I was asking about your meaning in context of your question, and the subsequent impression you related. The way you asked appeared to connote that such cultures are of dubious viability, for whatever reason.
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There certainly are far fewer of them, then there used to be…
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It’s not so strange that sex changes are allowed in Iran. Homosexuality is banned because it says so in the Quoran, but Muhammad had nothing to say about sex change, therefore there is no religious reason to ban it.
As for travel warnings, remember issued Canada issued a travel warning to USA after the Maher Arar affair…
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It’s plenty strange. Gender and orientation aren’t the same thing. Iran treats it as the same thing because their government is run by ignorant religious people who refuse to be educated in favor of worshiping the barbaric abrahamic god.
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You may consider a theocracy strange, but given that it’s pretty reasonable. They follow the Quoran, and everything that isn’t explicitly banned there is allowed.
Not buying it. What makes the dictation of an illiterate, child-raping warlord from a thousand years ago reasonable compared to things people today agree on as rules to govern themselves?
You’ve got a lot of work to do if you want to convince me that theocracy is in any way a worthwhile system of governance. I don’t accept people’s holy books as true, accurate, worthwhile or useful unless it’s reasoned out in some objective way. And “if you don’t submit we’ll cut your hands off or behead you” isn’t very convincing.
You said “reasonable”. Reason with me, so that I may know why theocracy is any good.
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So, where in the Quoran does it say to rape virgin women prisoners so they can be executed? Is that allowed because it isn’t explicitly banned?
Cultural respect ? Seems it’s a one-way relationship…
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Obviously those pictures you see from Tehran have had all the men Photoshopped out. I believe Iran is not actually quite as backward as US ally Saudi Arabia.
(There’s also the point that most educated Iranians seem to hate the régime and the younger generation put a lot of effort into tweaking the religious police. I think the Americans should go, and talk to Iranians. Contacts like that may help to improve things.)
Edit: Celebrating the nuclear deal:
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He has a point, though. “Reasonable” is correct insofar as the theocracy is based on Islamic scholars arguing [i.e. using reason cf Aristotle] with one another over the meaning of the Qu’ran. In Orthodox Judaism scholars also argue over the meanings, not only of ancient texts, but of commentaries on those texts.
The problem is that in both cases the fundamental assumption - that there is any special deity-given value in the texts - is wrong, and you cannot make a sound argument from invalid premises.
But consider the American Constitution. That is a text which is given quasi-religious status, and decisions about real things in the world - like abortion or guns - are based on a group of elderly men and women arguing about the interpretation of that text. People in other countries - like Britain with its ad hoc constitution - may well consider the US system ridiculous. Very few Americans do. Yet that text was written by a collection of slave owners (and often slave rapists) who from that point of view were no better than the authors of earlier sacred books. The fact that they referred to enlightenment values rather than “God-given” does not really carry any extra weight. “in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty” - any philosopher would immediately ask for a definition of justice, welfare and liberty.
So my take on this is that the error is to assume that reasonable = valid.
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Wait, can it be right that Women’s Chess is separate from Men’s Chess?
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Well, they are both separate from computer chess, which is just as well or humans wouldn’t get into the rankings these days.
(But yes, I agree; this is something where gendering only makes sense if you have bought into an idea that doesn’t seem to be supported by modern research.)
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The title for an adept male chess player is Grand Master, but the title for an adept female is Woman Grand Master. You have to scroll down past entire list of second place male titles to see the list of Woman Grand Masters.
FIDE Titles
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Yes, but the more benign parts of the package can linger even if the malignant parts are excised. I grew up Catholic, and had some screwed up beliefs when it came to gender, sex, sexuality, and religion. I also learned a whole bunch of hymns, wore a cross around my neck, said grace before meals, and took off my hat and said “Amen” for prayers.
I’ve grown up, and rejected Catholicism, and have learned healthier attitudes towards people who don’t fit in to my worldview. I’ve ditched a lot of the patriarchal notions that Catholicism teaches. But, you know what? It still feels odd to not wear a cross around my neck. When I’m at family dinners, I have to make an effort not to say grace. I still, occasionally, break out into song, singing a hymn to a god whose existence I no longer acknowledge, just because it’s a lovely song. And when someone else is praying, I will remove my hat, lower my head, and murmur “Amen” at the end.
Yes, there are bad parts to any indoctrination, and we should certainly fight against those. But if someone has been “brainwashed” into wearing a hijab, and it brings them comfort to do so, and that’s the extent of their repression, then we shouldn’t say, “No, don’t wear that.” When they feel comfortable enough to take it off, they will.
I wore a crucifix, a decidedly Catholic affectation, for nearly a decade after I rejected Catholicism’s more bigoted ideas. It was my choice to finally take it off, and I wouldn’t have wanted that choice forced upon me.
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oooooh, “What if?”
I LOVE THAT GAME!!!
What if… I had a pony!!!
What if… wishes were horses!!!
What if… China invented Global Warming as a hoax!!!
What if… it was an inside job!!!
What if… a false premise did NOT yield any conclusion!!!
What if… you actually paid attention in math class when they were teaching basic logic!!!
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It takes two to tango, and they both have to want to dance; it isn’t a tango if one of the partners keeps trying to trip the other person while insisting those are the proper steps.
You’ve just set up an impossible standard - language is inherently subjective.
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This isn’t a cultural or religious issue. This is an issue which concerns basic human dignity. Women are threatened with jail time for doing something a man is allowed to do. That’s nothing less than oppression. You may try to excuse this oppression by speaking about culture, history, religion, the terrible things other nations do, how many women in Iraq defend the head covering laws, displays of faith and all that but those are simply deflections from the simple fact that women are not afforded the same protection under the law that men enjoy.
Don’t defend the oppressors.
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Chicks play chess now? Aren’t they too emotional for a cerebral game like that? What do you mean, I’m not helping?
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From Spock vs. Q:
SPOCK: I doubt you would have the requisite qualities for the game. Chess requires logic and discipline.
Q: … Hello?! We’re on planet Earth. No one would play the game here if those rules applied.
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