Suslique

True, but giving them an outlet, or an identifiable excuse, and the ease in which one makes the leap from fanatic to nutcase a lot smaller. I have viewed this with my own eyes. I was involved in the church. I was directly involved with the inner workings of a church. I have seen these things first hand. Every, EVERY, mid to large sized church is corrupt in some way or fashion. They are like governments. maybe I'm just lucky of never meeting anyone like that in real life. i know people who went too deep into religion and they are just that, introverts living in their own little reality, disapproving everything around, being complete opposite what their religion is asking from them. well its their life so who cares? i just believe that there should be something inherently evil in a person to push them into real violence. ego probably. i think its the ego. humble person will never harm anybody else neither physically nor with words. and now that I'm thinking of it yes, some people humble down others act "holier than tho" just because of the ego, you can call religion an outlet in this case. but so can be money, and power, and even talent or hobby. 'Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?' 'That is the only time a man can be brave.' George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

i should treat myself with a chocolate for ruining this nasty stereotype for at least someone :) p.s. beware! vast majority of us are actually normal people (i can't believe I'm writing this lol) 'Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?' 'That is the only time a man can be brave.' George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

its not about beliefs or ideologies. there are plenty of psychopaths who find reasons to cause pain and misery to other humans not based on religion or philosophy or whatever. let it not be a cartoon or an abortion clinic or the idea of supreme race it's going to be a freaking parking dispute. some people are just evil. 'Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?' 'That is the only time a man can be brave.' George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

Could you please elaborate, which parts of Islam are evil to you? genuine curiosity here. turtlespeed buddhists have their own skeletons in the wardrobe: ethnic cleansing of muslim minority in Rohingya for example. its not about religion, its human nature, just like i pinpointed in my first post 'Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?' 'That is the only time a man can be brave.' George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

Seconded. Sometimes its a perspective we need to read about. He makes good points. Every time something bad happens in the middle east, the news jump all over it. Anyway, Suslique, from your perspective... How should ISIS be handled? Who should do it? she, please :) I'm an "opressed muslim woman" :) My apologies. I cannot fathom how oppressed women are in the muslim culture. I think it's ridiculous they are generally treated like they are. i've put quotes because it is a typical stereotype of muslim women that westerners have :) 'Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?' 'That is the only time a man can be brave.' George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

marmite on buttered toast+orange juice taste heavenly. sweet+marmite there's something about it. chocolate generally tastes good in weird combinations, like extra dark chocolate+green pepper+strawberry is amazing. or chocolate and sea salt--addictive. 'Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?' 'That is the only time a man can be brave.' George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

humans need to leave nature alone. 'Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?' 'That is the only time a man can be brave.' George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

Seconded. Sometimes its a perspective we need to read about. He makes good points. Every time something bad happens in the middle east, the news jump all over it. Anyway, Suslique, from your perspective... How should ISIS be handled? Who should do it? she, please :) I'm an "opressed muslim woman" :) thank you, guys, for kind feedback. politically? i have no idea. we don't even know where they came from and who funds them, we can only speculate with limited amount of info that comes our way (have you guys read couple of articles and videos where canadian special services agents recruit people to isis? remember lost british girls? google it). well we (muslim community) are trying to get youth involved and make them learn proper Islam before someone else does it. Many lectors and sheikhs and universities (Al Magrib university, Al Qalam university etc) are focusing on doing exactly this for many years but especially in the light of the latest events. they get personal threats from isis fan boys on regular basis btw. youth needs to learn the understanding of what jihad is - it is a BASIC knowledge, that should be taught to kids from the early age. the main definition of jihad is the fight WITHIN a person against his own self. for instance, new convert, used to drink alcohol every friday, now he can't do that. he still craves it sometimes, he resists -- this is his jihad. the war as a jihad had its strict rules and regulations. it is a fight against occupier, it is a physical protection of your own house. and there are strict rules of an islamic war. it is shocking how perverted the representation of islam is by isis and by mass media. i feel sorry for all young boys and girls who got into isis trap. most of them have no idea what they got into. 'Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?' 'That is the only time a man can be brave.' George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

fear removes rational thinking and puts people into fight/flight mode. this strategy is widely used by mass media to switch peoples' attention from important topics all the time, ebola, shariah laws all that crap all the time. even flu. i was a part of a Facebook parenting group and most of the american mothers are petrified of FLU! common flu. so every time someone posted something against flu vaccinations people would get all crazy. people can't care less about flu over here. just a small example... 'Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?' 'That is the only time a man can be brave.' George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

How very indicative of your ILK. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faux Faux is a French word for "false". I think its an indication of the level of no child left behind and the school books that come out of that part of this country. Show me where the TM or copyright for Faux News is on any Fox Channel, and I will apologize. Otherwise it is trolling, which you claim to be above . . . Troll Troll Troll you post . . . . please don't get offended but they kind of deserve that name http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jan/12/fox-news-expert-ridiculed-over-birmingham-is-totally-muslim-city-claims 'Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?' 'That is the only time a man can be brave.' George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

as i pointed above (but you haven't read till that point), english is not my first language so spelling mistakes are likely to happen. i don't see any of those words you mentioned in my post except faux news. well i guess thank you for reading as much as you read. i can't please everyone's taste :) have a good day! 'Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?' 'That is the only time a man can be brave.' George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

