Oxford University Press bans use of pig, sausage or pork-related words to avoid offending Muslims

spoffle said:
There isn't anything in any of the religions that calls for it. So I'm not sure how it can be motivated by religion.
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I do not have the time to read all relevant religious texts to confirm this for myself. But if anyone claims that their interpretation of said texts is the reason for it, I tend to view that as religious. Regardless of whether or not it is the dominant view in that religion as a whole.
 
DangerMoose said:
And they built on that of the likes of the Greeks before them. So?

I love the Islamic scholars cliche. As if being Islamic was the main motivation. As if human curiosity was not driving people to learn about the world around them (where social circumstances allowed) for quite a long time prior to the rise of Islam.
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I think people emphasise the fact that they were Muslim because they feel like it's one of the few positive things they can attribute to people who believe/d in Islam that a mouth breathing troggo can't argue with.
 
TheBDog said:
Are you implying that Christianity didn't hinder many of our developments in science? Because I'm sure you are mistaken there.
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Barbarism hindered development, not that im trying to absolve religion, but we were doing just fine without the barbarians that took over Europe circa 300AD
 
DangerMoose said:
I do not have the time to read all relevant religious texts to confirm this for myself. But if anyone claims that their interpretation of said texts is the reason for it, I tend to view that as religious. Regardless of whether or not it is the dominant view in that religion as a whole.
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You expect a lot of such people if you believe they can actually read. These sort of people are the backward of the backward.
 
StriderX said:
Barbarism hindered development, not that im trying to absolve religion, but we were doing just fine without the barbarians that took over Europe circa 300AD
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This highlights the part that most people forget. The problem is PEOPLE.

People have a habit of using things, anything, to gain control over others. If that thing is religion, then they'll use it.
 
spoffle said:
This highlights the part that most people forget. The problem is PEOPLE.

People have a habit of using things, anything, to gain control over others. If that thing is religion, then they'll use it.
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I don't know if it's forgetfulness or just plain stubborn ignorance sometimes.

It is sad nonetheless.
 
TheBDog said:
I don't know if it's forgetfulness or just plain stubborn ignorance sometimes.

It is sad nonetheless.
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I think they subconsciously want to disassociate themselves (due to also being people) from the things that people do, so they blame immaterial things like religion and ideologies.
 
anything I don't mind said:
You should blame religion not people.
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Yes that's the kind of black and white thinking that we're trying to help discredit. :) Now you're getting it (maybe?).

spoffle said:
And yet you seem to suggest the people doing the awful things somehow represent Islam, and the people having the awful things done to them, don't.
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Agreed. The links are growing more and more tenuous now...
 
TheBDog said:
Not really what? :confused: You will have to be a little more specific as to what you're trying to say here...

Any follow up at all?
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I am not saying that religion does not hinder progress. Indeed, Islam does more than its share of this. But I am suggesting that Islam deserves little to no credit for advancing it.
 
This all, once again goes back to a fundamental argument.

Now, in the most basic of terms (I apologise in advance for the gross oversimplification):

If you are capable of accepting that there are 'Nice Religious People' who'd never hurt anyone. You must be willing to accept that these people are acting as individuals. Particularly if you think religion creates evil people.

THEREFORE, (and this is the important bit) you must also accept the possibility that 'Bad Religious People' are actually, in fact, the ones acting as individuals and that they may not, in fact, be accurate representations of the entire religion as you see it.

Just accepting the possibility your opinion might be incorrect is a big leap ladies and gentlemen. :) Don't be shy now.
 
DangerMoose said:
^^Who is this aimed at?
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It's pretty general. Hence the lack of quoting.

I was going to ignore your point.

Islamic scholars deserve no credit for work that supports Galileo's theories etc. Great. If that is the case, then perhaps we should remind ourselves that they're not the only peoples (see the previous comment about barbarians) who have hindered our progress. Religious or not. And let's also assume that barbarians should also get no credit for any discoveries they made(if any, I genuinely don't know).
 
TheBDog said:
Islamic scholars deserve no credit for work that supports Galileo's theories etc. Great. If that is the case, then perhaps we should remind ourselves that they're not the only peoples (see the previous comment about barbarians) who have hindered our progress. Religious or not. And let's also assume that barbarians should also get no credit for any discoveries they made(if any, I genuinely don't know).
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You are twisting my words. I am suggesting that Islam as a religion is not a primary motivating factor for success in the search for knowledge. In support of this I would point to the fact that Islamic scholars are most certainly not at the forefront of expanding our knowledge today. They seem to have enjoyed a heyday of learning some centuries ago, then kind of tailed off. Perhaps them conquering places where people happened to know more than average was a factor?
 
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