I'm ... not sure you grasp that this is the opposite of what you've been saying.
It's
precisely what I've been saying.
I'm fighting for us (the secular West)
not to become like Alabama.
Alabama is close to how we currently treat Islam here. It serves as a reminder of what happens when a religion dictates how a society behaves. The causes of the Alabama encounter may definitely be religious (i.e. because of Christianity) or offence at generally being mocked.
My point is, that Islam separates the ummah from the others and sets rules that must be obeyed, such as death if you leave and no blasphemous things like pictures of "the prophet". You may get similar things in other religions, particularly the Abrahamic ones (Old Testament). Still, the barrier to the reformation of Islam is there are no real mitigating factors - e.g. Christ in Christianity or the evolution of laws in Judaism - as what Muhammad did was perfect and must be followed. The last time it came close to reformation Wahhabism and Salafism outdid it. Shia Islam appears to have become dominated by this:
The Middle East’s shift from Pan-Arabism to Pan-Islamism marked a major ideological change, driven by the failure of secular Arab unity. Iran, seizing on this disillusionment, emerged as a leader of Islamic unity, reshaping regional politics and taking a pivotal role in the Palestinian cause...
www.mandatebrief.com
And it may yet entice more Sunnis.
You'll notice the guy who gave the rousing defence of Islam has noped out like the Christians in the "Do you believe in God?" thread when challenged.
The whole point is we should be fighting to keep our secular traditions, which happened to derive from being initially Christian nations (although some here are saying the UK is still a Christian country). Mock every religion equally, right now, before it's too late as Hitch prophesied.
I don't want to live in a version of Alabama in the coming few years.
Imagine if, because of that display of violence, networks in America refused to air things critical of NASCAR. It would suck!
I've said it before....
Perhaps you don't remember before the internet era very well, but I absolutely stand by this. You're posting in a thread that's had 243,000 views... rewind to 1988, how easy do you think it was to get your opinion seen 243,000 times? As a hint, it was harder than typing it and clicking one button.
You have over 10 pages of posts in the "Do you believe in God?" thread. Why did you censor yourself here?