M
men0wjv
Guest
**JHow ** We’re all human again 
Thank-you for the sincere post and I am sorry if my general comments did at times become specific to you. Please forgive me and I remind myself that my religion preaches hate the sin not the sinner. I’d like us to be friends, in a manner befitting St Francis’ beautiful prayer 
The overly defensive stance may be better articulated in an example? Let us say you were a Priest in a discussion about the De Vinci code and you express academically (based on hundreds of years of scholarship) why it is nonsense (and it really really is nonsense), the non Catholics of the group do not heed any proof and simply make outrageous claims that Catholicism deliberately covered up the truth and persecuted any ‘brave resistance’ because all Da Vincists are good and all Catholics are evil. Now given this example, one would be quite justifiably annoyed, right? OK maybe the Priest - unlike me - should rise above the slander, but this is time consuming and it often futile since some people don’t want to listen and just want to see the world burn. In my religion its not permissible to argue, simply for arguments sake (NB I do not mean discussion or academic debate, I mean angry bigoted arguing).
It just seems strange that some on these forums want to interpret Islam in a way that no Muslim has ever done and then blame us for it!?! That makes no sense. Surely you guys, who are the most oppressed group (that’s something coming from a Muslim!) by the media can empathise.
Islam is known as al-deen al-wasata the middle way, and the ideal is to put everything in balance. I think something we are all guilty of at times is exaggerating. There was an interesting statistic (would have like to have know how he got the stats though) in the film Bowling for Columbine where it was said crime in the US went down 8%, but TV coverage of US based crime went up by 600%! So when we look at ourselves and the ‘other’ let us try to put things in proportion.
Finally, you bring up a new fact (I assume it is fact, I have no way to check it) that 80% of converts (to islam) are women? This is really interesting. Is that worldwide? UK? What do you think accounts for that? This is from research done here in the UK from Markfield Institute, Leicester about British conversion. I did think I remember similar international stats from Preston University, UAE, but until I confirm I cannot say. Although it is a well known fact that more women convert than men. Why is a good question. My wife is a convert. She is a Psychiatrist and is far more intelligent than I - the irony is, is that there is a bigger proportion of PhD’s among gulf Arab women (even the niqab wearing ones!) than here in the UK and I guess the same may be said for all of the Western World? She did it because she felt the modest dress was liberating because men might actually treat her like the intelligent person she is rather than a pair of boobs.
Thank-you for the sincere post and I am sorry if my general comments did at times become specific to you. Please forgive me and I remind myself that my religion preaches hate the sin not the sinner. I’d like us to be friends, in a manner befitting St Francis’ beautiful prayer The overly defensive stance may be better articulated in an example? Let us say you were a Priest in a discussion about the De Vinci code and you express academically (based on hundreds of years of scholarship) why it is nonsense (and it really really is nonsense), the non Catholics of the group do not heed any proof and simply make outrageous claims that Catholicism deliberately covered up the truth and persecuted any ‘brave resistance’ because all Da Vincists are good and all Catholics are evil. Now given this example, one would be quite justifiably annoyed, right? OK maybe the Priest - unlike me - should rise above the slander, but this is time consuming and it often futile since some people don’t want to listen and just want to see the world burn. In my religion its not permissible to argue, simply for arguments sake (NB I do not mean discussion or academic debate, I mean angry bigoted arguing).
It just seems strange that some on these forums want to interpret Islam in a way that no Muslim has ever done and then blame us for it!?! That makes no sense. Surely you guys, who are the most oppressed group (that’s something coming from a Muslim!) by the media can empathise.
Islam is known as al-deen al-wasata the middle way, and the ideal is to put everything in balance. I think something we are all guilty of at times is exaggerating. There was an interesting statistic (would have like to have know how he got the stats though) in the film Bowling for Columbine where it was said crime in the US went down 8%, but TV coverage of US based crime went up by 600%! So when we look at ourselves and the ‘other’ let us try to put things in proportion.
In answer to your question, yeah that does have to be admittance that in parts of the Muslim there is violence towards women. Can any people or faith categorically say that this has never happened? Of course not, because it is a product of the human condition. The question is, whether the ‘norm’ of humanity is reduced or increased by a faith or ideology. Whilst there is a more recent imbalance of more masculine traits in the Muslim World (as my previous post suggests) this is not the aim of Islam nor is it really common. Here in the UK (not Oxford btw) with the incidents of domestic violence is smashing all records does ask the question perhaps our focus on the maltreatment of women should be modernity… It’s interesting that Germain Greer has taken back much of what she said.
This kind of hypocritical killing mentioned is an outrage, an abomination! Not to sure what you mean by sides? If you want to make the false reductionist claim of ‘them and us,’ then I’m one of you and one of them (I’m an indigenous White English Muslim).
Finally, you bring up a new fact (I assume it is fact, I have no way to check it) that 80% of converts (to islam) are women? This is really interesting. Is that worldwide? UK? What do you think accounts for that? This is from research done here in the UK from Markfield Institute, Leicester about British conversion. I did think I remember similar international stats from Preston University, UAE, but until I confirm I cannot say. Although it is a well known fact that more women convert than men. Why is a good question. My wife is a convert. She is a Psychiatrist and is far more intelligent than I - the irony is, is that there is a bigger proportion of PhD’s among gulf Arab women (even the niqab wearing ones!) than here in the UK and I guess the same may be said for all of the Western World? She did it because she felt the modest dress was liberating because men might actually treat her like the intelligent person she is rather than a pair of boobs.
I just feel Catholic’s should stop being so judgmental and ignorant to Islam and embrace it instead. We get the harshest criticism from every other sect in Christianity because of these 3 little beliefs, and Islam coincides with us.
