Just want to add.

Does my lack of respect for Islam mean that I can’t be friends with Muslims ?

No. I don’t think so.

Although in my personal life I don’t go around and tell Muslims that I know personally that I don’t respect their religion. That would be rude.

Just like Christians. I don’t go around and tell them all how twisted it’s all gotten.

But if they ask I tell them. If I hear something way the fuck out I will say something.

I would never disrespect anyone because of a religion. I actually called to see if I could take a refugee family into my house.

I don’t know how to explain it.

I love people , I hate what they do to themselves. And others.

I actually really try to study not just information that supports my basic thinking or philosophy. I follow a few Muslim women on here for instance, I want to hear their side of the story. I want to support them , I want to take it all in.

Sometimes I will comment on an article written by a Muslim to offer a counter point of view. At times I’ve had great conversations with Muslims about how I feel, and they admitted they also feel that way. But they can’t give up the Muslim thing because of the cultural stigma, or fear of hurting their parents.

Some Muslims deny that Islam preaches violence or hate, and that can really bother me.

Or that one guy, Reza Aslan who goes on national TV to lie to our faces about Islam.

Be anything. Do whatever. But don’t lie to yourself or us.

I can be friends with anyone, as long as they don’t lie about it. Lying about whatever , is where I draw the line.

I won’t participate in the fantasy.

I think — and really it doesn’t matter what I think- but I think that if you’re going to claim a belief system and defend it so passionately ,

Then be accountable.

Defend that you think gays should be executed. Apostates and adulterers and wiccans should be executed too.

Tell me you believe that woman are less than half a man and the property of them. That you support domestic violence and sex slavery of non Muslims.

Tell me you don’t believe that woman have a right to seek a divorce or be awarded children or property if she gets one.

Tell me you believe that daughters should be killed if they shame their parents . Or that daughters have no rights to their lives. Without their fathers, brothers or husbands permission.

Or to even leave the house without them.

Because that’s what Islam is. Among many other things that I can’t support.

I don’t understand why we pretend those things are not Islamic. How can we be something that we don’t even acknowledge ?

Makes no sense to me. It would make so much more sense if Muslims just admitted what Islam is , and stopped trying to deny it. Make it something it isn’t.

Why are there Muslim womens activists when it is punishable by death in some Islamic countries and a prison sentence in others.

How can you try to go against the heart of the teaching of this religion , and still claim it ? Why not just renounce it? Because you will be executed or imprisoned? Slashed to death by your neighbors ?

Maybe.

But like what about the girl that lives in the uk now, who was shot in the head for reading a book? People want to say that’s radical Islam. No. It’s not. There is only one Islam. Only one.

There are those who follow it and those who don’t.

There is a reason why the leader of Isis has a Ph.D. In Islamic studies. The more you learn , the uglier it gets.

And again, even Isis, I don’t hate them. I feel very sorry for them. Just very sad that this is what they were taught God was and wanted for them.

Idk.

Big problem and no solutions.

But I don’t mean to disrespect anyone by just telling the truth about it.

If the truth about who you are or what you believe in is disrespectful you might want to reconsider what exactly your doing claiming it as your own. I suppose. I want people to do that. I want people to really think about this. Because even if your not a violent or devout Muslim, by being Muslim you are supporting a larger belief system. If you do not know what that is, you have no real business being it, or saying it is you. I can’t consider your lack of awareness about something as important as religion.

We should all know exactly what we say we are. Our belief in God or not is probably one of the most important things in our lives. And it deserves the upmost respect and investigation. Constant seeking and deciding and learning .

And the dogma we support as our living example of our love for God is just as critical. Not only for us but for everyone exposed to it.