After reading the basics of Sharia Law I must say that regardless of how cultural or historically important it may be for countries that are traditionally a Muslim majority it is fundamentally incompatible with any principle of western society. There's just no way around it. Sharia is not like the bible that is full of poetry, parables, myths and stories - It is well organized, concise and straight to the point. There is no other way to interpret it other than how it is written there. Something like Sharia cannot be allowed and there is nothing about it that can legally be applied to western nations. The lack of secularism and separation of church and State; discrimination on the basis of sex, religion; the overwhelming support for retribution and personal revenge in the judicial system in contrast with our leaning towards rehabilitation and impartial moderate retribution/punishment; the fact it allows child marriage; the fact it clearly mandates that anyone who even disagrees with the doctrine is an apostate and obviously the barbaric forms of punishment like death for having sexual intercourse or cutting someone's hand off for stealing - It's all bad. It all sucks. I don't care how Muslims counter this, but they have to do it. This will never be accepted by anyone with a minimum of decent moral principles.
I think you make a good point about racism and bigotry because despite the stereotype most Muslims are not even arabic/arab looking - Regardless, I'm not going to deny that there's some profiling (sometimes against people who aren't Muslims but look like one or wear similar clothes), but it doesn't justify using the same old excuse over and over and over again. I think you hit the nail when you mentioned that Muslims need to stop hiding - First of all, I believe Muslims and Muslim activists who support secularism and reformism should openly admit that this isn't solely a politics game but also about religion and the fact the Quran is open to dangerous interpretations. I remember seeing an episode of the show "The Big Questions" in the UK (I posted it here I think) and there was this Muslim moderate (who some people in the comments believed to be faking his affiliation) who admitted Islam caused Charlie Hebdo and advocated tolerance, gender equality, religious freedom and even support for LGBT - This is the kind of people we need. If you watch any program discussing the Islamic State and see the question "Has this got anything to do with Islam?" being asked to a Muslim he/she will mostly answer "Well no, it's only politics" - That's a dangerous position because it excuses actions.
B sides admitting that religion plays a part, Muslims need to reject Sharia or at the very least dreaming of applying it outside a theocratic nation. I don't care how they do it, but they must otherwise anyone who doesn't convert is doomed. As for the Quran, I haven't read it, but I believe it is full of violence mixed with some peaceful messages (I think there was something about tolerating Jews and Christians and that's why Iran legally allows Jews and Christians to profess faith even though you can't be an atheist anyway).
Personally I see human beings as imperfect and I think as long as people have some independent freethinking and self-criticize themselves they should be able to follow whichever faith they want, provided that it doesn't impact legislation and doesn't violate the principle of secularism. What Muslims should do is to stop imagining they are always being persecuted and hated by the west and maybe wonder why some adverse reactions (sometimes extreme and unnecessary such as the vandalism against Mosques and Muslim shops after Charlie Hebdo) happen.
As an atheist, and considering the definition of atheism in 1917 was different (after all it only takes on entry into the dictionary, right?), I don't discard the possibility that State atheism perpetuated by Pol Pot, Mao, Stalin and Lenin was an oppressive force against believers that caused execution of religious people, priests, monks, scholars, the burning of churches (Lenin openly said he wanted to end religion like Marx predicted) - As a secularist, I think secularism combined with strong anti-theism and forms of State atheism can lead to the same result as a system full of religious fundamentalists. If I am able to admit that even something like atheism that doesn't have a unique doctrine (despite now having organized institutions, books and some common principles you can find in famous atheists) can lead people to not be tolerant of those who don't agree - I don't see why Muslims should be afraid to admit that Islam plays a part when you can easily find verses that condemn apostates and support the creation of a Nation-State based on religion. [In fact Saudi Arabia is theoretically the Muslim dream, the deal for oil was what kept them safe)
I think you make a good point about racism and bigotry because despite the stereotype most Muslims are not even arabic/arab looking - Regardless, I'm not going to deny that there's some profiling (sometimes against people who aren't Muslims but look like one or wear similar clothes), but it doesn't justify using the same old excuse over and over and over again. I think you hit the nail when you mentioned that Muslims need to stop hiding - First of all, I believe Muslims and Muslim activists who support secularism and reformism should openly admit that this isn't solely a politics game but also about religion and the fact the Quran is open to dangerous interpretations. I remember seeing an episode of the show "The Big Questions" in the UK (I posted it here I think) and there was this Muslim moderate (who some people in the comments believed to be faking his affiliation) who admitted Islam caused Charlie Hebdo and advocated tolerance, gender equality, religious freedom and even support for LGBT - This is the kind of people we need. If you watch any program discussing the Islamic State and see the question "Has this got anything to do with Islam?" being asked to a Muslim he/she will mostly answer "Well no, it's only politics" - That's a dangerous position because it excuses actions.
B sides admitting that religion plays a part, Muslims need to reject Sharia or at the very least dreaming of applying it outside a theocratic nation. I don't care how they do it, but they must otherwise anyone who doesn't convert is doomed. As for the Quran, I haven't read it, but I believe it is full of violence mixed with some peaceful messages (I think there was something about tolerating Jews and Christians and that's why Iran legally allows Jews and Christians to profess faith even though you can't be an atheist anyway).
Personally I see human beings as imperfect and I think as long as people have some independent freethinking and self-criticize themselves they should be able to follow whichever faith they want, provided that it doesn't impact legislation and doesn't violate the principle of secularism. What Muslims should do is to stop imagining they are always being persecuted and hated by the west and maybe wonder why some adverse reactions (sometimes extreme and unnecessary such as the vandalism against Mosques and Muslim shops after Charlie Hebdo) happen.
As an atheist, and considering the definition of atheism in 1917 was different (after all it only takes on entry into the dictionary, right?), I don't discard the possibility that State atheism perpetuated by Pol Pot, Mao, Stalin and Lenin was an oppressive force against believers that caused execution of religious people, priests, monks, scholars, the burning of churches (Lenin openly said he wanted to end religion like Marx predicted) - As a secularist, I think secularism combined with strong anti-theism and forms of State atheism can lead to the same result as a system full of religious fundamentalists. If I am able to admit that even something like atheism that doesn't have a unique doctrine (despite now having organized institutions, books and some common principles you can find in famous atheists) can lead people to not be tolerant of those who don't agree - I don't see why Muslims should be afraid to admit that Islam plays a part when you can easily find verses that condemn apostates and support the creation of a Nation-State based on religion. [In fact Saudi Arabia is theoretically the Muslim dream, the deal for oil was what kept them safe)
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you
