Reasoning:\nIn the Christian world... they prefered to be called Western World and be related to Secular thinking.\nIn the Muslim world... they prefered to be called Islamic countries...
201182
You must believe in God to be Christian or Muslim, as such belief is fundamental to both. Those that don't believe in God, or think they know the God of these two groups, making God a mere fancy of their own minds, can't be truly called Christian or Muslim. \n\n100% of true Christians, and Muslims believe in God, but most who claim to be either of those two, have an image of what God must be, or else they won't believe, and this is evidently different than what Mohammad and Jesus taught of God, so they are unbelievers in Their teaching. This is to be expected in some degree from everyone since no mind can contain God, but we seek what the allusions point to.\n\nSo in one sense there are no true believers in God, except God, as God is the only one that can contain God; and, on the other hand, all who are seeking affirmations from the dwelling place of God, which is God, are believers in as much is possible.\n\nIn sum we all believe in God as God is, but scantly could that belief be said to be even a fraction of a percent, compared to God's own belief/knowing of God.
47689
They should stay away from western religions then.  If you ask me, the west has a lot to learn from the east.  They pretty much got rid of all the religions that related man to nature.  Western religion is about seperating and defining man as this or that, as completely detached from this universe.\n\nAlso, western religion just adds another filter in which to view reality.  A better analogy might be they give you a little religion box to fit your life in and tell you anything outside the box is bad.
556845
You are comparing a theocratic state and secular states. In United States, push from Christian groups are there to teach Christianity in schools. However, US laws strictly separates the church and the state. Any fedaral funded school or institution cannot teach religion - they can teach it from a cultural aspect but not the religious texts directly. The biggest thing is that the west has gone through dark ages and renaissance where people started empowering themselves. It has not happened in any third world country. Reforms and chages are put on people who are not reformed. That is why culture, religion and state are in a mess.
365012
The rest of the world have a different society and different values as america. The concept of democracy is vastly different from the western idea. \n\nIraq a country where individualism and personal choice have relatively low emphasis, is clearly not ready for a democracy that exists in Western society. Saddam knew this well and that was the reason he could rule eventhough he belonged to the minority Sunni community. \n\nThe West seems to portray Saddam as a sunni extremist. That's not true. The Baath party is secular and some of his cabinet ministers were Christian and some of them were Shia. Saddam championied Arabism more than Islam and his fued with Iran was ethnical than religious. An elected government like what we have now in Iraq is certain recipe for disaster.
551508
Because some brands of Islam seeks to impose its views on the world by force. As to comparing religions, not really sure where you get that from; I have not heard many people doing such a thing.
608398
Because early Muslim thought included the belief in the superiority of the Arab race. This is why it was stressed that the Arabs were descendants of Ishmael. As Islam spread to non Arab lands or people became Arabized(the Egyptians/North Africans/Syrians etc. originally spoke other languages, not Arabic) the theory of Arab superiority became a theological liability- especially since a majority of Muslims were no longer Arab.\n\nThe language thing is the only thing left in the original Arab master race theory of Islam, other than isolated hadiths.
593937
It depends on whether you mean Islamic Community at large, that is the Muslim World, around the planet, and Islamic Communities, would be Islamic "groups of people" or "communities" in the Western (non Muslim)  world (like in London (UK), or in Ann Arbor, Michigan (USA)
480603
They would like nothing better. Just like the Taliban did in Afghanistan. If you dont promote Christian ideals in the Bizarro Fundamentalist America you would be stoned to death.\n\nI am particularly chucked to see the trash answer provided above mine. Here a blind dogmatic fundamentalist is taking historical notes of out context to prove America was founded to promote the Christian Ideal. But he left out the rest of history, where the founders placed protections against those trying to impose religious beliefs directly into the Constitution? Why, because of the religious persecution in England, among other reasons.  Now the Fundamentalists want to create their own nation where its OK to persecute others for not following your beliefs.
215939
Huh? Religions have always come down to personal preference...and familial and community pressure...so what's your point? I'm missing something here.
59848
Don't ask this silly question. Religion is a private matter about relation ship of a human with God, it's a believe not a choice. you, who ask this silly question, can experience what happen in denmark where they put cartoon of prophet Mohammad, they experience a lot of problem all over the world, especially in the islamic countries. don't be so naif by asking this kind of silly question
243337
Western countries are controlled by a small exclusive club of people.  Religion is just another tool on their belt to control us with.  It's why western countries are split 50/50 on every damn issue you can think of.
377661
I agree. Their approach is more of a secular humanist approach to life. This is why they are more civilized, less greedy, protect human rights and the environment, and are generally more progressive and less profit oriented. They don't believe they are morally superior and don't feel the need to go and spread "democracy" like the US does.\nI am speaking about Western Europe.
503597
i am a muslim, and you are allowed to date, the major factor is that the religion of islam tends to be more on the vague side, allowing poeple to interpret and practice in whatever way they feel is right in their hearts.  the problem with the mulsims over seas is that they tend to read the koran (holy book similar to bible and christianity) and read every word literally and are unwilling to change with time.  overall it is the basic meaning of the koran that should be sought after, not the word for word exact definition.  i hope this was clear and gives you a little more insight.
538991
I think a lot of westerners dont think about 2nd and 3rd world countries. I think westerners have a lot of other things that press them and dont allow for the prioritization of other countries, or even states within their own country.  I think that's why you have only small handfuls of organizations that are dedicated to the cause, and many other causes. Money makes the world go 'round, so when it comes to donating, no matter where in the world, if you cant see directly where the money goes, you tend to keep it, That seems to be the norm. Hopefully that makes sense. Oh, and I am very in touch with people-their lives and cultures and tribulations. This is something that has been a factor in my family's life since before I was born and even more so today. \nI cannot say which country I would go to, because if I could travel, I'd visit them all.
268207
They're humans. DUH.\n\nOh, they live in a resource-poor area of the world, so they need a strong social system to survive. Hence the fervent adherence to dogma, the overpowering influence of the macho/revenge motive (to prevent unwanted children draining group resources) etc.\n\nThe Quran is a recent extrapolation of their faith, which probably underwent a useful transformation when Mohammed first inspired Islam. Unfortunately, once the prophet died, the old priesthood managed to corrupt Islam enough that it supported the old pre-Islamic socio-religious systems instead of replacing them.\n\nI could say the same thing about Christianity, and have. So I'm not ragging on Islam alone. Heck, MY faith is in the same boat, except on PURPOSE.
43877
I think that the more church is separated from the state, the better. There are maters of religion, and matters of the phisical world. \nPhisical world should be sorted out by pure reason. \nReligion can not be (please anote that I don't mean that religion is something wrong or stupid - merely, that many things in religious matters are a matter of faith).\n\nOf course, religion always does influence the local culture, and that can't be avoided. \n\nIn the case of Iraq, I think it would be a good idea to separate the worldly and religious matters. As Julius Caesar once said, "What belongs to God, give to God. What belongs to Emperor, give to Emperor". \nHowever, taking into consideration the way Islam covers both mundane and religious issues (I'm not a Muslim, nor an expert on the topic, but got interest in the subject to claim that I have an idea of what I'm talking about :)), it would be very, very hard to divide those two matters. Not something that can be done quickly.\n\nNevertheless, I think it would be a good goal to go for.
196822
Democratic is a better option if you have people in your country who aren't Islamic.  And, pretty much every country has people who aren't Islamic.  Also, the various sects disagree on certain points of Islam, so basing your laws on a specific religion like that is going to cause a lot of friction between the sects.