tammerwhisk: Not trying to start anything. I've gotta ask though hows that even work? Every passage I've ever read from their texts is anything but tolerant. I don't even think I've seen the margin/room for debate that other belief systems allow for when it comes to these topics. Seen a lot of death penalty passages and conquer type passages though.
It's a good question, and one that should be asked by anyone who sees themselves with subconscious prejudices against Muslims.
The problem with Islamophobia is that it ignores one fundamental truth: that Islam, like any major world religion, is not uniform. It has dozens of different schools of thought and denominations that range from secular, liberal and 100% compatible with western values to theocratic, ultra-conservative and 100% incompatible with western values.
You can't read the qu'ran or sunnahs in isolation and believe that you "understand Islam". Neither the qu'ran nor sunnahs are to be taken literally. Most of it is written in a historical context that no longer applies today and the different schools of Islam arose as a result of differences in interpretation. The qu'ran rarely makes it 100% clear whether the actions of Muhammad were generally applicable or whether he was reacting to given circumstances. There are also problems with translation. That's where qu'ranic exegesis comes into play - Islamic scholars basically asking themselves "what would Muhammad do?"
I'll give you an example: the widely quoted "kill the idolaters where they stand" quote. The first problem is that "idolater" doesn't refer to "unbelievers", it refers to another people with whom Muhammad's tribe had a peace treaty. This people constantly violated this peace treaty, and Muhammad basically decided turning the other cheek wasn't the best solution. It basically encourages armed resistance against legitimate persecution (so really the polar opposite of Jesus' "turn the other cheek"). Whether you believe armed resistance is justified or not, it prohibits unilateral aggression against peaceful parties. The problem lies in defining "persecution" but you'll find most Islamic scholars agree that targeting civilians and forced conversions are a no-go.
Muslims don't unanimously agree on much - on apostasy, on women's rights, on LGBT rights, on secularism. It's really no different from Christianity or Judaism: compare, if you will, Lutheran doctrine with the Westboro Baptist Church, and you have the same differences. In Israel, you have Jews running the full gamut of secular-liberal to violent extreme-orthodoxy.
So saying "Islam is violent" or "Muslims are all terrorists" is really like claiming that all Germans were Nazis in the Second World War. Sure, Islam has a bit of a problem at the moment with ideological extremists exploiting the widespread lack of education and opportunities for Muslims in the West nowadays, but that's a problem with society, not with the religion as a whole. Extreme political movements on the far left and far right are equally adept at exploiting civil disenfranchisement among low-earners and the poorly educated.
I must admit though, I did find that rainbow burqa hilarious - any branch of Islam that advocates wearing that is very unlikely to tolerate LGBT rights, and very few mainstream Muslims outside of Saudi Arabia actually wear burqas (they just stick out like a sore thumb in western societies).
catpower1980: And most importantly, get some feedback from people with real muslim background because I don't think there a lot of knowledgeable people on this forum. For me it's easier as I had many Muslim acquaintances and can communicate more easily with people from the Maghreb due to our common language (French). While I could direct you to some people in French, I don't know the English-speaking scene but you can maybe start here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/exmuslim I agree that contact with actual Muslims is the best way to learn more about the various perspectives on the religion, although these "ex-Muslim" groups online should be met with a certain degree of scepticism - I put them pretty much in the same bracket as the "born again ex-gays" in these fundamentalist Christian churches, most of which are scams. Of course, I applaud the courage of anyone who chooses to risk being oppressed for leaving Islam, just as long as the story is genuine.
