It's quite interesting that you raised this topic fd, because I was just thinking about opening a thread on this very topic, but in the opposite direction, to show that in fact it's Western/Secular/Christian society which is trying to deny freedom of religion.
Religion is based upon a set of beliefs and values that govern the way adherents to the religion conduct their life and look at the world around them. Although the Secularist/Christian society in which we live claims to offer freedom of religion, the fact is that when it comes to Islam, there are plenty of elements within this society who are working to curtail religious freedom. for instance we've had the debate about Australian values (remember values are something religion defines), and that's fine, no problem, people should respect the values of the country they live in. But to demand everyone ADOPT them clearly contradicts the concept of freedom of religion. This means you don't have the freedom to adopt the values of your religion, if they are not the same as the values of the society.
We then have the more extreme elements, like soren, claiming that not only must Muslims adopt Australian values, they must also adopt Australian styles of clothing. Nevermind tthat we live in a society which supposedly values individualism and even setting yourself apart by the clothes you choose to wear. In soren's view of Australian society, there should be a rough "Australian uniform" and anyone (especially Muslims) not adhering to it should be deported for daring to look different to the mainstream. Sounds a little totalitarian doesn't it? Well that's where Australian society is heading, in a very totalitarian direction. Some people even suspect that Islam is merely an excuse for governments to curtail the freedoms they really don't want their citizenry having in the first place. So they want people to have the illusion of freedom, but in reality they are going to be governed by very strict totalitarian rules, which they are going to accept just need to be 'infringed upon' occasionally for the greater good of protecting them.
Now onto your wayward claims...
Quote:so they can keep a straight face while sprouting the 'no compulsion' line
There is no compulsion to enter Islam. That's always been known to be the meaning of this verse.
And the circumstances in which the verse was revealed make it quite clear that it's forbidden to force someone to embrace Islam. At the time of the Prophet Muhammad, there lived a Muslim man by the name Hussein bin Salim bin ‘Awf. He had two daughters who were Christian. It troubled Hussein greatly that his daughters were not of the same faith as him. Time and time again, he tried his best to persuade his daughters to Islam but to no avail. One day, the father got fed up and went to Prophet Muhammad. He asked his permission to compel his daughters into converting to Islam. But to his surprise, Muhammad refused.
According to a commentary by Al-Suyuti in his work, Asbab Al-Nuzul, this is the trigger point that led to the revelation of verse 256 in Chapter 2 of the Quran:
“There is no compulsion in religion. The right direction is henceforth distinct from error. And he who rejects false deities and believes in Allah has grasped a firm handhold which will never break. Allah is Hearer, Knower.” Quote:1) Death penalty for Apostasy. Interestingly, this is not actually in the Koran, but Islam has adopted it anyway.
As has been pointed out to you enough times, this is from hadith, and it clearly indicates it is for treason against the Islamic state.
Quote:Nor have I been able to get a straight answer on the fact that Sunnis and Shites consider each other apostates
Shi'a lived under the mainstream Caliphate for centuries and were never classed as apostates. Can't say you've ever asked me about this before.
Quote:2) Blasphemy is a crime. I haven't been able to get the penalty from any resident Muslims
I think I've told you, that I don't know the penalty. No doubt I'm just feigning my lack of knowledge (I am omniscient after all, according to your claims) to misdirect you from the truth..
Quote:3) Denial of justice to non-Muslims.
See common misconceptions thread, dealt with.
Quote:4) Second class citizenship for non-Muslims.
As above.
Quote:5) Islam encourages parents to beat children for not praying.
It does not encourage it. Simply says it can be used to disclipine them if they are lazy in starting to pray. Btw, you didn't mention it says to give them 3 years.
Quote:What this means in practice is that Islam denies people freedom of religion by law, then goes on to create a society where extremists are set loose on non-Muslims with relative impunity, both through official and unofficial channels.
You've made a very poor case fd, and have not proved this whatsoever. The fact that Christians and Jews were all over the Islamic world at the fall of the Caliphate, shows quite clearly that Islam permits freedom of religion. Not to mention the fact there's about 20 different religions extant in the Islamic lands. How many are in the Christian lands? Answer: 0. Christianity wiped out any trace of any other religion, and yes we know it now claims to be all friendly and lovey dovey towards non-Christians, means little after you've completely wiped them out of the pages of history. Not to mention the hundreds of different sects of Christianity