Is it normal for an atheist to want to promote tolerance of islam?

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32 Comments

I want to learn everything I can about Islam, including learning Arabic, reading the Qur'an, and observing religious services, customs and culture.

Why? Because I am tired of people in the US hating Muslims. I'm tired of the ignorance and the unjustified fear. I want to be active in promoting tolerance, or if nothing else, reducing ignorance on the subject. I've found that most people who hate Muslims don't know anything about them. Who can respect that? At least have a valid FACTUAL and logical reason (if such exists) for hating them, if nothing else!

I made a comment on facebook, a totally innocent comment about being tolerant, I didn't even say anything about ANY particular religion, and I got called 'some kind of Muslim freak' by a 'good Christian' person.

From what I know about Islam already, I find it to be very beautiful and fascinating. It really bothers me how Muslims are treated.

IIN?

Voting Results
66% Normal
Based on 79 votes (52 yes)
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Comments ( 32 )
  • abominus566
    11 years ago

    yeah, it is nice to see someone who is not hateful like many people in this world

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  • [Old Memory]
    11 years ago

    Yeah, if you have nothing invested in religion, its totally normal to treat every one of them with equal fairness and respect. I consider myself a Taoist by philosophy, but irreligious in practice because I believe that if there is a deity, its absurd for some people to proclaim that they understand this deity and how it relates to my life more than I do.

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  • whatchamakalit
    11 years ago

    It's not. I've found (generally speaking) that in any given (major) religion, most of its followers are peaceful people who mean well, but there will always be deviance. Indeed, you can apply this to any group. There is always the "extremists", the ones who get on the news and give everyone else a bad name.

    Example. A lot of people think of twats like Limbaugh when they think of Republicans, but that's not fair (or true) at all. The ones I know in real life, at least, are great people. :) Just sayin'

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  • GoraIntoDesiGals
    11 years ago

    You're a dhimmi. (look it up)

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  • [Old Memory]
    11 years ago

    I didn't know your being an Atheist somehow prevented you from having individual beliefs.

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  • [Old Memory]
    11 years ago

    Get away from the ingoramuses and meet good people, however, whenever, you can. Good people don't act like this.

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  • VioletTrees
    11 years ago

    Yes, yes, yes. You might be interested in http://atheismplus.com/ It's an atheist community that's much more socially aware than most, where people talk about oppression and tolerance. That's the idea, anyway. I haven't joined yet, but I'm going to.

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    • VioletTrees
      11 years ago

      Apparently my edit of my comment didn't work. This is what I added:

      It seems like a lot of atheists (in the US, at least) think that making fun of Muslims is basically the same of making fun of Christians, and that it's all fair game. In terms of social impact, though, it's not. Making fun of a group of people with tremendous social power is very different from making fun of a group of people who are struggling and oppressed. Plus, Islamophobia tends to be racially charged in a really ugly way.

      People need to educate themselves about this shit, and they also need to stop being so goddamn racist.

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  • dappled
    11 years ago

    There's a difference between a religion and the people who follow it. Many religions that have a bad name actually make a lot of sense. But every group, when large enough, will have people who let down the collective by their behaviour.

    I have friends and colleagues who are Islamic and I'm always interested to talk to them about their beliefs and teachings. I think interested curiosity is the best way to deal with anything different.

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    • VioletTrees
      11 years ago

      "I think interested curiosity is the best way to deal with anything different." I would probably say "interested, considerate curiosity" (don't treat people like they're there to satisfy your curiosity, and don't reduce them to their differences), but I agree.

      Richard Dawkins had an ugly sort of fit of sexism with a side of Islamophobia a couple years ago, and I lost pretty much all respect for him (he has refused to apologise). It's disappointing how many atheists are completely unwilling to check their privilege.

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      • SuperBenzid
        11 years ago

        I'm annoyed by people that can't accept that people disagree with them and resort to ad hominem accusations of privilege rather than making an argument.

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        • VioletTrees
          11 years ago

          Talking about privilege isn't an accusation. There's nothing wrong with having privilege. The problem is that he completely dismissed the fact that the experiences of people who don't have the same privilege of him can be very different, and he did so in an insulting and condescending way. That's what I mean when I talk about people who don't check their privilege.

