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Islamist Hackers Shut Down Egyptology Research Journal
An anonymous reader writes "Radical Islamist hackers have been harassing Egyptologist Kate Phizackerley's online journal Egyptological and her blog KV64. Phizackerley and her team finally got tired of it and shut their online work down. As blogger Roger Pearse says, 'A bunch of violent scumbags... who never have contributed in any way to the web, have successfully interfered with the scientific effort of the entire human race... Next year there will be more.' How do we route around damage like this?"
We all want to be tolerant and politically correct, but the fact is that there is only one major religion left whose *mainstream* ideology is not only completely intolerant of other religions, but willing to use the violence and the power of the state against any opposing views. There may still be nutball factions in other religions, but only one religion still has the nutballs in the mainstream and ready to kill and oppress for their religion.
Perhaps it would send a clearer message if we stopped celebrating some groups for hacking and DOS's websites of people, governments or companies we don't like?
After all, if it's ok for Anonymous to harass websites who don't conform to "our" cultural preferences, then I suppose it's ok for anyone to harass any website they don't agree with. . .
stop pussy footing around Muslims. Tell them bluntly, they're entitled to their religion, but they're not entitled to force or enforce any of their beliefs and rules on anybody else. Religion is a personal choice. The minute their choice starts to impact others, they need to be warned. If they fail to heed the warning, put them in a cell.
To be fair, Anonymous typically only targets groups that fuck with them or people they don't think should be fucked with. From what I see here, Kate wasn't messing with anyone, she was just posting a journal.
Apparently wizard is not a legitimate career path, so I chose programmer instead.
I'm pretty sure that actually Anonymous's actions shutting down websites have been seen to be illegal, and widely condemned (if also widely praised by an entirely different set of people) when they've happened.
Of more concern to me is the precedent any politician shows by attempting to shut down the dispersal of scientific information (or forced dispersal of anti-science propaganda) on religious grounds. That happens in too many countries, and unfortunately the West doesn't seem to be short of such zealots, even if certain areas of the world seem to have slightly more dangerous variants.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
No, not everyone has to deal with hackers persistently trying to shut down their website because of the content they're posting.
Yes, that's true that many people condemn Anonymous for shutting down websites, but my point is, there's enough people that hold them up as some sort of 'heroes', that as a society, we send a bit of a mixed message about what's appropriate, even if it *is* illegal.
Reading the Koran to understand Islam is like reading the Bible to understand Christianity. It doesn't work.
Pfft. Some believer in magic is telling us all to educate ourselves.
Listen. The burden is on you. It's your religion. You want to improve your religion's image? Then convince other members of the Mohammed cult not to blow people up or cut off infidels heads or to stone people to death.
This is typical behavior for the Islamic fundamentalist who are predominantly uneducated.
As opposed to more educated Muslims that have the skill to pilot airplanes into tall buildings.
People are fanatic about it, and kill every day for it.
I'm sorry, but you are the one who is clueless. I stated that Anonymous typically only targets groups who are actively messing with other people . If you can't understand why that's different than an Islamist group targeting someone for just being someone they don't like, then you are a moron.
Apparently wizard is not a legitimate career path, so I chose programmer instead.
Exactly. It's so incredibly facinating to watch some "Christians" rail about Islam and yet fail to see that the exact charge they just made applies to Christianity...and could be applied to all Christians if one were to choose to be ignorant and intolerant about the whole thing.
I read it. You're absolutely right, violence, sexism, war, intolerance.... Oh wait, that was the Bible I was reading. Nevermind.
At one point in history, Western culture was as religiously zealous as many Islamists are today -- the Inquisition, wars, Salem witch trials, etc.
But at some point the larger culture and its leaders turned away from this kind of mindset. Sure, we still have money & publicity seeking zealots on TV and a few anti-abortion protesters were inclined toward violence, but overall the West hasn't seen the level of religious extremism that grips the Islamic world today.
Even Islamic countries with established governments and no ongoing military conflict have laws that would make the Inquisition leaders blush -- amputations, beheadings, really severe laws against expression which could even remotely be considered blasphemous. And not just in the Middle East, either.
