Is Islam worth trying to reform? [Spirituality & Religion]

@bijouxbroussard I wouldn't go so far as to say that they're comparable. Like, around 400 million Muslims believe that apostates should be killed, whereas the current KKK and WBC clock in at 7,000-ish and 70, respectively. Also, the KKK doesn't currently think anyone should be killed for their beliefs or sexual orientation (although the WBC does).

@BlueVeins Numbers are probably moot to their targets. But as others are asking, how and whom would you [b]reform[/b] ?

@bijouxbroussard Mostly, one should focus on convincing all Muslims that apostasy, capital punishment, anti-Islamic speech, and sex outside of marriage should all be legal. I don't see why numbers aren't important here. It should be self-evident that having 500 times more people holding evil and dangerous beliefs is worse than the original number.

@BlueVeins Well, it’s like the dismissive “[b]that[/b] only happens “x%” of the time.” If it happens to [b]you[/b], it’s 100% from your perspective. But based solely on the replies by the few Muslims here, I don’t see your premise working.

@bijouxbroussard But the number of people who have the perspective of which you speak depends on the numbers. If you could only do one of the two, would you cure a disease that kills 1 million people a year or a disease that kills 100 in qualitatively similar ways?

@BlueVeins Do you know anyone personally who is Muslim ? Have they done anything to [b]you[/b] ?

@bijouxbroussard Yeah, I know liberal Muslims, and they're pretty cool. Are you familiar with the poem, "First they came?"

@BlueVeins Not really, although I’m aware that the first Muslims came to my country in the 1700s.

@bijouxbroussard Basically, the point of the poem is that we, as humans, have a duty to speak out when people are being oppressed, even if we are not the specific target of the oppression.

@BlueVeins I agree with that. It probably also helps to recognize whether or not in making generalizations we’re [b]becoming[/b] the oppressor. Just saying.

@bijouxbroussard You mean recognition of statistics? Looking at poll results that confirm the number of Muslims who support the killing of apostates, for example, does not constitute generalization. And engaging in discussion does not constitute oppression in itself.

@BlueVeins What is the source of the statistics ? Just out of curiosity ?

@bijouxbroussard PewResearch; it's public information.

@BlueVeins Western sources. Okay.

@bijouxbroussard That's awfully dismissive of you. Are you implying that westerners can't do effective research?

@BlueVeins No, but are [b]you[/b] saying there no possibility of cultural bias ?

@bijouxbroussard There's always a possibility of cultural bias, even within a culture. But competent scientists focus on reducing bias, and PewResearch is widely trusted as such. Besides, the exact numbers aren't critical to the establishment of a problem so much as... a general understanding of where a value is. For example, it would still be cause for concern if only 60% of Pakistani Muslims supported stoning apostates to death, as opposed to the 89% stated by PewResearch.