hi everyone. I’ve been reading this forum for a while now, mainly because of the accidents sub-forum but soon enough discovered tons of anti-islamic topics and islamophobic posts. i contemplated whether to write something or not but i guess i just have to. i want to stress the fact that i have no intention of starting an argument because everyone is entitled to their own opinion and my only intention here is to bring you muslim’s perspective over what was written before. 1. first one is mass media and portrayal of islam in mass media. we can throw links at each other all day, i will find horrible things about US (indefinite detentions without trials, off-grid prisons like Guantanamo, war crimes, police brutality etc) but it won’t bring us anywhere. want to get to the bottom of it? please take time and read a magnificent book by Noam Chomsky “Manufacturing Consent”, at least google about “Worthy and unworthy victims” which is a chapter from the above mentioned book. think outside the box, don’t let propaganda influence your thoughts. 2. Boogeyman. Having a Boogeyman is convenient. Us vs Them. Good vs Evil. it makes everyone feel better about themselves, doesn’t it? barbaric muslims, slave owning states. the image of a muslim for average american is so dehumanised (thank you mass media and “faux” news) that it makes perfectly acceptable to express racism openly, since “muslims are not really people, that are just bunch of crazy psychopaths”. Nobody can do this to homosexuals anymore or jews, maybe african americans but from what we can see from mass media its not always the case still unfortunately. The uncomfortable truth is that there is no boogeyman. Islam is not violent, it doesn’t propagate violence and if you are seeing that in Quran you may need to read it with commentary, that will explain to you the historical facts about that period but honestly i don’t see it anywhere, maybe because i have a wider knowledge about islamic history. If you want to clarify those moments feel free to PM me or message me here i will do my absolute best to help you out. Violent people who are unfortunately muslims? absolutely, of course they exist. just as well as among christians, atheists, jews, you name it. like football fans in UK. there are normal people and there are crazy maniacs who turn the whole thing upside down just because they are violent in nature. you know just like skydivers. it takes one irresponsible idiot to cause a disaster and everyone is like “you see skydiving is irresponsible and DANGEROUS, and those people are crazy!” and it makes some of us , grown adults, hide this hobby from their parents as a result :D . see what I’m saying? human factor, humans are weak and prone to making mistakes. that's okay, its natural. the problem arises when they try to justify their actions instead of regretting/fixing them. i do blame my own “tribe” of muslims, however, for regressing back instead of going forward (no I’m not talking about modifying Islam, its as good as it is, I’m talking about sticking to islamic teachings instead of following tradition or your own selfish plans). i personally think that the regression of muslim states is the result of people letting go the original islam. when they were sticking to original teachings everything was the opposite. Islamic golden age, science, poetry, architecture, human rights (women were allowed to own businesses and property, divorce their husbands, forced marriages were forbidden and whatnot when in Europe they used to burn cats and women and scientists accusing them in witchcraft). is it a spiritual point of view, yes. when we practiced islam as a lifestyle, God was giving His blessings to us, but when we started forgetting what living islam was and started turning back to backwards stupid traditions instead of Islam we lost the blessing. regressed. however, islamic states nowadays especially such as UAE are far from what you see on your tv:) yes, they do have their traditions and laws that should be respected and obeyed but so is US or any other country. marrying 4 wives is not allowed in US so we don’t do that :D by the way, muslim should obey the rules of the country he/she is living in. but most of the laws are the same anyways, don’t steal, don’t kill, etc 3. Muhammad. Why so much hate? My advise is to read a biography written by Martin Lings. Theres an audio version of this book as well, pretty good read. Marrying Aisha is bothering you? the real marriage occurred only after her puberty. and yes back in a day people were considered an adult once hitting puberty. look at your own ancestry I’m pretty sure only couple of centuries ago most of your grandmas and grandpas were what is it now called “teen moms” and “teen dads”. times changed, and its not allowed anymore, we have marital laws about it and muslim HAS to abide the laws. 4.SHARIAH LAWS. boo! so scary. Shariah laws are only applicable in the islamic state (no, isis is not a legitimate islamic state, they are bunch of psychopaths funded by God knows who). it was applicable in Khalifat back in a day. we don’t have any anymore. some of the laws are applicable in countries such as UAE or KS. no, women should not be arrested after the rape, its idiotic (those that i have heard of were pardoned that i know of, but thats not the point). it has NO basis in islamic crime laws. the whole stoning thing is blown out of proportion and even in the time of Khalifat there were rare cases when it was used, since the conditions for such a harsh punishment are virtually impossible to prove in real life. its a long topic but whatever we sometimes witness nowadays (hello, Iran!) is not based on original laws. no one can impose islamic laws in western countries, its funny how people take this stuff seriously. no, the “jihad” that you are being fed from your TV screens is also not from Quran or Islam. yes, back in a day, when khalifat was growing (which was the common practice back then, but some countries still think that they have rights to occupy others *coughisraelcough*) the idol worshipping tribes were given couple of options, to leave, to accept Islam, to stick to the contracts that they had with muslims etc. those who decided to fight were faced with fighting. the rules of war were extremely civilised for that times. there is a good video explaining the “verse of the sword” on youtube by Dr Yasir Qadhi (he has a PhD in philosophy of Yale University if it may convince you to listen to him), if you are open minded enough go and listen to it, it tells you the historical background of the same verse, he talks about first Hajj at the end, you may skip it, it has nothing to do with that verse. 5. Travel. I know a woman who lives in a small city in US and have never seen a “real” muslim in her life and she was shocked after chatting to me. I’m not sure what she expected but I’m happy she stumbled upon me lol We, people who live in Eastern Hemisphere are closer to all the diversity of nations and religions and traditions. Come over, get a ticket, if you are too scared to go to muslim country, visit London its practically the same :D :D on a serious note, there are islamic conventions held in US all the time, go visit, ask a question, we don’t bite! this is officially the longest comment i wrote in my entire life on a forum. i need a sandwich. peace out! p.s. edited because of grammar, english is not my first or even second language, sorry :D 'Can a man still be brave if he's afraid?' 'That is the only time a man can be brave.' George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones