to be proud of being a white english muslim?

[MoveBiatchGetOutTheWay]

Yes it sounds weird. Point is, some people (muslim and non muslim) are of the opinion you cannot possibly identify as this, but I love our culture and Im enjoying passing it down to my ds (in the form of afternoon tea and gentlemanly manners ;) )

I love my religion, and boy do I love my culture :)

But british culture is very varied but the best bit imo is that we do have a culture that is very open, accepting and even embracing of other cultures.

Being a british muslim is no different than me being a british catholic, neither is anything special it is just what we are.

That's the oddest definition of proud I've ever seen.

I'm proud of my mooncup, in that case.

ohhhhhhh and yes i would love to be the board police as long as i get a badge and a john wayne cowboy hat.

Yeah, Brits have a long and proud history of accepting and embracing other cultures.

That's why, when they move abroad they form little mini-Britain enclaves, and why there are so many places that mimic British bars and restaurants in uks popular holiday destinations...

I am totally confused by the OP, not least the contradiction of loving her culture and religion and her name: movebiatchgetoutoftheway - nothing loving whatsoever about the latter.

I don't think any culture or religion should be worn on one's sleeve and it isn't something to be proud of. I am proud of my dc, I am proud of the fact that I achieved professional quals and an MBA in my 40's. I am not proud of the fact that I have a deep faith because that is part of my being and not something I should be praised for. Neither am I proud of being British, although I am proud of some of my ancestors who were brave enough to flee famine, revolution and fledgling totalitarian regimes.

When my dc attended a faith school there was a significant muslim minority. Huge efforts were extended to be inclusive - not once did any other parent ever receive so much as an rsvp or more than a nod in acknowledgement. An invitation to a lady to come and join us in the playground was once met with a no. I still find it incredible that there was such an ingrained reluctance to mix and to integrate from the muslim ladies and still don't understand why. The impression given was that they were better than everyone else and it did nothing to build multi-cultural relationships either for them or for their children. It saddens me still because so often it is white people to whom the finger of racism is pointed yet that was not my experience at all. It is the undiscussed element of racism in the UK and until it is brought out into the open we cannot have the multi-cultural society many of us would like to have.

Yeah we do accept other cultures but that doesn't mean we cant have british theme bars abroad and retire to Spain and live in Spanish brit styled holiday complexes if we so wish.

They are just doing what many who have come to this country have done and taking with them the bits of their culture they would like to keep.

marriedinwhite if i am not mistaken this seems to be the experience of people in the north of England? the situation you describe is totally weird to me.

But I agree many Muslims and Muslim cultures are racist. Against each other as much as against non muslims.

syd proud (proud)
adj. proud·er, proud·est

1. Feeling pleasurable satisfaction over an act, possession, quality, or relationship by which one measures one's stature or self-worth: proud of one's child; proud to serve one's country.
2. Occasioning or being a reason for pride: "On January 1, 1900, Americans and Europeans greeted the twentieth century in the proud and certain belief that the next hundred years would make all things possible" (W. Bruce Lincoln).

3. Feeling or showing justifiable self-respect.

1. Filled with or showing excessive self-esteem.
2. Of great dignity; honored: a proud name.
3. Majestic; magnificent: proud alpine peaks.
4. Spirited. Used of an animal: proud steeds.

im not sure maybe number 3 fits? but anyway even if it is not exactly the right word, it is easy to understand what she means from context of her posts.

Affluent South West London.

marriedinwhite if i am not mistaken this seems to be the experience of people in the north of England? the situation you describe is totally weird to me

I'm in the midlands, and we have a sizeable Islamic community in our town. The situation described by marriedinwhite is totally alien to me too. There simply isn't an issue with regard to mixing and integration - maybe because it's a small town?

I agree about expats, that is why I have learned to speak Arabic and Hindi (Hindi not great) and avoid any place that sells themselves as rugby or sports. Brits are not the only people who do this, all cultures do this and I find it difficult to be accepted by the Filipino community here because they have their own groups. I had an interesting chat with a group of British Asian Muslim women today who are really very conservative, they don't like to leave the house alone or drive and they cover up way more than many Arab girls. they said they are enjoying being able to express themselves here because in the UK ( mainly Bradford/London/Leeds) they couldn't be outwardly Muslim because of the abuse they would get. I was shocked and surprised at this, I think they are far safer and cared for in the UK but they didn't feel safe. Not UK bashing for a second here, I can see why a nyone of a certain religion may feel more at home in a country where the laws of the religion such as Sharia may be preferable but I defend the UK for it's diversity. Does this kind of thing really still happen? lastly, the people who I spoke to, Lebanese, Sudanese, Qatari, Omani, Indonesian, Tunisian, Iraqi and Iranian all said the same thing. Your fellow Muslims are your brothers and sisters, it is not about how you dress or choose to live.

I am proud that i can walk down my street with my dd and wear whatever we like, that our rights to drive, vote and enter any profession are open to us.

We lived in a Muslim country for a while I saw women with none of those rights.

Of course all religions exist to control followers, and of course especially women.

Control is then dressed up as culture.

I am glad I am a woman living In a tolerant society, not proud just grateful for me and dd.

And theo, many thousands of Muslims are killed by 'fellow Muslims'.

Control is then dressed up as culture I agree

YANBU but only if i can be proud of being a white Cornish pagan.

:)

God swac Cornwall culture for Birmingham today, bloody rain.

There is no Islamic state.

Will your children be free to take on any religion they choose - or none? Will they be free to marry whomever they choose?

What I'm saying is, the battening down of the hatches thing is or can be a problematic area with Islam, it's a bad thing. Just as it used to be between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, where never the twain could meet.

There maybe no Islamic state but there are plenty of countries that are Islamic republics and which most of them their human rishts leave a hell of a lot to be desired.

"Whether you should be proud of the religion that you've bought into is another matter altogether. Islam does very little to be proud of and is the biggest threat to our planet currently."

Well, it's possible to argue that religion might be the biggest threat to our planet currently- I wouldn't single out one!

Hmm. Are Israel and America not any threat to the world then?

YAB at least 2/3 U

Being proud of being white is silly - you didn't choose it, it's just something you were born with

Being proud of being English is silly, unless you actively took steps to become a British citizen, but from the sound of it being English is just another thing that you were born with

Being proud of being Muslim, that's up to you whether you think it's something to be proud of (and presumably everyone who follows a religion believes that it is something to be proud of)