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          • joeyjojo
            11 years ago

            Attack the argument not the man.

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  • Terence_the_viking
    11 years ago

    Yes it's good give people of all creeds a chance.

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  • dom180
    11 years ago

    Yeah. It's called sanity. I wish more people had it.

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  • kelili
    11 years ago

    I'm so glad to finally find someone who thinks like me. Islam is a beautiful religion. What I like about them is their pride and they keep their head high even though people talk bad about and disrespect them.

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    • SuperBenzid
      11 years ago

      Can you tell me what is beautiful about burying woman head high and stoning them to death?

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      • kelili
        11 years ago

        No I cannot tell you but what I can tell is that I have learned that the fool will remain foolish.

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        • SuperBenzid
          11 years ago

          You have no way to defend disgusting Islamic practices I see.

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      • whatchamakalit
        11 years ago

        That's a (twisted) cultural practice. There IS a difference between cultural and religious practices and you'd know that if you bothered to do your research.

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        • SuperBenzid
          11 years ago

          It's in the Hadiths. Don't be a dhimmi, stoning is part of Islam

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          • disthing
            11 years ago

            Hadiths are supporting texts, many of which are of dubious provenance to muslims and Islamic scholars. There are whole denominations of Islam that differ only in their acceptance of certain hadiths.

            So stoning is part of Islam, but not the Quran, and stoning is not supported by all muslims in so much as not all hadiths are accepted as reliable religious scripture by all muslims.

            It's like stoning being part of Christianity (see Deuteronomy), but not all Christians will interpret the Bible or supporting Christian texts in the same way (especially in regards to New Testament vs. Old Testament).

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            • SuperBenzid
              11 years ago

              I know of no major school of thought in Islam that rejects stoning.

              I know of no major school of thought in Christianity that accepts stoning.

              I am not defending Christian texts as they do contain the indefensible practices of stoning but the two are not really comparable. Also you are implying that there is a significant group of Muslim theologians that reject stoning. This simply isn't the case.

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  • zackattack
    10 years ago

    Tolerance of intolerance is cowardice. Muslims who are tolerant of others deserve respect. In America I've only met a couple Muslims but they've all been really nice people. I feel bad for them because they have probably been judged unfairly. If you want to reduce the criticism that innocent Muslims than that's awesome.

    That being said I question how you find Islam peaceful. Muhammad was a pedophile, and murdered thousands of people. It's pretty violent if you ask me. Not all of his followers are like that ( most aren't), but to deny that the Sharia law is peaceful, is just ridiculous.

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  • wisdomseeker
    10 years ago

    You need to go on youtube and search for: legacy of a prophet

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  • 1000yrVampireKing
    11 years ago

    Do you not like women? I kind of do.

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  • TonybigCock
    11 years ago

    Non believers must be beheaded, even tolerant ones.

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  • SuperBenzid
    11 years ago

    Well I am gay and Muslims would set up sharia that would lead to my death. So yeah, don't find your fascination normal and i wish you didn't have it. But I am probably biased considering I don't want to die and all...

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    • kelili
      11 years ago

      There are muslims who are gay. But yes I won't be an hypocrite and say that all muslims accept homosexuality. The two man had a religious ceremony for their marriage too. It's a rare case but ...

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  • TheGhostOfSabotage
    11 years ago

    I'm atheist as well and I always thought we are not bond to what we can do and what we can't do by rules that religion sets us, if you follow me! :)

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  • Beanbag10
    11 years ago

    I love how every islamic nation is prosperous and has no internal conflict...oh wait - Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt... actually, it's every single one.

    It's not like there are people casually walking around with AK47s in Islamic states...oh actually - there are.

    Well anyway, I love how people living in Islamic nations are compelled to stay there and that is why western nations don't have huge communities of foreign nationals originating from Islamic states....oh wait...yes they do.

    Islam is indeed a peaceful religion and that's why routine beheading, martyrdom and stoning are all words we don't associate with Islam...oh dear...they are.

    I have nothing against Islam, so feel free to logically prove my above statements wrong. I just know it will probably be the cause of a global conflict that ends civilisation.

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