Oh, but they do have a culture, it is known as the culture of death.
Yes, well so do jackals but no one associates "culture" with them.
cul·ture? ?[kuhl-cher]
noun
1.the quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc.
2.that which is excellent in the arts, manners, etc.
3.a particular form or stage of civilization, as that of a certain nation or period: Greek culture.
4.development or improvement of the mind by education or training.
5.the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group: the youth culture; the drug culture.
I'm looking at this list and I just don't see it. Some might argue that number three is close but I would say that "civilization" or in this case, lack thereof would be a dis-qualifier. Similarly, number five also doesn't quite make it because islam is none of those either. I think what is more appropriate when trying to categorize islam is this variant:
cult? ?[kuhlt]
noun
1.a particular system of religious worship, especially with reference to its rites and ceremonies.
2.an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, especially as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult.
3.the object of such devotion.
4.a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.
5.Sociology . a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols.
When I think of islam there are some words that immediately come to mind...killing, torture, rape, dismemberment, submission, murder, terror, explosions, beheadings, intolerance, slavery, etc. When I think of islamic "charities" I am reminded of money laundering outfits that sponsor killing and terror. Nothing even vaguely associated with the word "culture" ever suggests itself to me when thinking about islam. On the other hand, I can easily see other religions qualifying as cultural. Lots of religions contribute and have contributed to the culture through scholarly pursuits, etc. Islam does not and has not contributed anything of cultural value to the world. Worse, its followers have made it a point to destroy culture and cultural artifacts whenever the mood strikes them which, sadly, is an almost moment by moment kind of thing. Some of these instances even make the
news. Since it is so common, though, most atrocities do not...
GHAZNI, Afghanistan, March 13 (AP) -
At least two weeks before Afghanistan's supreme ruler ordered all statues in the country destroyed, zealous Taliban soldiers wielding pickaxes hacked an ancient Buddhist-Hindu complex here to rubble, scrawling graffiti on the walls, a Taliban guard said.
"We confront the idols of non-Muslims and destroy them,'' read one message etched in a wall in Pashtu, the language of Afghanistan's majority Pashtun ethnic group.
Arriving packed aboard four pickup trucks, the soldiers spent several days swarming over the complex, built in tiers up the side of a hill from the second to seventh centuries, said Mullah Saeed Jan, a Taliban guard at the site.
An ancient baked clay statue of Buddha, beheaded decades ago, was hacked into small pieces, among the relics destroyed at the complex at Ghazni, 120 miles southwest of the Afghan capital, Kabul.
The Buddha was here, but we have smashed it,'' Jan said Tuesday, wrapped in a dirty brown blanket to protect against the cold wind sweeping the arid plains.
Typically, destruction of historical artifacts is not associated with the word "culture." Nazi book burning comes to mind.
Here is a video of some happy-go-lucky muslim cultists destroying a Coptic Christian church in Egypt:
Or in
Indonesia (Obama's adopted spawning pit):Jakarta (AsiaNews) - Islamic fundamentalists in the district of Bekasi, 30 km east of Jakarta, have obtained the destruction of a statue of "Three young women," because it was deemed blasphemous. The bare chest and symbols related to the number "three" - the Trinity of Christian nature - make the work of art "obscene" and "desecrate" the religion of Mohammed. The sculptor has expressed disappointment and disbelief at the destruction, ordered last June 19 by the local authorities, describing the act "stupid and misleading." The Bekasi district thus registers as a new episode of religious extremism after attacks on churches and Christian buildings. Theatre of a rapid urbanization, the area not far from the Indonesian capital has not been able to harmonise economic development and peaceful coexistence, especially between Christians and Muslims.
Happens all the time, all around the world...has been happening for centuries.
So, maybe I am picking nits here but I just have a hard time associating "culture" with a group of people from different races, countries and eras who spend the vast majority of their time pursuing wholesale rape, death, destruction and terror.
"Cult" seems more appropriate to me. As in, Jonestown.
