Israel... Why them???

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by caspofungin

that doesn't excuse extrapolating that political difference to justify a claim that islam as a religion is backwards or uncivilized.

I wasn't trying to compare Islam to Western political systems I was trying to compare Mid-Eastern social-political systems to Western ones. I guess as an American I tend view religion and politics as separate entities. Any nation can be civilized regardless of religion; religion just gives a government an excuse to act one way or another.