatory...to ask him to repent and return to Islam. If he does it is accepted from him, but if he refuses, he is immediately killed."
via @jonathanturley
And a lot of American voters favor economic and energy policies with long term consequences, if ever enacted, which would doom many to death or a miserable third world existence.
Just because it is less direct, and the consequences are unforeseen by the average voter, doesn't make Americans any more civilized.
Isab at September 22, 2014 7:28 AM
I just saw something on this this weekend, Isab -- on energy policies...I'll try to find it. There was a McKibben quote in it about how we shouldn't have microwaves, etc.
Amy Alkon at September 22, 2014 7:38 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/09/22/pew_poll_egypti.html#comment-5115737">comment from Amy AlkonHere it is, "Six Reasons Why the United Nations Should Not Intervene on Fossil Fuel Use (A Response to the Misguided People's Climate March)," by Alex Epstein.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexepstein/2014/09/17/six-reasons-why-the-united-nations-should-not-intervene-on-fossil-fuel-use-a-response-to-the-misguided-peoples-climate-march/
Amy Alkon at September 22, 2014 7:41 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/09/22/pew_poll_egypti.html#comment-5115738">comment from Amy AlkonEpstein has an upcoming book, The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels.
Amy Alkon at September 22, 2014 7:41 AM
Reminds me of a discussion I was having about why we shouldn't want a world gov't. Top reason to me was those in the US pushing for it have a completely ignorant view of what it would actually look like. They think it would look like Democracy in the US, when it would look like Democracy in Egypt.
Not that the US is perfect, I believe that if left to a straight majority vote in the US, the penalty for killing a man would be less than the penalty for killing a pet.
As to "lot of American voters favor economic and energy policies with long term consequences" I put a lot of that down to scientific knowledge of the general public replaced by catch phrases, and them not realizing how ignorant they are.
Joe j at September 22, 2014 9:18 AM
Following the money, in today's news the Rockefeller Brothers Fund is the latest to divest its fossil fuel investments.
Interesting read to the tune of $50 Bn.
Once upon a time, Egyptians piled up rocks. Today they drive tourists to see those rocks. We should take note and ask ourselves what made us great that our elite don't want us to do any longer.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at September 22, 2014 9:39 AM
Interesting McKibben comments.
Personally, I don't think humans are going to be able to achieve prosperity or happiness in a world with ten billion of us.
Pirate Jo at September 22, 2014 10:04 AM
Interesting McKibben comments.
Personally, I don't think humans are going to be able to achieve prosperity or happiness in a world with ten billion of us.
Posted by: Pirate Jo at September 22, 2014 10:04 AM
Nope, and they won't be able to do it after a nuclear war, or if a giant asteroid hits the earth, or if we have another ice age. But at this point in time population trends are downwards, and are not a particularly big worry of mine,
Malthus and The Club of Rome has been wrong about damn near everything. They have become a *negative indicator* of what to worry about.
Isab at September 22, 2014 10:33 AM
You guys are whack.
Crid [CridComment at Gmail] at September 22, 2014 11:53 AM
The Founding Fathers of this country argued that a government without the consent of the governed was wrong - not that those governed couldn't demand the government to which they consented implement Sharia and stoning.
Conan the Grammarian at September 22, 2014 12:03 PM
Population trends are downward?
Link, please.
By the way - excusing inaction by suggesting something else will make it unnecessary is fallacious.
Radwaste at September 22, 2014 12:39 PM
The Founding Fathers of this country argued that a government without the consent of the governed was wrong - not that those governed couldn't demand the government to which they consented implement Sharia and stoning.
Not quite. There is a reason they did not set up a democracy.
lujlp at September 22, 2014 12:54 PM
http://www.prb.org/Publications/Datasheets/2012/world-population-data-sheet/fact-sheet-world-population.aspx
Flattening would have been more accurate I guess.
Been reading lots of science fiction my whole life, and according to the gloom and doomers we should have all been dying of starvation as we ran out of oil for factory farming about twenty years ago.
Didn't happen. I wonder why? I am sure a number of you, are very disappointed.
Historically human population has a way of radically correcting itself when it really does become a problem, and sometimes even when it is not.
1349 was a very bad year.
Isab at September 22, 2014 1:21 PM
I didn't say they set up a democracy. I said they held a position that government without the consent of the governed was unjust.
If the desire of the governed is for Sharia, is it just of the government to withhold it from them?
Conan the Grammarian at September 22, 2014 1:29 PM
By the way - excusing inaction by suggesting something else will make it unnecessary is fallacious.
Posted by: Radwaste at September 22, 2014 12:39 PM
How so? And what makes you think I am excusing something when I point out that there are a lot of things out of my control, both personally and politically?
Smart people, don't call the carpet cleaners, 2 days before the hurricane bearing down on them is due to make landfall.
They have other more pressing things to worry about. Things within their control.
Your understanding of fallacy, logical and otherwise seems sketchy.
I hope you are spending every waking minute fretting about the world's population and planning what to do about it if you were Emperor of the Universe. Radwaste. It seems a good use of your time.
Isab at September 22, 2014 1:31 PM
Historically human population has a way of radically correcting itself when it really does become a problem, and sometimes even when it is not.
As in massive die offs resulting in entire culture being laid waste, or continent spanning wars?
lujlp at September 22, 2014 5:14 PM
Pandemics. Don't forget pandemics. Biggest killer of us all.
gooseegg at September 22, 2014 5:29 PM
according to the gloom and doomers we should have all been dying of starvation as we ran out of oil for factory farming about twenty years ago
Well, they only have to be right once...
doombuggy at September 22, 2014 9:03 PM
Even the Founding Fathers realized that democracy could turn into mob rule, hence the protections against that.
NicoleK at September 23, 2014 4:25 AM
Democracy functions as mob rule. The Islamic mobs coming to a theater near you soon.......
David H at September 23, 2014 8:23 AM
"Your understanding of fallacy, logical and otherwise seems sketchy."
Coming from you, that means nothing.
Look up the Nizkor Project. They have a fallacy tutorial that can help you.
You have essentially taken the position that since the Yellowstone Supervolcano will someday erupt, everything we do is just fine.
Radwaste at September 24, 2014 1:47 AM
"Your understanding of fallacy, logical and otherwise seems sketchy."
Coming from you, that means nothing.
Look up the Nizkor Project. They have a fallacy tutorial that can help you.
You have essentially taken the position that since the Yellowstone Supervolcano will someday erupt, everything we do is just fine.
Posted by: Radwaste at September 24, 2014 1:47 AM
You are right about one thing Radwaste. It has been my experience that individual humans think their influence on both events, and the environment is way greater than it actually is.
Very few people make any kind of contribution to mankind that outlasts their brief time on earth, either negative or positive,
And the people with the greatest achievements, are mostly unsung heroes.
Isab at September 24, 2014 7:32 AM
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