Don’t you see that is this HATRED, this INTOLERANCE, this “I-am-good-and-you-are-bad” attitude that is root of the problem. Please everyone, deal with your own internal hatred before pointing the finger at others. That is the only solution to this madness.

Peace and wisdom to all.

Not unlike a secular culture, Islamic societies claim to foster behavior based upon tenets of a theology. But like most theistically based cultures, Islamic clerics play fast and loose with what’s actually written in their “good book.” Interpretations are fashioned to meet the perceived needs of the “people”, soli by the cleric, himself. So, social mores, like Velcro, tend to pick up everything they come in contact with (good and bad). Despite the fact that these clerics are revered in their societies, they are still only men, men with shortcomings, foibles, and insecurities like any other man.

These insecurities include, but are not limited to, the overwhelming need for misogyny. Out of this affliction grows the need to control. Having a woman cover herself from head to toe, because “men can’t control themselves”, is a red flag to insecurity. Ostracising women because they’ve had sexual partners prior to you is proof that your self image is weak. Simply put, I think many muslim men are intimidated by the opposite sex, and have devised a culture to suppress that which they fear.

When cultural norms are designed to artificially dictate the behavior of others, there is an assumed, inherent weakness in the designer. They assume a personal disadvantage that can only be overcome by handicapping the individuality, creativity, and spontaneity of others. You elevate yourself by standing on the bodies of those that aren’t favored by cultural circumstances. That’s why outside cultural influences are frowned upon (”the West”).

Damn… I couldn’t agree with you more, EP…

I am sure this Allah is verily Satan, as there is no peace on him. Only blood, mayhem, beatings. This Allah is an Asura.

Could it be that Mr. Mohammed used hashish during that “enlightenment” in the cave and the trip through the air with Mr. Gabriel?

The Great Swami Vivekananda warned about the mixed effects of the claims of “enlightenment” in the feeble minded, as in the case of the desultory “prophet” Mohammed. Check out “Raja Yoga”, 1897, page 81, Swami Vivekananda. Let me quote a little for you:
“…They opened themselves to hallucinations. Mohammed claimed that the Angel Gabriel came to him in the cave one day and took him on the heavenly horse Harak to visits the heavens…Think of the good Mohammed did to the word, and think of the great evil that has been done through his fanaticism! Thinks of the millions massacred through his teachings – mothers bereft of their children, children made orphans, whole countries destroyed, millions upon millions of people killed!

It is a positive development that moderate Muslims are speaking out against Islamic leaders who openly promote and practice domestic violence. But until they find better leaders than Saalakhan, Siddiqi, and Badawi, and institutions like MANA, ISNA, and CAIR abandon their theology that tolerates wife beating, there is little hope that things will improve for women in the Muslim community anytime soon.

As long as it is in the scripture, it will never be “reformed.” Your solution is to tell them to pick and choose what to believe, and that will never work because the conservatives will always reject your bastardization of their scripture, and will never let you revise it. Islam is irreparably tainted at its very core.

It would take care of a lot of problems “overnight”.