I get it that in the west we live in an insular society and generally have enough to eat and somewhere to sleep indoors in the warm. I also get it that people more often than not have religion pushed on them without choice by their parents. I have a problem though. I swear if I hear someone say Allahu Akbar again I am going to explode.
The problem is not the people but the way, even when their friends, family, and even themselves are being shot/gassed/blown up they have this unbending faith in someone or something that is going to save them or they are going to heaven. Its just nuts and it makes me really mad that this is on their mind at the time. Even the extremist guys shout it when they are killing/being killed.
I care about whats going on in the middle east and other places where people cant live freely, i really do, and its so sad what is happening in some places. For so many people to believe something so far fetched is really worrying considering media poisons different groups against each other. I dont remember Islam ever being this extreme, or being portrayed as this extreme. Is it the case that humanity in Islamic nations cannot develop because the way they think inside the religion is so totally hardline? Is there any Islamic nation that treats its people fairly - i.e. women and homosexuals (and anyone not Muslim or 'normal'). I heard a displaced civilian talk in Syria today - she said Assad was a pig, and that Islam must win this fight. I nearly had a meltdown.
Someone said to me the other day of an organisation 'they have good christian values'. I cant understand why people have to follow a set of rules that are attached to a religion. surely thats what law is for...i.e. dont be an arse to other people etc. I felt sick when he said it. I think these guys are mad too btw.
I think expressing my feelings and thoughts here can make me a more understanding person. I hope it can anyway. The sheer frustration of listening to this crap on the news everyday has totally polarised my view of religion. I was never religious anyway, but it never bothered me before. I dont think im particularly intolerant but i am a scientist. If in science we made statements of fact based on no evidence we would be laughed out of the room by other scientists, ironically and by religion.
The problem is not the people but the way, even when their friends, family, and even themselves are being shot/gassed/blown up they have this unbending faith in someone or something that is going to save them or they are going to heaven. Its just nuts and it makes me really mad that this is on their mind at the time. Even the extremist guys shout it when they are killing/being killed.
I care about whats going on in the middle east and other places where people cant live freely, i really do, and its so sad what is happening in some places. For so many people to believe something so far fetched is really worrying considering media poisons different groups against each other. I dont remember Islam ever being this extreme, or being portrayed as this extreme. Is it the case that humanity in Islamic nations cannot develop because the way they think inside the religion is so totally hardline? Is there any Islamic nation that treats its people fairly - i.e. women and homosexuals (and anyone not Muslim or 'normal'). I heard a displaced civilian talk in Syria today - she said Assad was a pig, and that Islam must win this fight. I nearly had a meltdown.
Someone said to me the other day of an organisation 'they have good christian values'. I cant understand why people have to follow a set of rules that are attached to a religion. surely thats what law is for...i.e. dont be an arse to other people etc. I felt sick when he said it. I think these guys are mad too btw.
I think expressing my feelings and thoughts here can make me a more understanding person. I hope it can anyway. The sheer frustration of listening to this crap on the news everyday has totally polarised my view of religion. I was never religious anyway, but it never bothered me before. I dont think im particularly intolerant but i am a scientist. If in science we made statements of fact based on no evidence we would be laughed out of the room by other scientists, ironically and by religion.
