To My Ex-Moslem friends
Reply #4 - October 29, 2015, 06:39 AM
Well, first I'd have to explain why I'd converted to Islam--it was a combination of several factors:
- I badly needed emotional support and psychiatric care, and I thought that if I converted to Islam, the ummah would be like the love and support I never had, maybe even substituting for psychiatric care. This did not pan out the way I expected--I ended up getting help from the state for my psych problems, and I started to realize that the support I was getting from the Muslim community was conditional: I was being loved, supported, and encouraged only as much as I conformed to people's ideas of what it meant to be a good Muslim. And if what was best for me as a person was in conflict with what was the best course of action for a Muslim, I was being encouraged to go against what was best for me as a person.
- I was being pressured by my [orthodox Jewish] community to support the state of Israel, despite their human rights violations, which went against my conscience. Plus, the Jewish texts are pretty darn racist, and that also went against my conscience. These particular areas improved slightly, but I did notice after a while that Muslim communities could be just as racist as Jewish ones.
- I felt that my rabbi was a shady character and I felt uneasy around him. This ended up being justified--he is now in jail, serving time for 52 counts of voyeurism. Converting to Islam improved the situation, but only temporarily: there are just as many pervert Muslims, and I finally realized I don't have to put up with the idea that men have an inherent right to ownership of my body. I own my body, and I don't have to put up with men who claim they have a religious duty to "care" for me by forcing me into situations (including marriage) in which I am unhappy.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for I have a sonic screwdriver, a tricorder, and a Type 2 phaser.
Topic: To My Ex-Moslem friends