General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Woman Who Hid That She’s Muslim For 15 Years
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/woman-hides-being-muslim-15-years_us_5730c1cde4b016f37896746b?At the time, her new classmates didnt know she was Muslim, and Elhan eager to make friends at a new school in a new country, and afraid of being harassed or even attacked decided to keep it that way....
She also asked her principal to have teachers call her Amy a name she heard in American movies and TV shows like 90210 because it was easy to pronounce, and didnt sound like a Muslim name. The principal obliged, and her classmates were none the wiser.
For the rest of high school, Elhan had a routine: Shed wear her hijab and Muslim garments out of the house, but change out of them before she got to the bus stop.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)rug
(82,333 posts)Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)rug
(82,333 posts)Don't let them change ya, oh
Or even rearrange ya
Oh, no
We've got a life to live
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Marley and Zeppelin are great but there are some good new artists too...
rug
(82,333 posts)Really good.
Thanks.
TipTok
(2,474 posts)In any case, I encourage folks to let em fly free so I know who to avoid.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)TipTok
(2,474 posts)... If they don't self identify.
Preferably before any real effort is expended on them.
philosslayer
(3,076 posts)Mockery is the order of the day. Yet we are supposedly tolerant and oppose bullying. An interesting dichotomy.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Certainly not out in the non-virtual world, not even all of my family knows what I think.
DU is kind of a mirror image in many ways.
Nevernose
(13,081 posts)Is still a damn site better than what many minority viewpoints often face in this country.
(And, hypocritically, I'm often one of the mockers. Guess I'm going to have to think about that for a while...)
Matrosov
(1,098 posts)Misogyny and homophobia are at the very heart of Abrahamic religions, not to mention throughout history Christians have used religion as a justification for racial conquests with great effect (e.g. the Native Americans had to be conquered because they were 'godless savages' and God wanted the land to go to Christians).
Just because not every follower of an Abrahamic religion is a misogynist, homophobe, or racist, doesn't mean these aren't very destructive belief systems anyway.
rug
(82,333 posts)And she first felt the impact as a child.
Is it that hard to set aside your talking points for a moment and see someone's in pain?
itcfish
(1,828 posts)philosslayer
(3,076 posts)Thanks for not letting me down.
Matrosov
(1,098 posts)Religion, especially Islam, is the only philosophy that gets a pass among progressives, even though if we were talking about any other ideology that promotes misogyny, homophobia, and racism, most of those people would also be the first to denounce that ideology.
philosslayer
(3,076 posts)That a young woman had to publicly deny her faith and lead a double life for 15 years.
How progressive of you. How tolerant.
Matrosov
(1,098 posts)Would anyone care if she had to deny her ideology then?
Perhaps my problem is that I don't understand the distinction. Women in Afghanistan are executed for seeking an education. Homosexuals in Iran and Saudi Arabia are executed for being themselves.
If she were a white girl preaching white supremacy, nobody would have an issue mocking her. But with religion we somehow need to be different?
philosslayer
(3,076 posts)She's not. My statement stands.
Matrosov
(1,098 posts)But she still subscribes to an ideology that teaches women and homosexuals are inferior, and sometimes they need to be punished accordingly, even if that punishment is death.
..and once again I maintain that we'd have no problem condemning that ideology if it weren't, gasp, shock, horror.. religion.
itcfish
(1,828 posts)a pass to anyone. Geez, this was a child forced to hide her religion/culture for fear, don't you get it???
AZ Progressive
(3,411 posts)FLPanhandle
(7,107 posts)I know I didn't advertise it in HS either.
rug
(82,333 posts)FLPanhandle
(7,107 posts)Is this about dress codes or religion beliefs?
rug
(82,333 posts)I take it you didn't practice atheism nor were you required to.
Your situation is not analogous.
Nice of you to say atheists don't experience the same issues.
What an idiot.
rug
(82,333 posts)Thoughtful of you to invoke invisible compadres.
What a whiner.
ProudToBeBlueInRhody
(16,399 posts)"Who gives a shit, you godless asshole?" would likely be the reporter's reply.
FLPanhandle
(7,107 posts)Look at how Rug responded. Just like you said.
rug
(82,333 posts)I simply took your word that you are godless.
FLPanhandle
(7,107 posts)Based on your replies throughout this thread.
Why your hatred?
rug
(82,333 posts)And it is that self-centeredness that seeks to diminish what this woman has experienced.
The replies are all to you.
unless, of course, you see yourself as a spokesperson for atheists. In that case, kindly produce your certificate.
FLPanhandle
(7,107 posts)The Muslim girl is a victim of bigotry. An atheist is a self-centered whiner.
