Can someone explain Islamophobia to me?

[BaMamma]

I don't think I have an irrational fear of Muslims, but I think I have a reasonable concern about radical Islam, does that make me Islamophobic?

Reading comprehension issues? I'm not defending anything. I'm saying you can't just claim only one text (Koran) has disturbing stuff. They all do and in a way they all sound as if continuation of one another.

Also, something got me thinking when I agreed that little girls wearing head coverings should be considered as child abuse.

I also think male circumcision that is practiced in both Judaism and Islam is child abuse. You just mutilate the child's body in an irreversible way. There is no real medical value to this practice. There could have been many many years ago when we didn't have means for hygiene or antibiotics. This is not the case but both of these religions still continue with this brutal practice. I'm curious what you guys think? And I will go one step further and claim that if this would have been only Islamic practice, we would hear so many arguments of child abuse but now I doubt anyone will say anything since Judaism also practices it.

That’s not true, there was a thread going with pages saying circumcision is child abuse in Judaism and Islam.

I think male circumcision is wrong. I don't think anyone has the right to.modify anyone else's body without their permission.
It's fairly routine practice in America too.

Happy to say I 100% disagree with the circumcision of children unless for medical reasons. No ifs, no buts.

Yes, I think it does. In the same way giving charity, fasting, praying etc does.

I missed that thread so I stand corrected and happy to hear this.

I agree circumcision is wrong in any case other than medical.
I’d go further and say it’s disgusting that sometimes in the Jewish faith the man doing the circumcising sucks blood away from the poor baby with his mouth. What the actual hell is that about? 😳
Get your mouth away from my baby’s penis. Disgusting 😡

@OchaLove religions have various degrees of impact including negative, if you think that it's going to apply to each religion.

This has made me think do people consider religions to be benign?

I think religion brings out the best and worst in us, to be honest.

I think all humans have a need to feel a part of something bigger than just our day to day life. A spiritual need, we could say.

But being a part of something bigger, and an absolute belief in your own righteousness has absolutely led to absolute carnage, frequently, all throughout history. Still now.

But I can see personal faith also brings out the best in us and also incredible strength.

Double edged sword.

If we apply religion to better ourselves and to support others then religions are benign, even useful. All of them give you guidelines to live a decent life, not really different from one another at the core. That's my attitude towards religions.

But of course, very much like any other ideology, any religion can be used for manipulation and for power grab. The good or evil comes from our choices, that's what I believe.

I can see people get something from religion, and there may be a coming together

But I also see the huge harms and I think they outweigh the positives

Religions endure because we indoctrinate children.

What would happen if everyone stopped doing that? We didn't pass it down and religions ended

To add to last.. and we bumped up science, equality between sexes, would it be better for us?

I don't think they endure because we indoctrinate children.

I think it's a fundamental part of us, to look for bigger meaning in things.

I think the wide range of religions illustrates this. All have similarities, creation myth, rules to help us to get closer to God etc. But the practice differs.

I think we need some way to explain the things about life that we can't understand. I think if we didn't indoctrinate children they'd make something similar up.

@dairydebris I really disagree with that.

Science can absolutely be the foundation for an atheist

It's not a problem. I have mixed views on religion as I was taken to church when little, my dc are entirely comfortable learning why things happen through the lens of science.

We would not believe religion if we didn't indoctrinate. I'd love to put it to a test

It would be a really interesting test 😊.

Yes I think science would be enough for some people.

But also think science has been around for a while and still we have religion. And we know it's arisen in many different forms, independent of each other, in all societies in the world... and always used as an excuse to abuse others.

Basically I think humans have got too clever for their own good and will be the masters of our own destruction.

Perhaps enough internet for me today.

It would be an interesting test. Lots of children today are not indoctrinated into religion. So it’ll be interesting to see the paths they choose as they get older. Hurray for census data! The next big health crisis after obesity is predicted to be loneliness. So I do think there is a deep desire for connection that isn’t being met. I don’t know if the answer is the church we have become deeply disillusioned with our institutions, church and state. Once that trust is broken I don’t know if it’s possible to recover.

We are all made of matter created by the Big Bang, our atoms formed in stars billions of years. In a way we are all intrinsically connected but, possibly alarmingly, inconsequential in the grand scheme of the universe. I do wonder if people are drawn to God as it infers a certain self importance, god’s creation, the chosen ones etc.

" But not through foreign invasion".
Considering that Islam spread through conquest, colonialism conversion and expulsion,.what for you constitutes "foreign"?

I do find the often blind spot as to Muslim colonialism and the fact that Muslim Arabs first introduced wholesale trading in African slaves to the world ( and still continuing to.this day) really frustrating.

And to this day , violent, forced Muslimfication continues in lands where Islam has no provenance.
Islam's hands are as bloody as Christianity's. It's because most Muslim nations are developing why too many choose to have a blind spot to this fact.

Mohammed did not fly around creation waving a wand in order to benignly infuse Islam into Asia, Europe/Indo Europe/ North and Sub Sahara Africa.

We are all made of matter created by the Big Bang, our atoms formed in stars billions of years.

What if one doesn’t believe in the Big Bang? 🤔

In general I trust science but there are many things which cannot be explained by science, which is where religion/philosophy etc comes in. It’s just a shame that there are wrong’uns in all religions that ruin it for everyone.

Fair point. Although I’m an atheist, my more religious friends tend to marry their science based beliefs with religion by saying God created the Big Bang.

Religion could be fantastic. A shared support network across communities providing friendship and sharing resources to help the vulnerable. I do think lots of people who are religious genuinely want to be kind and good and helpful to others.

Then there are predators who use it as cover and their superiors who turn a blind eye. All the wars and invasions because our god is better than their god so we should go and steal their stuff? As a pp said it’s a real double edged sword.

I personally believe we should all have religious freedom but that it shouldn’t impact upon others. There’s a balance to be struck but it requires respect and empathy on all sides.

I’d love to think it was possible but my hope for humanity is waning tbh.

Science doesn't pretend to know all the answers. Religions just make up stuff to fill in gaps in their knowledge. I prefer honesty.

Also, science doesn't provide ethics. Science comes up with atomic bomb but it's religion that tells us that it is wrong to kill.

For the interested:

r

Also, in response to your first paragraph, do you think foreign invasion, bombing of Muslim countries are justified with your reasoning?

Plus, I would say all three religions hands are bloody as any religion can be very effective for manipulation and deception.