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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Irish Muslims 'Not in our Name' Rally

28 replies

lovelyconverse123 · 05/09/2015 11:32

There was a recent rally in Dublin where muslims spoke out, and marched against violence and atrocities committed in the name of Islam.

Admittedly, this was a relatively small rally, due to the number of muslims resident in Ireland, however, those the numbers who marched were still only a small portion of the overall number resident. Draw your own conclusions from that. AIBU to wonder why, if the majority of muslims denounce violence in the name of their religion, and insist it is a peaceful religion, similar marches have not been organised across the world to demonstrate a public show of unity against the violence ?

Thoughts................

OP posts:
Googlers123 · 05/09/2015 11:34

I guess because they are just getting on with their own business, and don't see the need to distance them selves from terrorists because they are already massively far from that.

Oysterbabe · 05/09/2015 11:38

It's implied that if they're not marching against it then they're supporting it, which is obviously not the case.
I personally don't think muslims have any more responsibility than anyone else to march against these psychos who just happen to be pinning it on their religion.

Original poster
lovelyconverse123 · 05/09/2015 11:41

But if it is being proclaimed and insisted that non-muslims have a moral duty to protect muslims being persecuted in their country of origin, and they are condemned if they don't, surely actual muslims living outside these war torn countries have an even greater responsibility towards their fellow man ? Why are they not out in droves to show support and condemn what is happening to their fellow brothers ?

OP posts:
Original poster
lovelyconverse123 · 05/09/2015 11:42

but oysterbabe, if you don't speak out about something so huge and awful, surely that's a sign that either you are not bothered about it or you support it ? they only way to make it clear that you are against is to stand up and publicly denounce whatever atrocity is being committed ?

OP posts:
Googlers123 · 05/09/2015 11:50

Not everyone is politically minded, or wants to get involved in protests. I think the majority of Muslims in this country are just doing their own thing, not bothering anyone and don't see a link between them and the terrorists so why should they publically have to distance themselves

Idontseeanytimelords · 05/09/2015 11:50

Why should anyone have to publicly prove to others that they are for or against something? Maybe many Muslim people just want to quietly distance themselves from all of this and carry on with their own lives?
I have never gone on a march to either support or protest against an issue I may feel strongly about and I don't plan to start now. It doesn't mean that I don't care about these subjects, just that I keep it private and support things in my own way.

TondelayoSchwarzkopf · 05/09/2015 11:53

What about the Christian march to speak out about victims of church child abuse? How many Christians attended and what proportion of this of the general Christian population?

Googlers123 · 05/09/2015 11:55

Good point. I'm a church goer but didn't get involved in those protests about child abuse in th church. Never occurred to me

maybebabybee · 05/09/2015 11:56

Presumably for the same reason that whenever a non-muslim murders someone, all their fellow non-muslims don't go off marching against the murder.

Really sick of this debate, it's moronic. The people who commit terrorist atrocities in the name of Islam aren't religious, they're just psychopaths.

museumum · 05/09/2015 11:57

When was the last time you marched against something somebody white and Christian did?

TondelayoSchwarzkopf · 05/09/2015 12:14

Yes, remember after Anders Breivik when all the white Christian European people marched to say 'Not in My Name'

Nah. Me neither.

RedEllen · 05/09/2015 12:46

I didn't go on the march against the Iraq war. According to your logic that meant I was in favour of the war - I wasn't.
But at the time, I had small children and I wasn't prepared to take them on the march with me. I've seen too much violence on demos in the past and wasn't prepared to risk their safety.

People may have perfectly valid reasons for not going on demos, even if they support the cause.

FuzzyWizard · 05/09/2015 12:51

Your logic is ridiculous. I've only been on marches when I've been on strike (twice). There have been other issues that I've felt much more strongly about but haven't been on marches for as I have an inflexible job and/or didn't want to go alone. Political marches only ever encompass a small % of people who care about an issue.

Lurkedforever1 · 05/09/2015 12:54

As maybe put it.
I've yet to go on a march against racism. It doesn't mean I'm in favour of it. Neither do I remember all people of irish origin living outside Ireland and all Catholics worldwide turning up en masse to demonstrate the fact they weren't in league with the ira during the troubles.

NotYouNaanBread · 05/09/2015 12:55

So an an Irish Catholic who did NOT participate in a "not in my name" march about abuses in the Catholic church I am a pedophile?

Did you read your post out loud to yourself before hitting "post message"?

StayWithMe · 05/09/2015 12:56

Did you ever March in protest of the IRA OP? I live in NI and grew up as a catholic, but never felt the need to March to prove I wasn't a terrorist. Why should I spend my life apologising for something I wasn't a member of? Maybe the Muslim people feel the same.

HarveySchlumpfenburger · 05/09/2015 12:57

If going on a march is going to be a measure of whether people feel strongly about something, then I obviously care about very little.

What exactly were you aiming for with this thread? Because it isn't coming across well.

OhYouBadBadKitten · 05/09/2015 12:57

Tell us about the marches you have been on op.

Misnomer · 05/09/2015 12:58

No one should be obliged to march to prove to you that they don't support terrorism. What percentage of any population attend marches for any cause? You're being ridiculous.

StayWithMe · 05/09/2015 13:00

Actually OP, have you ever marched in protest at racist attacks on Muslim people by 'so called' Christians? After all you might want prove they're not in your name.

SmugairleRoin · 05/09/2015 13:00

What? Should all Norwegians have gone on a Not In My Name march after the Anders Brevik attack? Or Irish Catholics march after the publication of all those reports into Church abuse? Or all white Americans march after that attack on a black church (can't remember names off the top of my head)?

I could go on and on.
Quit your ridiculous bullshit.

chinam · 05/09/2015 13:25

Quit your ridiculous bullshit.
This, with bells on.

WhatWouldLeslieKnopeDo · 05/09/2015 13:48

Personally I think it is incredibly sad that the Muslims taking part in the rally felt the need to do that. It says something about society's attitude towards Muslims Sad

And your later post doesn't really make much sense at all Hmm not everyone in war torn countries is Muslim. Not every Muslim comes from those countries. Many non-Muslims also feel we have a moral obligation to help people in need, regardless of their religion.

As a non-Muslim maybe I need to explicitly state that I would never assume a Muslim was a terrorist unless they indicated otherwise. Just like I wouldn't automatically assume any non-Muslim was Islamophobic...

Creatureofthenight · 05/09/2015 13:53

I went on the Stop the War March before we invaded Iraq. Plenty of people were carrying "Not in my name" placards. Shortly afterwards, Britain invaded Iraq, and I was left feeling we had achieved precisely fuck all. So no, I'm not surprised more people don't attend these rallies.

LeonC · 05/09/2015 14:56

YABU