Quote:Why is that funny? You have been confused by the term "Malay" from the beginning of this discussion - I thought I should spell it out for you.
Perhaps you should just speak plain English rather than expecting everyone to use the Malaysian governments official racial classification scheme.
Quote:Again, read over what I actually said. Pointing out that believing in an abstract concept is different to supporting an actual policy that can be or is in place are two vastly different things - is not "refusing to believe that the majority of Malaysian Muslims support stoning adulterers to death and death for apostasy."
So they only support it abstractly, not in reality? I don't see any difference. You have just chosen a convoluted way of saying they do not believe what they say they believe.
Quote:On the eve of the last election, Anwar Ibrahim made a last minute announcement that hudud punishment was not part of the People's Alliance platform (of which PAS is a member). Thats how popular he thought it was. In the election, the ruling BN party, who adopts a zero-tolerance policy towards hudud, collected 47% of the entire vote, while PAS collected 14%. While an exact ethnic breakdown is not known, both parties are always heavilly favoured by the ethnic Malays (muslims). So its pretty clear where Malay votes are actually going on the hudud issue when Malays have the opportunity to vote for it - as opposed to pontificating in a meaningless and consequence-free survey.
An election is never a referendum on a single issue. Are you trying to argue that this proves it will never happen?
Didn't you just claim that you follow Malaysian politics and that you know there is no serious debate on the issue? And yet here you are presenting evidence that before the last election, Anwar Ibrahim himself had to issue a statement about it because member parties of his own coalition openly support the practice. Your insistence that there is no debate on the topic is looking more and more like deliberate deception.
Quote:Correct. PAS had to be gagged by their coalition leader on the issue during the last election since it was seen as political suicide
That does not mean there is no serious debate. You seem to be shifting the goal posts here Gandalf. Pretty soon you will be telling us that we can only talk about it after they start executing apostates, and even then we have to excuse them because they don't really mean it.
Quote:No, thats not what I'm talking about at all. "putting a stone in their hand" is just a figure of speech. Its about telling people that, with their support, this *CAN* actually happen - that there are x number of people - real people - awaiting sentencing for adultery - should they be stoned to death?
Justice is not a publicity contest. Once it becomes law, it happens. You don't see Americans going to the polls every time they put someone on death row. If someone supports the death penalty, they are not going to suddenly change their mind when they notice the death part of it.
Quote:The "no" campaign then plasters pictures of their faces in all the major papers and asks the public if they would vote "yes" and condemn them to a most torturous death. They call in experts to describe in grizzly detail what they will go through as rocks crush their bones and the length of time it will take for them to die. You can't tell me that after this sort of debate people will respond the same as when someone abstractly and impersonally asks them simply "should adulterers be stoned".
Yes I can, because the debate is already happening, right at the top of Malaysian politics. And besides, only adulterers get stoned to death. Apostates presumably get a more humane ending. Like when you give a puppy to the pound.
Furthermore, Malaysia does not exactly permit free and open political debate.
Stratos:
Quote:Oh come on, modern Christianity has a bunch of pagan objects involved. Extremely weak argument for a Christian to use. Also pagan=bad? since when and why, or is it just your opinion?
Paganism is bad according to Islam. That's why Muhammed insisted on wiping it out, by any means necessary.
Quote:I'm not sure of the context, but seeing as it comes directly after a passage about staying making sure to do what you say you will do, to be more about standing as one in faith than an actual physical fight
Of course.
Muhammed wasn't into the whole warmongering thing was he?