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Religion is far more complicated than what most people give it credit.
I am not attracted to women that show off their bodies to just anyone. Quite frankly, I don't want a woman who's had quite a few romps on the bed, religion or otherwise. Many people rebel simply because there is a rule, but I'm going to assure you that when you turn 50 or 60 you are going to wish you could take back a whole mess of things you did.

Now, I'm not a prude. Show off whatever the hell you want, I guess. It is your body, and honestly, no one respects themselves anymore.
The popular people are those most hated and most rude to those that surround them.
The standards of health and beauty are standards that for the majority are neither healthy not attainable.
People are constantly choosing to smoke, drink, or do drugs without caring about the consequences.
We rate our success by accumulating many things that we do not need, such as very large homes or expensive cars, while there are others that are homeless in the street or that must walk miles to and from work on a daily basis.
We need many different clothes and shoes that is not needed if one simply were to wash their clothing semi-regularly and throw out extra food when there are children in africa that are naked and dying of starvation.

So, yeah, I don't agree with the modern times thing at all, first of all. It's only modern times to those that are privaleged.

Now let me defend Islam. Now, most politicians don't want you to know any FACTS about us, because then you'll care that they are bombing innocent women and children for decades. By the way, that sucks and you guys should really work on that.

Islam means to submission to allah's will. Muslim means one that submits to allah's will. Allah is the arabic word for God, and nothing more. I could say god, except that it is associated with Jesus for Christians, so I make it distinct.

Now, Muslim is an ARABIC word. However, one does not need to use the arabic word to describe him/herself to qualify. As long as you do not break one of the essential pillars of faith, it is possible to go to heaven even if you belong to another religion, as long as you lived life the way you should. Islam is not a system of oppression, it is merely a set of guidelines to follow. We all will break some rules, no one is perfect. Following religion is merely ATTEMPTING to live a good life.

There are many important quotes that can be provided in Islam, from either our holy book or from the prophet. I won't get specific, but there is an extensive amount of material that forbids one from judging others. I am merely here to guide you. If there is something you refuse to comply with that is for your own good, then sucks for you. However, there are many people that think that they can force you to do something, and these people have given it a bad name.

I have questioned my faith before, so I wouldn't enjoy any of you thinking I'm just sticking to the book or something. I say things that many people are just too dumb or ignorant to say. Now seriously, do what you want, I really won't judge you. It won't matter what I say or do, only what you do that matters.[/rage]

Yeah, I think I addressed a lot. I don't want anyone getting offended. This is a messed up world we live in, and I'm taking shots at everyone.

I personally have not read much about women covering. It is good to know that kind of stuff, but seeing as how I am a man I didn't feel it was neccessary. So I don't have anything to quote offhand. I could look.

Essentially, it is about modesty. A woman's clothing shouldn't be tight nor revealing. This prevents her from being objectified as less than a person. There is alot of clothing that you can wear that can still be enjoyable to have without having to give off sex appeal. The covering is just another point of modesty. Of course, the men should not be acting as if they can do whatever they want if a woman doesn't cover. A woman's acting with modesty is coupled with emphasis that men treat women with respect, and not following one shouldn't nullify the other.

If you are really interested you could do some reading on moderate-islamic websites, but if not, than it should suffice to know that it is meant to be for modesty. Granted, anyone can take any arguement and use it for their own ends, there are many that would use it to oppress women. That is unfortunate.

ALSO, I HOPE YOUR WRISTS AREN'T SHOWING AS WELL AS YOUR HANDS. I'M OBLIGATED TO BEAT YOU TO DEATH IF I SEE THEM.

Pfft, Puritans! rolleyes .... >.> Sorry wrong religion... it's so hard to not confuse them at times...

*ahem* I've been stalking this thread but don't think I've posted yet.

I respect others beliefs until they don't respect mine. Believe what you want as long as it doesn't inhibit the rights of others.

@Aneyana: You mean Kuran, right? Not Bible.
Also, the concept of a perfect race could only be achieved in a world where immortality is even possible. Eliminate everyone except for one race, and a single disease will wipe out the human race because we've destroyed our genetic differentiation. There are no traits that we can simply shrug off. Even Down syndrome has an advantage, as they are mostly resistant to mutations that cause most cancers. A cursory knowledge of genetics pretty much ends that stuff.

Not all Catholics believe that.

So are you saying that we should sit and turn a blind eye to N. Korea building nukes?

...Iraq.

That's really all I have to say. neutral