But Islam is not just a religion. It is a political system. Muslims are commanded to establish an Islamic state. And I would have the same issue with any religion that doesn't permit church/state separation. There are already Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia that I would never live in.
I have heard no call by other religions to establish religion based states or Christian countries that are imposing Old Testament based physical punishments. I think all fundamentalists are nuts. But all are not equally dangerous. It is easy to dismiss any attempt to distinguish anything as mere bigotry instead of reality if you haven't taken the time to research the substance.
Islam is already hurting many people, primarily women and children and in much more extreme ways than fundamentalist Christians or Orthodox Jews who merely separate themselves do. I have problems with all of it as repressive and oppressive but the extent of harm is different. FGM, honor killing, forcing women to cover, prohibiting women from education & travel-these, to me, are not merely religious practices that we are obligated to accept as neutral.
Muslims aren't "bad". But Islam has been hijacked and is greatly in need of a reformation. There are many Muslim & ex-Muslim voices who agree on this. In general, Christians & Jews move to more liberal positions while Islam has been caught up in a backwards cycle. It needs correction.
Yes, it is much easier to say Muslims are just like us and end there feeling good and righteous. But that will condemn many people, mostly Muslims, to lives of suffering and death. Why can't we acknowledge there is a problem that needs to be addressed? Why is that so unacceptable? It really makes no sense to me.
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