All of the things i have ever read or seen about egypt has advocated that there were slaves, and that slaves did build the pyramids, but so did teams of workers who were not slaves, and as you say, were proud to do the work. Also, when the Hittites and etc were at war with egypt, many prisoners were kept alive to work as slaves, although a great deal were killed. not only is this my opinion, but there are depictions in tombs and pyramids showing the daily presence of slaves, and also expeditions into foreign countries to retrieve slaves, amongst other luxuries.
Well i do not see how saying "i divorce you" three times has any legal binding, and i know that at least in Turkey more and more women are getting divorces nowadays. the following was taken from
www.Quran.org.uk
The Qur'an admonishes those men who oppress or ill-treat women:
O you who believe! You are forbidden to inherit women against their will. Nor should you treat them with harshness, that you may take away part of the dowry you have given them - except when they have become guilty of open lewdness. On the contrary live with them on a footing of kindness and equity. If you take a dislike to them, it may be that you dislike something and God will bring about through it a great deal of good. (4:19)
Considering the fact that before the advent of Islam the pagan Arabs used to bury their female children alive, make women dance naked in the vicinity of the Ka'ba during their annual fairs, and treat women as mere chattels and objects of sexual pleasure -- possessing no rights or position whatsoever, these teachings of the Noble Qur'an were revolutionary. Unlike other religions, which regarded women as being possessed of inherent sin and wickedness, and men as being possessed of inherent virtue and nobility, Islam regards men and women as being of the same essence created from a single soul. The Qur'an declares:
O mankind! Reverence your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single person, created, of like nature, his mate, and from this pair scattered (like seeds) countless men and women. Reverence God, through Whom you demand your mutual (rights), and reverence the wombs (that bore you); for God ever watches over you. (4:1)
i forgot to point out that i think that much of the anger caused by the cartoons about Muhammed were not necessarily just because of the fact that they insulted him, but because they depicted him at all. Islam is different to christianity in that they do not have any pictures or statues, or any other such depictions of the prophet Muhammed or Allah, at all. These cartoons depicted him, and not only that but depicted him in a bad light.
To Mengeloid, i apologise, i did not read your posty correctly the first time, and my reply to it is irrelevent to what you meant.