You are so obvious.
rug
(82,333 posts)You are so sensitive.
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)I was raised fundy and sublimated my atheism as dramatically as this young woman with her belief in Islam.
Funny thing, she gets to re-join her Islamic "family", atheists are still reviled by everyone. There's no going back to a loving flock.
You're just out.
rug
(82,333 posts)riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)Atheists have no artificially constructed "families " of nonbelievers to rejoin.
rug
(82,333 posts)And atheists have artificially constructed communities beyond their own families.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/daylightatheism/2015/01/why-people-are-flocking-to-a-new-wave-of-secular-communities-atheist-churches/
http://atheists.org/community
Imagine that.
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)Atheist "churches" are a very new phenomenon however. I think its disingenuous to say there's any kind of formal structure or "family" that atheists can retreat to.
rug
(82,333 posts)With a "we have it worse" twist.
Watch the video.
ProudToBeBlueInRhody
(16,399 posts)Please.
rug
(82,333 posts)Check your own privilege.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)For some of us perhaps it is easier to hide than for others but it's still hiding for fear of being discriminated against.
rug
(82,333 posts)Response to KamaAina (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
Albertoo
(2,016 posts)The girl calls herself Muslim? The Quran teaches not to make Christian or Jewish friends.
Had she followed through her good heart which led her to prioritize making friends, she might have benefited from reviewing what she calls her belief: that would have been a great boon to her.
And the article implicitly delivers this as a feel-good story of the girl who managed to socialize while holding on to her beliefs. As stated above, her beliefs are incoherent (as the Quran itrself is), and if her beliefs were coherent, in line with the hadiths, then it would be reasonble to ask if it "was safe to ride the Metro when (she as) a Muslim was on board"
Religious ideologies are not innocuous.
rug
(82,333 posts)Your cherry-picking is not only wrong, it endorses the ediscrimination she's experienced.
Albertoo
(2,016 posts)and your ploy of injecting discrimination compassion is off the point.
Re-read what I wrote: my criticism is 100% directed at Islam, 0% at the girl.
Nice try at bait and switch.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)"The Quran teaches not to make Christian or Jewish friends..."
That is one of several interpretations... unless of course, you allow only for literal interpretations. Adding relevant and contextual passages such as 60:8 and 5:51-52 certainly seems to deny a literal interpretation in this case, but no doubt, you as a learned scholar will allege to know better.
Bias is not innocuous, either.
Albertoo
(2,016 posts)Interpretations are excuses.
The Quran tells believers not to make friends among Christians and Jews.
There is zero bias in reading the text as is, there is one in painting rosy readings.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)The Qu'ran does not classify Christians or Jews as infidels, but as "people of the book".
Albertoo
(2,016 posts)Not that I have any beef in the matter, just the facts.
dembotoz
(16,844 posts)at first i thought it was about eggs
she put up with some shit that i did not hear about til after we moved away......
perhaps that is best cause i would have told them to ......fill in your own blank using whichever profanities float your boat....
itcfish
(1,828 posts)That! Where do you get this nonsense?
Albertoo
(2,016 posts)Pretty much says what I wrote earlier, doesn't it?
itcfish
(1,828 posts)but it follows, that you failed to include:
(5:58) O ye who believe! take not those for friends who make a jest and sport of your religion from among those who were given the Book before you, and the disbelievers. And fear Allah if you are believers
[60:8] It may be that Allah will bring about love between you and those of them with whom you are now at enmity; and Allah is All-Powerful; and Allah is Most Forgiving, Merciful.
[60 ] Allah forbids you not, respecting those who have not fought against you on account of your religion, and who have not driven you forth from your homes, that you be kind to them and act equitably towards them; surely Allah loves those who are equitable.
[60:10] Allah only forbids you, respecting those who have fought against you on account of your religion, and have driven you out of your homes, and have helped others in driving you out, that you make friends of them, and whosoever makes friends of them it is these that are the transgressors.
Just to note I think all organized religions are used by the powerful to keep the power. But we must not pick a choose verses from the Koran or the Bible to fit our own agendas. That is my only point.
Albertoo
(2,016 posts)Why should context be relevant when the Quran is the eternal uncreated word of God?
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)Albertoo
(2,016 posts)My answer was about Islam and its impact on the girl, not the girl as a person
(to whom I gave credit of probably being a nice, normally sociable individual)
Behind the Aegis
(53,991 posts)While this is sad, it is also quite rare. It would be better if people were accepted for who they were, but that also isn't the case, certainly not in HS. I wouldn't go back to HS if you paid me!
LoverOfLiberty
(1,438 posts)growing up gay.