Can you think of any other ideology that has such political protections as Islam?

Indonesia is the highest population Muslim country in the world, so surely if all countries with a lot of Muslims were as described, Indonesia would be?

But it isn't, I've been there and it's a great country. Their military is particularly good because they prevented an ISIS attack earlier this year.

Never heard of the Spanish Inquisition, OP?

Every religion has had political protection at one time or another.

I think you may have missed my point. My point was that just because some Islamic countries (such as Indonesia) are not theocratic hellholes, it doesn't change the fact that many are. You can't just point to Indonesia and say "well they're OK, so that means all Islamic countries are OK and Islam causes no problems in any of them". That's some of the worst reasoning I've ever heard. In fact, it's precisely the countries where Islam has the most sway in politics which are most troubled, conservative or intolerant. Most Muslims in Indonesia are very moderate, but unsurprisingly the countries where the population follows Islam more strictly are much more messed up. If a country gets more unethical and more troubled the more people adhere to a certain ideology, then that ideology probably isn't great.

As an aside, it's worth mentioning Indonesia still has it's problems. I urge you to watch a film called The Act of Killing, and it's sequel, The Look of Silence. They're about the anti-communist purge in the 1960s. Millions of suspected communists (most of them just ordinary people) were murdered, under the orders of politicians. This is something the media and government still praises as a good thing. Nothing to do with Islam of course. But do you know how many of the killers and politicians justify the killings? They say the victims were unbelievers, godless people. So don't pretend that Indonesia is some kind of Islamic paradise.



What's your point? Are you trying to justify this by comparing it to the Spanish Inquisition?

What's your point?

You're lying. You're making assumptions about the majority of the population from what is evidently a skim-surface read of the place.

I won't lie to you though, I was intimidated in Istanbul and Marrakech, they have a slightly aggressive selling-style on the streets - but don't confuse that with terrorism.

Have you ever been to a predominantly Muslim country, and mixed with the locals? It's not the authoritarian terrorist stronghold you think it is.

The cause of these 'hellholes' isn't solely Islam. Evidently many Muslim governments do work, the difference is that the Middle Eastern countries have more corruption, the source of this corruption isn't Islam alone. While strict followings of ancient versions of Islam may contribute as it satisfies their methods of oppression, there are many other causes.

The fact that there are democratic Muslim governments, like the one which existed in Tunisia recently, shows that Islam is not the sole cause of the problems in these countries.

This country had Christian-based morality laws - and laws on blasphemy were only repealed in 2008.

Every religion has had people being picky about it. It's just Islam's turn.

Quite the accusation to say I'm lying. You asked for anecdotal evidence, I gave it to you.

But if you want objective evidence then there's plenty.

Look at the petty battle between Morocco and Algeria over who can build the biggest mosque.

Look at the polls carried out by the PEW research centre

Look at which countries criminalise apostasy

Look at the reaction to Rushdie's Satanic verses and to the Danish cartoonists.

There is plenty of clear evidence for what I'm saying.

That the notion that no other religion has or has ever had protection is erroneous at best, or just sheer willful ignorance at worst.

Though I guess this is TSR, after all.

What sort of things could you have been prosecuted for?

I suppose democracy is a similarly protected ideology, if you can call it an ideology. E.g. political parties that are against democracy are banned in some countries such as Germany .

Can you think of any other ideology where there is a highly defamatory neologism for anyone who criticizes or insults people for following it? If you are labelled an "Islamophobe" you may lose your job, be socially outcast, or you may even face legal action as "Islamophobia" is often considered hate speech.

There's no Hinduphobia, Buddhophobia, or Christianophobia. Only Islamophobia.

There's antisemitism, but that usually describes someone who is prejudiced against people of a particular lineage, something which said people have no choice in and can't change, so it's justifiable to compare it to racism. Being Islamophobic is just disliking people for their ideas and views, something which everyone does all the time, accept for with Muslims, when it is considered immoral and even potentially illegal.

Communism??

Pretty sure communism is almost the opposite of being protected.

Marxism then?

Name one "special protection" which Islam gets in this country and which other religions don't get.

There is a highly defamatory label for anyone who criticises it, and which politicians and law enforcement take very seriously.