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Doubts On Islam

Equal application of rights. In other words, I would not extend rights that are, for example, applicable to physically or mentally impaired people to the religious. Religion in western society is chosen on an entirely voluntary basis, unlike adverse medical conditions for example, so there is no reason to demonstrate our tolerance by giving religious persons extensive right with which they may influence the lives of their peers. For example, I would not allow religious people to have any say in the medical treatment of their children in so far as the treatment would be likely to yield results which are undesirable from the perspective of the person in the right mind. Or, for example, I would not allow religious persons to bring action on grounds that they have been rejected by prospective employers because their extraordinary needs would put an onerous obligation on the employer. And I would also get rid of Sharia courts or really any religious court as I don't see a reason why any rights relating to such facilities should be conferred upon people. The religious, if there is truly a demand, can create employment for themselves and academic institutions where they may do as their religion prescribes, but to force secular institutions to confer additional benefits upon people with 'spiritual needs' or to face discrimination charges should they reject applicants is outrageous in my view. Religious devotion is an 'additional extra' in any society worth a damn, and it is only fair that those who choose it be made to 'pay' for it.

As for the international field, with the exclusion of letting time take its course, as you have suggested, the only viable option, in my view, is political pressure. To be honest I'm actually quite sceptical towards letting time take its course because I constantly see groups of strongly religious students here in the UK who behave the same way as they normally would in their own respective countries despite the freedoms provided by secular society and I really see no interaction between them and the rest of society. They isolate themselves, they don't want this way of life, they don't like it, they may even loathe it, some of them anyway and generally, the people who are open to the west are minority and are met with a degree of scepticism in their own countries.

When I first read the word "aggressive" in your earlier post(s), I had a completely different picture in mind. Sorry for misunderstanding. I agree with every word you stated above.
 
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