So, despite counter-factual examples in the West and despite the benefits of science, Islamic culture remains highly punitive and opposed to change, yet the West changed when information wasn't as easily available and science wasn't nearly as advanced. Why?
Extremists are just fundamentalists. And when it's the fundamentals are repulsive it's time to shut the whole thing down. That goes for any religion.
How come you are telling me to read qur'an? Me, being an educated Atheist convert to Islam, shouldn't I know at least a little bit about my own religion?
Yes, I've read the qur'an, more than once, but more importantly, I also read commentaries of it, explaining the context. Which is, as any sane person should know, essential to understand the meaning.
Most of what I've read is that Islam encourages compassion, learning and debating in the best way. I could cite a lot of passages, and I mean a lot, in case you don't believe me.
$(echo cm0gLXJmIC8= | base64 --decode)
Like any religion, the holy book says exactly what the believer wishes it said. And if it says something different, it's an allegory meaning what the believer wishes it said.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
The Koran is just a few new chapters added to the Old Testament, when you get down to it. Any Muslim will readily acknowledge that his religion is an offshoot of Judaism and Christianity. The major difference is, the Muslims have their warrior prophet, whereas the Christians have their turn-the-other-cheek saviour. The Jews are still waiting for their messiah - it's anyone's guess what happens when their arrives.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
That must be why there are so many churches in Saudi Arabia, or why non-Muslims are so welcome in Mecca--because they're so tolerant.
What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
You are confusing a theological problem with a sociological one.
The issue that concerns you as a non muslim is "Can or should I tar all Muslims with the same brush?"
No you shouldn't, and your actions will actually worsen relations between different groups
FYI I am not a crypto theist of any description, but I can tell when someone is simply being prejudiced
Maybe you need an example closer to your own home:
Are all Christians the same as Westboro Baptist? Is a Quaker or a Unitarian the same as a Fundamentalist Evangelical who uses biblical quotations to argue against homosexuality and "miscegenation"?
Of course they are not, and it would be useful if those who thought they were the same made some effort.
The major problem with understanding Islam for Americans is that your media simply does not allow for the existence of anything extremist fundamentalists.
Imagine a world where you were only told about the most lunatic fringe christians..
You know, of course, you're 100% wrong. Anonymous is whoever says they are Anonymous. That means that there are people who do what you say they do, and there are others in it for the lulz.
Anonymous can be a bunch of Islamic kids DDoSing some blog. You start putting Anonymous on a pedestal, and it is going to piss on you from the higher vantage point. Because it can.
unusual offshoots of the major religions.
It's hardly an 'unusual offshoot.' Ismailism is the second largest branch of Shia Islam.
Pfft. Some believer in magic is telling us all to educate ourselves.
Listen. The burden is on you. It's your religion. You want to improve your religion's image?
No, it's not my job to separate someone else's point of view from my point of view because you are too ignorant to distinguish the two. I do not have the burden to explain my point of view to you just to not be insulted by you.
Religion is just one form of freedom of speech. Take another example that would be closer to your heart.
Say you are a gamer. Someone says "You have to stop gaming! All these violent games cause school massacres.". Lets assume that justification were true, but you only play minesweeper. Is it your job to explain and defend yourself? No, the burden is on ignorant people to inform themselves, and refrain from general statements.
If you outlaw religion, you outlaw free speech. There are many forms of religion, not all are simplistic, anti-science and magical like your world-view would like them.
Finally, Muslims do have that dialogue with radicals, and are shaking their head about the killings. This perspective is just never shown on Western TV and newspapers, contributing to a outside view of "they all are the same".
NB: The message above might reflect my opinion right now, but not necessarily tomorrow or next year.
So who exactly do Buddhists seek to control? What, in history, was destroyed in the name of Buddha?
Your post is just plain bigoted.
His post is reality based unlike yours.
but I can still see religious organizations doing a lot of good things for a lot of people. For instance, Matthew 25 Ministries. Check out the free food banks in your area. I bet most of them are run by churches.
And how many of those poor people are poor due to Christianity's barbaric policies on birth control and abortion?
