Just read this post now and had to comment via cell, If you are religious then you of all ppl should that religion should not be taken lightly and application of logic is a must, following blindly is not truly following and that letting logic and reason fall by wayside is a crime, the first command sent down To our Prophet S.A.W. was to Read, the specific word used urges not only reading but reading with comprehension, further one of the saying the prophet S.A.W. is that knowledge is incumbent (Imposed as an obligation or duty) on every Muslim male and female , and to seek knowledge even if it is china (or no matter how far you have to go)
I hear what you are saying, and for a Muslim I actually like what you have to say and respect you, mainly because you don't get defensive and attack blasphemous content, which shows that you are not insecure about your religion.
Unfortunately what you have said above contradicts itself. Any rational , logical person would outright condemn some of the barbaric punishments that exist in Shariah Law, here are a few examples.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/isl_adul1.htm
1996-MAR: Afghanistan: Some strict interpretations of Islamic law calls for the death penalty for any woman found in the company of a man other than a close family member. Sexual activity is assumed to have happened. A woman, Jamila, was found guilty of trying to leave the country with such a man. She was caught and stoned to death on 1996-MAR-28.
2000-AUG: A woman, "Amina Abdullahi is sentenced to 100 lashes in the state of Zamfara for having premarital sex." 4
2001-SEP: Nigeria: A teenage single mother, Bariya Ibrahim Magazu claimed at trial that she was raped by three men. The court assumed that she was guilty, because she could not prove that her father pressured her to engage in sexual activity with the men. She was found guilty of two offenses: having pre-marital sex, and bringing false charges against the men that she claimed were responsible. Her sentence was 180 lashes. 5 "When non governmental groups ramped up pressure to free the girl, the government immediately carried out the sentence, ignoring a promised appeal process. The local authorities said they wanted to put an end to the controversy."
That last one is an absolute f'ckin shocker.
Now I know these are some extreme cases, but regardless these punishments are condoned by Islamic believes.
Now of course you have the right to condemn these acts and can safely do so here in Sunny SA, but I doubt you would be so safe if you were in any other predominately Muslim nation.
This culminates in my point, so the only reason I can come up as to why these vile acts are permitted is because
A) people are blindly following religious law and beliefs like sheep(which you say is not true following.)
Or
B) Those Muslim's are pretty much cruel, chauvinistic and generally dogmatist people.(which, as hard as I may try is becoming more and more a viable option, although deep inside me I still believe this is very incorrect and only apply to a very select few)
So being the generous type I attribute the above to being A, which is contradictory to what you have said, the basis of this is that obviously any rational, logical and sympathetic person would outright condemn these acts, but that is just the opposite for Islam, it’s the f’ckin law!!
Please let me know if my logic is flawed.