Islam is bad.

More and more, it appears Islamic countrie's governments are finding the internet is too much freedom to allow. And more and more people are saying it's the kind of freedom they want. Expect more revolutions in the coming years.

Yes, sex is so dirty and nasty that it must be kept behind closed doors and underneath large piles of fabric.

This is even more reason, as if anyone needed one, not to make sex tapes or take naked photos. You never know who will get their hands on them or how they will be used against you.

I have always made sure my face was never seen in any compromising photos. Seems to have worked so far ;-)

So far, BEG, but don't say that too lightly and jinx anything. I'm always worried about easily identifiable things like moles, birthmarks and nipple rings!

Ha ha just kidding, everyone knows I'm not that brave. Owwww!

@1 Religion is bad. Islam is centuries younger than Xtianity, so it's fundamentalism has had less time to be diluted by constant exposure to reality. Xtianity used to be just as bad, and in many places, still is.

@6: I really don't think it's an age thing. It's a power distribution thing. Religious diversity ups religious freedom. The other thing, of course, is that whole money thing. Countries with money tend to be a lot less crazy about religion, which is why Christians in Uganda are scary as fuck, and Christians in the US... not so much. 3rd world/1st world thing.

Except that Christians in the US keep sending money to Christians in Uganda. They're not so easily separated.

@3 - your point is basically sound, of course. Still, at least in more sensible countries, I think there's something to be said for proliferation of nudity/sex on the 'net. The more common it is, the less scandalous any one instance of it is. Stands to reason.

'course, I wouldn't want to be among the first to do it in a crazy, sex-negative theocratic state! I'm not brave enough for that.

@7 And as religions like Xtianity age past a certain (awesome) point, they generally lose power. Medieval Europe wasn't exactly a bastion of religious diversity. Plus, there's plenty of schisms in Islam, just nowhere near the amount of Xtianity, primarily due to the fact that its just had less time to schism.

I think the problem is rather that we are dealing with iron age religions--more or less--in the Abrahamic faiths.

The inter- and intracultural frictions that are going on now will wane when these religions adapt to our present globalized age [no more, "I have the whole truth and only way, so you are just wrong," bullshit], or they are replaced by a secular/pluralist spirituality that isn't desperately trying to deny reality in the face of mounting informational availability.

It is just too bad that it is going to take a while--and much more dumb--until we get there.

They screamed for a harsher sentence, then they ran home to watch the videos.

First- for the thousandth time DON'T MAKE A SEX TAPE!! You'd think by now people would realize this is a bad idea but I guess vanity trumps sensibility ever time.

Second- The reaction of the media/public in Indonesia reminds me of the old joke: A woman calls the cops complaining that the neighbors are doing something disgusting. When the cops show up they don't see anything out the window and she says "oh you have to get up on the chair to see it."

Third- How pray tell, does something so private manage to find it's way into the public? We've seen this happen before but the ones throwing stones are never caught. Hmm. Apparently breeching ones privacy is morally acceptable.

The hypocrisy of moralist never fails to astound me.

@1 Islam is bad is exactly the wrong lesson to learn from this story. Fundamentalism is wrong, whether it be Christian or otherwise.

@15 Oh, come on FA, I fucking hate Xtianity, and simply will not stand for these hurtful accusations suggesting I'm trying to in any way sugarcoat my utter hatred for its despicable teachings.

Of course in most cases modern fundamentalist Islam is scarier than most cases of modern fundamentalist Xtianity. But how is it a logical fallacy to say cults mainstream with time? It has happened with Catholicism (support of evolution), Mormonism (black people aren't inherently evil anymore), and it will likely happen to Islam with time.

@14, thank you for that.

@15, all of the Abrahamic religions are equally able to embrace modern, progressive interpretations, or ignorant, bigotted violence.

While I find the Abrahamic branch of belief to be inherently flawed and lacking in built-in spiritual insight, the problem is the culture through which an Abrahamic religion is filtered, not actually the religion itself.

religious flies out the door when money flies in the window.

@14: Word that.
@12: Winrar.