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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.
Reading the Koran to understand Islam is like reading the Bible to understand Christianity. It doesn't work.
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.
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.
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..
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.
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.