Main | X-Muslim Blog Roundup #1 »

X-Muslim Blog Roundup #2

Welcome to the second edition of the X-Muslim Blogs Roundup. This is held regularly, and aims to be an enjoyable survey of the chatterings of the ex-Muslim blogosphere.

Thanks!

The House of Apostasy was very well-received and publicised on opening day: we extend our grateful thanks to all well-wishers, including Jihadwatch, Little Green Footballs, The Religion of Peace, The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, Clarity & Resolve, Protein Wisdom, as well as the wonderful people behind the Shire Network News. There are many others. Such a show of support is immensely important to ex-Muslim bloggers.

Increasing numbers of non-Muslims have come to understand, especially in the wake of 9/11, that Islam is unique among world faiths in a remarkable sense: it is a religion that has a stake in advancing territorial conquest and subjugation, whether through conversion, subversion or warfare. And they have also discovered, in addition to what Islam formally seeks, that Muslims themselves are not the most, shall we say, reliable allies when it comes to fighting this Islamic challenge with gusto. As the years since 9/11 demonstrate amply, the liberty-sapping political ambitions of Muslim groups have become more assertive, not less.

We ex-Muslim bloggers, of course, also know that mainstream Islam does not celebrate a retreat from political control; our own departures from Muhammad's holy realm requires that we hold our tongues, lest we suffer reprisals of the most grievous kind. And so we attach tremendous importance to the advancement of a free and secular society.

So, unlike Muslims, we ex-Muslim bloggers have every incentive to aid right-thinking non-Muslims in combating the Islamic threat. And non-Muslims should make no apologies to anybody, least of all to Muslims themselves, for seeking an alliance with us. We say to you: don't feel guilty for such an alliance, for we certainly do not. Those of us who have come to live in the West are grateful for its freedoms, and appreciate what it takes for you to sustain them on our behalf. Unlike Muslims, we ex-Muslims do not conceive of our relationship with the West as a one-way street; we do not believe in rights without responsibilities. And unlike Muslims, we ex-Muslims refuse to be victims: those of us who live in the West are empowered individuals, we will not abandon non-Muslims in your time of need, and we know you will not abandon us. We are on the same side, and our efforts will be synergistic. And combating the Islamic threat together is the only sensible way of being pro-Muslim in the best sense.

The Roundup

To hijack a tired-sounding cliche, ex-Muslim bloggers constitute a mosaic, not a monolith; however, a useful guide as to where we are unified, both in letter and spirit, is the set of principles enshrined in the St. Petersburg Declaration, an important outcome of the recent Secular Islam Summit. The Declaration was endorsed by most delegates to the Summit, with reformer Irshad Manji as one of the more notable exceptions, for which I think she deserves not just a little criticism. Manji's silly issues aside, however, other Muslim groups also refused to back the Declaration, and demanded that since they are Muslims, Islam can only belong to them; and therefore, they should be the only ones allowed to talk about the damn thing.

Some ex-Muslim bloggers took exception to this sorry attitude. One was The Apostate , who when it comes to books not only has an ear trained for the classics, she also writes like a demon. An excerpt:

For all of my life, I have engaged with Muslims on their turf, by their rules. Now it’s their turn.

 

These ‘outsiders’ are not so by choice. Many of them are being forced away and out by Muslims. To make us outsiders and then mock us for being so and calling us ‘irrelevant’ is pretty rich. Whether our styles of dissent displease Muslims or not, we are an integral part of Islam’s reform, even if that is not our explicit agenda. In a way, [Svend] White’s constant anxiety about image and how something is going to impact the mainstream Muslims is really patronizing. His instinct is to protect this infantilized Islamic world from our brutal assaults, not to let Muslims learn to handle unsavory criticism. They’ve been shielded long and hard enough - it’s time they joined the real world.

Elsewhere she writes that Muslims need shaming:
 
Muslims are being shamed in the media, and they best get used to regarding themselves critically. It’s about time. Perhaps this shame, if it’s ubiquitous enough, will actually seep in and do some good damage to their unjustified arrogance.

Not so long ago, Canada came close to instituting aspects of Shari'ah in family law. But in Europe, Muslims who call for the same can probably relax a bit - they may have already gotten it. Isaac Schrodinger , based in Canada, is rightly outraged at the case concerning a Muslim woman in Germany, a woman who in the course of seeking divorce from her violent, disgusting and utterly puerile husband, came up against a judge who appears to have confused herself as an Islamic qadi rather than a dispenser of Western justice. An excerpt:

The decision boils down to this:
  • If a non-Muslim man beats, and threatens to murder, his wife, then the wife has a "right" to ask for an immediate divorce.
  • If a Muslim man exercises his "right" to beat his wife and threaten her with murder, then the wife is essentially screwed.

Nimbu , another thoughtful ex-Muslim blogger, has an interesting discussion with a friend, a lapsed Muslim, about another friend who has become a hard-line Muslim. The story is relayed in two posts (Part 1; Part 2). Asks Nimbu, what on earth happens to make these people so screwed up? An excerpt from the second part:
 
He looked at me strangely and then confessed that he too had left a mosque because of these guys - only to land at another mosque where the imam was more progressive. “More progressive?” Yeah. That’s right. This imam teaches you good things.

