aren't you more likely to see mutilation of women, oppression, torture (i.e everything that disgusts you) in fundamentalist religious regimes? how can you then say
"I don't think fundamentalism is the problem, I think 'moderate' (read 'intellectually dishonest, unthinking') religion is the problem."
The difference between fundamentalism and moderate religion is very relative. Think about Christianity. What we (in the UK) think of as crazy evangelism / fundamentalism is considered pretty moderate in much of the US. And obviously it's all a spectrum, depending on the degree to which your beliefs influence your actions, your attitude to others, etc.
The mistake people make is to think that moderate religion is somehow close to atheism, and fundamentalism is miles away from them both. Actually, the big step you make is choosing to believe something that isn't true. There's nothing particularly shocking about people then choosing to consistently follow those beliefs in societies where FGM, torture, etc is not forbidden by conflicting (non-religious) conventions.
The difference between fundamentalism and moderate religion is very relative. Think about Christianity. What we (in the UK) think of as crazy evangelism / fundamentalism is considered pretty moderate in much of the US. And obviously it's all a spectrum, depending on the degree to which your beliefs influence your actions, your attitude to others, etc.
The mistake people make is to think that moderate religion is somehow close to atheism, and fundamentalism is miles away from them both. Actually, the big step you make is choosing to believe something that isn't true. There's nothing particularly shocking about people then choosing to consistently follow those beliefs in societies where FGM, torture, etc is not forbidden by conflicting (non-religious) conventions.