Hi ex-muslims,
I have been lurking on your fora for the last few weeks so I thought it would be fair to introduce myself so you know what kind of non-muslim might stroll by once in a while.
I can't remember where I got the link to here from. Probably out of some Google-search done out of curiosity.You see, I have several friends labelling themselves as "muslim", but when I go to the Koran (which I did originally because I would like to understand their cultural/religious backgrounds) I simply cannot see them being like that? :S Luckily that is true for almost the rest of the people adhering to that label! Honestly it was not my first hit at the Koran since I have been a history nerd back from time immemorial. But this time I tried to actually comprehend what it said since I found out that (some) muslims think it is "perfect". And I got sad from reading what it said :( Especially since my muslim friends would have to be executed on the spot if this book actually was perfect! How was that for a religion? Problem is that here you really get labeled as an "anti-muslim" really fast if you say that you don't think the Koran is that great a scripture to follow or that Mohammed perhaps wouldn't be the best role model :( Both by (my fellow) left-wings and by my muslim friends.
I'm an old guy - I'm 40 (however I'm in denial of my age!!!) - but I was never baptised (neither were my brothers). Our parents (originally run-of-the-mill-Danish-Lutheran-reformist-state-church-gasp-my-breath!) decided if we were to be religious, we had to make our own choices (jay, youth of '68
). After having trawled the posts in here I'm SO thankful for them to make that decision!!! Unfortunately they are both dead - the died of two different evils (ALS and brain cancer) on top of eachother. That was tough. So I can't thank them for that. If I could, I would.
I live in a country (Denmark - so feel free to ask me anything about that country!) where the state and the church is not separated (WTF is about that???) but I would think that only about 5% - tops - are REALLY into hardcore Christianity. I mean... Our Christmas is called "jul" (English: Yule) and means "wheel" - to celebrate the wheel has taken another turn in the yearly cyclus!!! In a couple of weeks we will celebrate "The day of Saint Hans" - a Catholic saint! But we dropped Catholicism and saints 500 years ago! And funny enough it is the day of the summer solstice!
I'm a left-wing
and after I have read your posts for the last few weeks I *SO* much miss your emotes on Facebook!!!!
I have been involved in the last few weeks of raising awareness about the democracy/freedom of expression/freedom of media/pluralist/LGBT/environmentalism in Turkey in my home country together with Danes of Turkish origin (Turks, Kurds, Alevits, Armenians, Azerbajdians - you know the drill).
I don't think I will contribute much here actually. You are doing just fine by yourself and it is not my destiny (or proper role) to educate doubting muslims - but I'm so happy I now know where to point people to to get some qualified information
And for that, I thank you all. In Denmark the religious muslim communities seem to be infested by Salafism and Wahabism or just "us-and-them"-thinking - as in me being "them" (opressors, racists, adulterers (I wish! >.<)).
But on another note, I think things are improving here in Denmark. Our Greek minority has actively denounced Golden Dawn, and our Turkish and Pakistani minorities are getting more involved in local and national politics. Same with the Somalis. Iraqis and Iranis never gave a fuck and just got into engineering and medicine. We still have some trouble with immigrant (or rather: their offspring) youth stirring up a riot just for kicks and lack of future. But honestly, I don't blame Islam or muslims in general for that. Unlike a lot of my fellow countrymen :(
Well - that was it. Enough for tonight! I'm looking forward to read and giggle of your musings
They have been great to see - and I like the intellectual gist of it! Keep doing that! You rock!
Cheers,
Nikolaj
Topic: Hi from Denmark - non-muslim here :)