im trying to be intellectual...
its funny to here people protest against stem cell research and against cloning by saying alter life because God did not intend us to or because we have no right to mess with life like that. Most of the times these are people who also believe in the death penalty, like george bush. They consider life too precious to experiment with it in a laboratory but at the same time believe honestly that destroying it through the due process of law is ok....
...religions should be criticized without any protection from the law whatsoever. what makes religion so rightful anyways, i mean im catholic and believe strongly in my christian beliefs but at the same time understand that this means very little to an islamic friend or a hindu friend or a atheist friend. religion is an opinion on your way of life. so why is this opinion better than your other ones. if a man chooses to live his way of life commiting murder, should he not be criticized for his way of life...
...while i was in amsterdam i discovered that women are having a hard time gaining rights in holland because of the big percentage of muslim people. mainly because there is a law in effect that overly protects religios views. there was a man running for prime minister who said that mainly muslim men were responsible for the slow suffrage of women and discrimination of those who werent in clothes that covered all of their body. he fell under great criticizism and was assasinated even when a recent poll stated that he had a great majority of the voters....
...of course this isnt the problem in all of holland. certainly not in amsterdam, its more liberal than micheal moores hanging left ass cheek. but it is because we fail to criticize a religions aspect on a certain way of life that we cant achieve full equality in poverty stricken nations like india, iraq, iran, pakistan, etc etc.
...just because its religion doesnt mean its immuned and invulnerable. it does make it the right way to live.