The Wow I Can't Believe That News Story Thread

[djchameleon]

Young MH17 victim has eerie premonition of crash

Some Final Destination ****

[Psy-Fi]

I guess I shouldn't find this unbelievable, but...

Pakistani mob kills two children including a baby and their grandmother after 'blasphemous' Facebook post - Telegraph

[Cuthbert]

accused of posting blasphemous material on Facebook, police in Pakistan said.

The dead were part of a religious sect, who consider themselves Muslim but believe in a prophet after Mohammed.

The religion of peace strikes again.

[The Batlord]

The dead were part of a religious sect, who consider themselves Muslim but believe in a prophet after Mohammed. A 1984 Pakistani law declared them non-Muslims and many Pakistanis consider them heretics.

Under Pakistani law, Ahmadis are banned from using Muslim greetings, saying Muslim prayers or referring to his/her place of worship as a mosque.

It's easy to say that isolated extremists don't necessarily reflect a people as a whole, but since Pakistan is supposed to be a democracy I think laws like this certainly do. **** Pakistan.

[Rjinn]

Originally Posted by Vanilla

Maybe for you it is, I certainly can't believe how horrible people can be to Jews still.

There are Jews (mostly the Zionists extremist and the government) that are horrible to the Palestinians though. They are treating the civilians in a similar way the Nazis treated Jews in the past. I believe this is where their rage is stemming from, however I don't agree with hate-crimes towards Jewish people (or anyone for the matter of fact) in general. But can understand their plight.

Both Hamas and Israeli government who are behind the reckless bombing are ****ing terrible though. The Palestinian citizen death toll has reached over 1,000, a big amount being children. Mostly because they are playing a children's game of NO YOU started it. No YOU. NO YOU!

[skyline]

Originally Posted by The Batlord

It's easy to say that isolated extremists don't necessarily reflect a people as a whole, but since Pakistan is supposed to be a democracy I think laws like this certainly do. **** Pakistan.

Is it? I've seen the opposite happen with very little thought. There are many contries that like to think themselves as the poster boy/girl for democracy yet put through or uphold laws the general populace do not agree with. An Ochlocracy might reflect the views of a people, a democracy doesn’t have to.

[The Batlord]

Originally Posted by skyline

Is it? I've seen the opposite happen with very little thought. There are many contries that like to think themselves as the poster boy/girl for democracy yet put through or uphold laws the general populace do not agree with. An Ochlocary might reflect the views of a people, a democracy doesn’t have to.

Within limits. The chance of the US passing similar laws about blasphemy as exist in Pakistan and Afghanistan, both democracies, is absolutely zero. We may have religious nuts here, but the groups strong enough to have any real influence are not extreme enough to even have any desire to. They might try to get Intelligent Design taught in schools or what have you, but they're never going to get any laws passed that make blasphemy punishable by death (blasphemy can potentially receive the death penalty in both Pakistan and Afghanistan). And even if by some horrible anti-miracle they tried then the rest of the populace would have none of it. It's just not a possibility. I also don't really see the possibility of a mob of Americans burning down someone's house and murdering children over a blasphemous Facebook page.

And while I'm sure the people on the extreme end of the religious spectrum don't represent the entire population of Pakistan, the fact that they are numerous and powerful enough to have significant influence on the government suggests that if they are on the far, low end of the bell curve representing the strength of the Pakistani people's religious beliefs then the middle, where the most people would lie, is probably still much more religiously extreme than your average Western country.

[skyline]

Originally Posted by The Batlord

Within limits. The chance of the US passing similar laws about blasphemy as exist in Pakistan and Afghanistan, both democracies, is absolutely zero. We may have religious nuts here, but the groups strong enough to have any real influence are not extreme enough to even have any desire to. They might try to get Intelligent Design taught in schools or what have you, but they're never going to get any laws passed that make blasphemy punishable by death (blasphemy can potentially receive the death penalty in both Pakistan and Afghanistan). And even if by some horrible anti-miracle they tried then the rest of the populace would have none of it. It's just not a possibility. I also don't really see the possibility of a mob of Americans burning down someone's house and murdering children over a blasphemous Facebook page.

And while I'm sure the people on the extreme end of the religious spectrum don't represent the entire population of Pakistan, the fact that they are numerous and powerful enough to have significant influence on the government suggests that if they are on the far, low end of the bell curve representing the strength of the Pakistani people's religious beliefs then the middle, where the most people would lie, is probably still much more religiously extreme than your average Western country.

The status quo in many western countries is vastly different to that of Pakistan or Afghanistan, no matter how alike people in either country think pluralistic ignorance plays a major role in how their country progresses politically. In the US a lot of pluralistic ignorance surrounding religious extremist movements has been dissolved, it makes it a lot easier to speak out against it. In a different political climate you could pick the same US citizens holding the same views only to find them less willing to express said views no matter what those around them actually think.

[The Batlord]

Originally Posted by skyline

The status quo in many western countries is vastly different to that of Pakistan or Afghanistan, no matter how alike people in either country think pluralistic ignorance plays a major role in how their country progresses politically. In the US a lot of pluralistic ignorance surrounding religious extremist movements has been dissolved, it makes it a lot easier to speak out against it. In a different political climate you could pick the same US citizens holding the same views only to find them less willing to express said views no matter what those around them actually think.

So are you saying that you think that the average Pakistani actually holds much the same relatively secular views as your average Westerner?

[skyline]

Originally Posted by The Batlord

So are you saying that you think that the average Pakistani actually holds much the same relatively secular views as your average Westerner?

No, I doubt it. Religion still plays a much more important role in those countries. I do however feel the number of people in those countries who do not agree with the more extreme end of the spectrum may not be too far off from your average westerner, that the same social phenomenon thought to be responsible for racial segregation in the US and the prohibition may be the issue here and that laws passed in a democratic country or an insignificant ammount of open oppostion may not be proof in of itself that the people of that country support any of it.

What Is Pluralistic Ignorance? (with picture)