And I assume you’re not Jewish because you used the word “Kibbutz” (A commune in Israel) when you meant to say “kibbitz” (Yiddish for chat/gossip.) ;j
OP is ‘Original Post,’ that is your first post, which I still find quite odd.
Atheist, though I still consider myself Hindu. I can follow the tenets without believing in a god. (Non-violence, duty, etc.)
30 YO E. Indian female, tho raised in the US, born in India. Sorry I don’t fit your profile. 
As for getting the straight dope on religious questions, most people here are more than willing to learn and teach. I’ve met very few people here who don’t have an open mind, and even those with semi-closed minds usually have it closed only on certain topics and not everything. So you tend to get a good cross-section of knowledge.
And welcome to the boards!
There’s nothing wrong or odd about the OP. It looks like a perfectly normal OP to me. Also, the crack about alcohol was completely uncalled for. Paul, you should apologize to our canuck guest.
Really? I meant no offense. On the other hand, I have been annoying people in real life all day to day. Perhaps it is my biorhythms. Or perhaps I am simply being a jerk today.
In any case, I do apologize and hope I did not cause offense.
Thanks to Johanna for reminding me of my manners.
The apology is accepted. As for alcohol, it is such an insidious chemical; if it was discouvered today, it would probably would be a restricted drug. My knowledge of alcoholism was nil. I came from a family that barely drank anything. My wife came from a family where the partriach was an international project engineer who took his family all over the world. She grew up in an environment where alcohol was prevalent. As a society, I don’t think we do well in understanding alcoholism or probably any addiction unless somehow it touches us personally. Heather also suffered from depression and seasonal affective disorder (SAD) which those from northern countries will be aware of is depression from short daylight days. These were things I did not fully appreciate and did not understand the extent of which she self medicated herself just above depression with alcohol. She was an educated, intelligent, motivated and so forth, but still she suffered and I learned too late. Like all bruises in life, hopefully it makes us more human, more compassionate, and ultimately more understanding.
As for Kibbutz and kibbitz----I have just had a spelling lesson and I suppose if I had thought more about it while typing I may have caught the error, but I doubt it.
There is a smile there.
My original post about Muslims was meant to capture attention and hopefully a response. I do not have a good feeling for how integrated we are as a society (or how widely read/participated Straight Dope is—USA or international—of course English restricts it to English speaking participants). If we are not integrated, how can we hope to understand each other. Maybe if we had a better understanding of Muslims and they a more worldly view of non-Muslims on a one to one basis rather than what is presented to them (and vice versa), some of the present violence would be disappaited. Violence seems cyclical; the conflict list is endless…Canada had the FLQ and mail bombs that led to marshall law in 1971…USA had a civil war and yet today, mostly those politically hot issues are quiet. We are lucky in N. America in that it is mostly a melting pot where tolerance is the norm. The bottom line, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is a pretty good guideline to live your life by as is questioning your own beliefs, especially when they become rigid.
Consider this as your first warning - we have our eyes on you. Looking down as it were. Keep in mind that we can always use you as TV trays if you get out of line. :rolleyes:
6’4" and beginning to shrink
Northern Canuck,
As another canuck here on SDMB I can assure you that we have a lot of global participation, although you are correct regarding the slant towards English speaking cultures.
I think your Original Post (OP, as it were) came across as being somewhat xenophobic. Reading subsequent posts it doesn’t appear so.
I’m willing to bet 99.99999% of the Muslims in the world hold the same beliefs as you and me regarding peace and the need for all of us to accept each other first and foremost as human beings.
I am an atheist. Male. Caucasian. 40 - 50.
I have read comments by other people here that I have 100% fully supported and have found that age, gender, religion, hair colour, height, weight, breast size, type of car, occupation, favourite sports team, favourite band, or author or movie etc., etc. don’t matter in the least.
Please do stick around.