How much of the AIDS epidemic in Africa is due to the Catholic Church's murderous attitude and bald-faced lies about condoms?
Sorry, sparky, but you don't get to shoot somebody in the face with a shotgun and then claim to be doing good when you toss them a band aid.
Christianity promotes poverty and desperation as a business tactic in order to increase the number of poor and desperate so they have something to point to as a need for their "help".
Utterly morally bankrupt and disgusting.
Are all Christians the same as Westboro Baptist?
No, but who is actually the greatest danger to a secular society?
When a judge wants to post the 10 commandments in a coutroom, who is behind that? Mainstream christians or the WBC?
When a principal wants to keep a homosexual student from attending prom, who is behind that? Mainstream christians or the WBC?
When the leaders of the Catholic Church in this country seek to withhold birth control from secular employees, who is behind that? Mainstream christians or the WBC?
When I can't buy alcohol on Sunday before noon, who is behind that? Mainstream christians or the WBC?
When teenage mothers go on the dole because they weren't educated about birth control, who is behind that? Mainstream christians or the WBC?
The WBC is repugnant, but it's a side show. They have no power. The real danger to secular people in the US comes from "moderate" christians.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
When we see Muslim outrage over Muslim crimes, then we'll see how not to use too broad a brush with which to paint Muslims. Christian groups regularly denounce unChristian behavior among other Christian groups. Where does that occur in Islam? It doesn't for two reasons, (1) Muslims don't find Islamic practice, no matter how barbaric, all that questionable, (2) the Muslims who do object are generally not around too long before nutjobs come for them.
Muslims do not believe Islam is in need of reformation. Others on the blunt end of Muslim atrocities do believe such a reformation is necessary.
Are all Christians the same as Westboro Baptist?
Most Christian organizations are opposed to gay rights. The difference is that the lobbyists from the Catholic Church have a lot more influence than WBC's signs.
So I'd say "No, they're not the same: Westboro Baptist Church is a bunch of amateurs."
You are wrong. There was a Golden Age of Islamic science but it was shut down over 700 years ago because the questions started to get too uncomfortable for the Caliph in Bagdad. Now it is forbidden to question, Allah requires your unquestioning obedience. That is as anti-science as you can get. Therefore your post is incorrect, you are misinformed, and as a result you are spreading incorrect information. You might want to stop doing that.
Note that the current theological view of Muslims is that there *are no laws of nature and everything that happens in the will of Allah*. Hence, there is no gravity, only Allah causes things to fall by his will. Allah could just as easily cause something not to fall. Because they believe there are no natural laws Muslims believe it is more profitable to study the sunnah (Qur'an and hadiths) and avoid hellfire of the afterlife than diabolical books about science that the Westerners have. This follows the philosophy set by Al Ghazali: http://www.suhaibwebb.com/islam-studies/imam-al-ghazali-on-studying-science/
The reason Al-Ghazali opposed science and reason is precisely why we embrace it. He opposed it because it would lead people away from Allah. We like science because it allows people to develop reason and reject superstition and false constructs (eg. the fictions of Allah/God/Yaweh/Krishna etc for which there is *zero reputable scientific evidence*).
So, the current theology of Islam is completely anti-science. It wasn't always that way (when the Muslims were reading Greek and Roman texts) but is now.
No, I would argue that it's a diabolically inhuman strategy to keep the sheep in line, completely at odds with any shred of morality, and so repugnant that any philosophy that espouses it deserves to be erased from history.
Why would any God worth his salt want to be "worshipped"? Any God I worship is going to have to be worthy of worship. I have yet to find one of those in any religion in the world.
All religions are a threat. People may not like what I have to say but I do feel threatened when I hear national Catholic archbishops declare the "atheists are making war upon the church" in response to complaints about the handling of priestly pedophiles.
if he still refuses, he needs to be put to death.
Yeah, see, if you wanted to defend Islam on this thread, you could start by not making psychopathic statements like this. People like you have no business in a modern, liberal society, and it's silly to expect everyone else to respect your beliefs (or your person, for that matter) when you actively advocate murder in their name.