Going undercover as a sex worker

I'm still not making any claims about the organization one way or the other, but my point is just that, if your opinion of them is based upon comments posted by individuals on their Facebook group page, that doesn't seem fair.

It's good that there are some Muslims who are admitting that their scriptures are advocating these evil actions. I hope that they are being sincere and seeking the truth. But their scriptures also advocate deceiving opponents for the sake of advancing the cause. This is not a popular thing to talk about, because it sounds like calling all Muslims liars--which I am not doing. But it's a simple fact that the command exists. And this needs to be dealt with just as much as the other commands in it.

Yes, the Catholic church has perpetrated much evil over its history. I don't defend it at all. However, it's still important to distinguish between what some Catholic clergy have done, what an average Catholic would do, and what the Catholic scriptures call for and condemn. That child abuse that some Catholic clergy have committed is condemned in their own texts. So to compare the Catholic church's abuses (especially its recent ones) and recent jihadist terrorist acts is a serious case of apples-and-oranges. It's misleading.

> I believe the way to counter "lumping people together, generalizing and stereotyping" or othering is precisely to point out the flaws in logic and call it bigotry and hatred when you see it.

I think you have to be very careful when trying to mix claims of logical analysis with accusations of bigotry and hatred. Maybe it's like setting off sparks around flammable liquids: doing it in a controlled environment like an engine can result in useful work; but doing it carelessly results in explosions and harm. It's just too easy to call one side ugly names instead of calmly refuting arguments. And once one person does it, other people pile on, and before you know it, one side is being drowned out by baseless accusations and childish name-calling. Besides that, it assumes that one side knows what is in the other's heart and mind, what their motivation and unstated goals are.

I think, if you look throughout history, most of the evil and violence and war and death comes, not from being logical, but from causing bigotry and hatred by being bigoted and hateful, by calling others ugly names, accusing them of being innately evil, and accusing them of thinking and desiring things which they do not.

And unfortunately, the anonymity provided by the Internet allows such behavior to flourish in pockets here and there. It takes more effort to call for calm and reason and thoughtfulness than it does to drown it out with name-calling and mob-stirring.

Well, anyway, thanks for being reasonable and actually discussing, rather than calling for censorship and downvoting, like some here have done.

A common trope, but highly dubious. The majority of women who enter pornography come from relatively stable or average backgrounds, and go in there through their own volition. Quite ironically, the more underground subcultures like S/M are disproportionate examples of this. Regular women who have taken up modeling and promote themselves in the scene, accepting it as their lifestyle.

It should be noted that "porn stars" and plain old "models" intersect a lot. Many of the former also belong to the latter, and vice versa.

But ISIS is actually well-funded--that's part of the reason they are able to do the things they are doing. They don't need money; they have plenty. They are motivated by evil, not by poverty.

Also, are you comparing ISIS to mere criminal organizations, like organized crime? If you are, I think that's ridiculous. These are two different kinds of problems. ISIS is not committing identity theft and credit card fraud.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but you seem to think that erasing borders would result in peace and prosperity. Again, not sure that's what you mean, but I think that doing so would have the opposite effect. Borders and separation help prevent tyranny from spreading. They do also permit evil to take root here and there--but evil is never going to go away for good. Just like it's never going to stop raining on this planet, so putting us all in one giant bathtub would only ensure that we all drown when it floods.

What do you mean by "replacing one of the military planes"? If you mean taking the money it costs to build one and giving it to refugees: well, sure, money helps, but many charities are already doing that. And the U.S. military itself spends a lot of time and money helping people. In fact, American soldiers have died recently on pure aid missions in remote places. You don't see the Chinese or Russian military (or ISIS) flying food to starving people free of charge and giving their lives in the process.

So please be careful not to simply vilify the U.S. and its military. There are serious problems in the U.S. government right now, but don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. That's trying to take the easy way out, and it's based on half-truths at best.