Do you feel like religious people are unfairly judged? [Spirituality & Religion]

@CountScrofula that's quite true. There's a problem though: the moderate believers are often supporting abusive practices and even horrific crimes. For example,they are the ones who will be heard saying: "yes,but, you should not offend the faith of believers", thus condoning terrorist attacks.

@EarthlingWise Sure, it's complicated. Although I think terrorism is a pretty loose word that does a lot of legwork. This stuff is not simple, but we want to make it simple.

And again, I care about who is actually in a position of power and harming others. Who has money and influence and is actually getting people killed. If a Muslim family down the street are sympathetic to Hamas, that's... fine? I don't know what kind of grave harm is done there.

Meanwhile my government does open arms trade with the Saudi royal family, and that's leading to mass deaths in Yemen. Who's the bad guy?

@CountScrofula Being desperate may explain why you turn to terrorist groups but it doesn't make it right, and anyone who benefited from education should be wary they don't romanticize murder.

@CountScrofula

There is no excuse to support terrorist acts anywhere. People have influence because others support them.

Nothing tricky about understanding that killing civilians is wrong, even as someone who suffered the consequences of wars waged by the west. It is very simple and should be a universal moral

Hamas even killed their own people when they were Fath supporters. It is not fine to think all their acts are right just because they are hiding behind a cause.

Lot of Palestinians in Gaza don't support them anymore. They are corrupted and violent.

What is dangerous about supporting terrorists acts without joining in? They exist because of the normalization. When you raise your children to believe it is okay to kill civilians, simply because you think you are victim, you are just raising a future terrorist. It is yours, you made him/her.

There isn't a single terrorist out there who doesn't think themselves a hero getting justice, does not mean they are. They are just savages with an agenda and shouldn't be glorified.

And when it comes to Saudi Arabia, it is not just the west that supports it, most Islamic countries do and have including the population. Their second generating source of money is Islamic tourism. Every year millions of Muslims go to Saudi and spend billions. It is 20 percent of their GDP.

The wealth of Muslims world wide is being used to butcher Muslims.

This is the only part I agree with [quote] individuals practising their own religious beliefs without harming anyone can get a lot of shit for it and should be treated with the compassion and kindness due anyone.[/quote]

@Miram You're really putting a lot of words in my mouth here and jumping to some ludicrous conclusions.

I'm not defending Hamas. I am not saying that only western nations support Saudi Arabia. I am not fucking [i]glorifying terrorism[/i]. You're so eager to start pigeonholing me as some guilty liberal trying to claim that all anti-Muslim sentiment is racist, and I'm trying to make a different point from that.

What I am saying here is that I am tolerant of religious beliefs because I think it is basic humanity to show respect to people trying to live their life in the way they think is just. Generally, these are not people with power who can actually cause great harm in their lives. And if they happen to sympathize with one side in a great cycle of violence (such as with Israel/Palestine) then I may disagree but I get it too.

My comment on terrorism is because the word does a great deal of legwork to just say "bad guy" in broad strokes, and I think reality is more complicated than that. Hamas are obviously terrorists, but the reason they exist in the first place is worth interrogating. Hell, the Turkish government decries the DUP in Rojava as terrorists, and they're an anarchist-feminist movement that refuse to execute even ISIS prisoners.

And importantly - I'm a white man from a Christian background. I'm an atheist, but I do not have the upbringing or education in Islam to comment too much on it. Anti-Islamic sentiment among white people is really just knuckle-dragging racism for the most part of people making broad statements about a gigantic religion they do not understand.

Also in Canada, it's not like Islam is some sort of nascent political force ready to take over. Christianity is dominant here, and Christian norms and Christian ways of doing harm to people are of FAR greater concern.

My ire and my energy is devoted at [b]those in power[/b], and yes - religious beliefs when in a position of power can cause unbelievable human suffering.

I can, at the same time, respect someone's religious beliefs while also recognizing how dangerous those beliefs would be if I was subjected to them involuntarily.

@CountScrofula

[quote]I'm not defending Hamas...I am not glorifying terrorism[/quote]

I know. I wasn't saying you are defending Hamas or glorifying it. I was responding to the example you made of a Muslim family supporting Hamas to make the point that it is a complicated issue. There are lot of people in the west who support Hamas and I was addressing it.

Understanding and learning about Islam is possible for everyone. It is not an impossible task seeing that in Islam everyone is expected to join the religion.

I do agree that there are racists who attack Muslims but I also think that shouldn't stop people from caring about the minorities who are negatively affected by the religion, everywhere not just in Islamic countries. Social problems are just as relevant, they don't have to make it to the political arena.

I apologize if my comment was offensive, it wasn't my intention to make you or anyone else think you are the one in support of Hamas. ❤️