A few days ago, I was discussing with a classmate why Islam is not a 'religion of peace'. She told me that Muslims have done 'good things' in the name of Islam yet couldn't name one.
The purpose of this thread is to discuss what events have been caused solely in the name of religion. Good events and bad events welcome!
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First, I need to clarify sth that seems pretty obvious to us, atheists: Ideas and people are not equivalent entities. I have some muslim friends that I love and respect as human beings, but I think their religious ideas are deeply wrong. And I'll call "muslim country" those where there's no church/state separation.
Just two bites on why Islam is not a religion of peace:
- Islam hasn't gone through a complete and deep transformation as Christianity, thanks to social revolutions, has being impelled to make throughout history several times, especially in Westernized societies. As a result, some basic Human Rights we take for granted are not often guaranteed in muslim countries: apostasy is still a felony in several of them (that even results in death penalty in some), and women, minorities, as well as other animals' rights, are severely damage in those countries.
- Most Islamic countries don't invest in scientific research
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_research_and_developm...
http://www.scimagojr.com/countryrank.php
murder, rape, genocide, infanticide, slavery. That is a reasonably good start
The Crusades, the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, pogroms, the Thirty Years War, countless executions for blasphemy, witchcraft, etc., sectarian conflicts in Ireland....
Positives from Islam include coffee, the transmission of various inventions, such as paper, from China to Europe along the Silk Road, and the transmission of Indian mathematics, including "Arabic" numerals and the zero, to Europe. Islamic scholars also preserved much of what remains of ancient Greek and Roman literature. In its golden age the Islamic world also gave us many advances in chemistry and medicine.
Whether these things happened "in the name of Islam" or despite it is another question.
Isis, 911 just to quickly think of two... oh and sharia law