Ban Islam

Hello, as it is clear that @Vi_Spex is only on DDO to troll, I am willing to hold a civil debate with my opponent, so long as he/she is able to remain polite and respectful. Otherwise, thanks for accepting. I would also like to explicitly say that any claims I make about my opponents arguments do NOT necessarily reflect their actual views and/or personality, since it is possible that my opponent is just making a point for the argument, so I hope that voters don't jump to conclusions about the personality of my opponent. Now I will begin:: My opponent has said that Islam is a "threat to the ideals of liberty and democracy." Therefore, Islam should be banned. However, the universal facet of democracy and freedom is the freedom of religion. A harsh criticism of extremists is the fact that they do not tolerate other faiths in their "ideal" society. I myself hold to the beliefs that all religions should not be persecuted, according to Islam. My opponent's statement is just as intolerant as the beliefs held by extremists themselves. A ban of Islam not only empowers extremists to incite anti-west propaganda, but it contradicts the tenets of our modern democracy. The next point my opponent made, "Throughout history, Islam was infamous for spreading its message by the sword, a concept deprived directly from the Qur'an" does not serve as a basis for argument. My those same standards, the Christian faith could be criticized for the Crusades, for example. However, it is completely unfair to judge the religion by a select few who follow it, and I will not stand for someone who attempts to do so. A main disagreement that I have with my opponent's argument is my opponent has said that the problem lies not with Muslims, but with Islam. I can understand that my opponent does not want to sweep all Muslims under a very broad brush of extremism, however, that isn't necessary to prove Islam should not be banned. There are approx. 1.8 Billion Muslims living in the world today. Only a small minority commit the disgusting acts of murder, rape, etc. At the same time, there are 2.2 Billion Christians in the world, but one would not judge the religion based on white supremacist groups who kill out of hatred, or on the pastor who wished more were killed at the Pulse nightclub shooting. My opponent's quote about 'casting terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve', could be countered with a quote from the Bible, Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict {of the Holy Man} who represents God must be put to death. Such evil must be purged."( Deuteronomy17:12 ) Since many people are opposed to the "you need to contextualize it" argument, I will now only counter with quotes from other religions, in order to prove that context is needed where religion is concerned. I must say I agree with my opponent on his/her last point. Extremists DO in fact believe that they are carrying out a divine duty and will be received in heaven as martyrs, since they themselves take quotes from the Qur'an willy-nilly without context. However, they do many things which are COMPLETELY in contradiction to the beliefs of Islam, such as killing in Mosques, and killing by burning alive. Not to sound cliche, but Osama Bin Laden would completely agree with the statement that my opponent has made that Islam is a terroristic, forced religion. BOTH WOULD AGREE. However, Muslims like myself, and the others who follow our religion peacefully, WHILE participating in modern society, do not believe that Islam is a threat. Now let's bring this argument back to the resolution. Religious freedom is a HUGE part of democratic society, and to ban a faith altogether would de-legitimize the whole idea of a democracy. The first amendment of the United States Constitution sates that all citizens have the right to a freedom of religion, and I propose that we continue to stand by those rights. I would like to thank my opponent for this first round of debating, and also for remaining civil. Again, my assertions about my opponent's arguments DO NOT necessarily reflect the views of him/her personally. I ask that the voters keep that in mind and judge this on a solely merit based system.