“What good things?” I asked.

“This Friday, the imam taught about the virtues of forgiveness.”

“You needed an imam to teach you that? How come you didn’t know that before?”

“Well I guess I knew it, he just drove it home.”

“What? That’s insane. You always knew that you should forgive people. You never needed an imam to teach you that.”

“Whatever. It made me feel good.”

I said “That’s how they string you along. First they teach you good stuff you already knew and then slowly they start injecting the rest of their crap”


Speaking of psychology, Isaac Schrodinger takes a great stab at answering a reader's following question:

"What happens to the psychology of the Muslim-born person who was born & raised in the US, and who visits his parents homeland? Does seeing the difference between the hygiene and the dynamism of the US, and the filth and decay and backwardness of dar al Islam drive them away from Islam or towards it?"

Muslihoon highlights an example of the sheer double-standards adopted by Muslims when it comes to engaging their kuffar counterparts. An excerpt:

Furthermore, there are no restrictions in Christian societies on Muslims to preach their religion while Christians are forbidden to preach Christianity in Muslim societies.

...

The way Muslims behave, I feel like asking what they are afraid of. Such behavior seems to be signs of insecurity. Why are they insecure? Are they afraid Islam cannot endure challenges? Are Muslims so rationally or intellectually weak? And what is wrong if a Muslim, for whatever reason, leaves Islam, whether for another religion or not? How does such an act weaken Islam? Is Islam really so weak that the departure of one member threatens it or the Muslim community?

This double standard, celebrating and promoting conversion to Islam but rejecting and resisting and attempting to restrict leaving Islam, irks me.

Indeed. And it must be remembered that even in those Muslim-majority countries where the death penalty for apostasy is not legally stipulated, freelance jihadis are always more than happy, indeed rather obliged, to compensate for the state's shortcomings on this matter.

In Azar Nafisi's remarkable memoir Reading Lolita in Tehran , one of the author's students came to lament: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a Muslim man, regardless of his fortune, must be in want of a nine-year-old virgin wife”. Muhammad's marriage to a six year-old girl, and his act of taking her to his bed from when she was nine years old, is how Islam has come to institutionalise paedophilia. The typical silence of many Muslim men on this matter indicates not their disapproval of this vile and disgusting behaviour, but of their embarrassed resignation to their urges. And yet there are also those who also feel the need to justify what Muhammad did. The Apostate discusses the twisted morality behind this thinking. An excerpt :

The Muslims who try to excuse Muhammad’s act, and the non-Muslims who are ‘understanding’ of his weakness, allege that this was a common thing in that era, hence couldn’t be “immoral” as morality is a social construct that changes with time and place. I agree with that last bit but the gall of Muslims using moral relativism is astounding - people who believe in an eternal religion suddenly abandon absolute morality when it suits them.
She also provides a link near the end as an example of the remarkable efforts that Muslim scholars go to in justifying what Muhammad did, scholars that at the same time characterise all those who feel repulsed and appalled by it all as having been subjected to something called "Western Colonialism of the Mind".

 

One more from The Apostate : a review of Bernard Lewis' What Went Wrong? An excerpt:

I was particularly struck by the analysis of how Muslim pride got in the way of modernization wherever modernization was translated as ‘Westernization.’ I know, from personal experience, just how profoundly true this modernization-westernization dichotomy is in the Muslim mind and how viscerally they object to it. And contrary to his own stated belief to the contrary, he is tracing these causes back to Islam: the status of women, the resistance to Westernization, the theocratic impulse, etc.

And finally, I'm pleased to report that yours truly was formally inducted by the incomparable Tom Paine into the Great-Zionist-Conspiracy at the Shire Network News very recently. Given that I already follow the SNN podcast religiously, I was happy to appear on the show. Generally, SNN's combination of scrutiny and occasional mockery is excellent, but there is no analytical depth sacrificed in whatever subject matter is being discussed. It is very clear that the hosts know that their listeners are intelligent people; there is no oratory or polemic being hurled around anywhere. And as a listener, I certainly have never heard them address me as "You people".

In other words, SNN rocks. The interview appears in two parts (Part 1; Part 2). Part Two will be linked as soon as it becomes available on Shire Network News later today. That leaves me waiting for my Cosmic-Zionist-Conspiracy-inductee cheque, however. Does it always take this long? Really, Tom, I mean how complicated is it for a simple Cosmic-Zionist-Conspiracy delivery guy to arrive with my cheque? Cosmic, my a**...

And finally, if you are a budding ex-Muslim who is thinking of blogging for the first time, I will let Basharee Murtadd , an ex-Muslim blogger already up and running, tell you what you already know in your heart:

I urge all apostates of Islam to open up Web sites and blogs exposing the truth about Islam. In fact, you need not even write about Islam in your blog. Just mention that you are an apostate and write about anything else, be it your job, your dog, your obsession about Anne Coulter (off the top of my head), et cetera. Merely mentioning your apostasy is sufficient to sow the seeds of doubt in Muslims who find apostasy to be as impossible as dividing a number by zero.

The blogosphere is very fertile ground for up-and-coming ex-Muslims, primarily because it easily preserves anonymity while generating attention about one's views and experiences as an ex-Muslim. And things like this Roundup can help bring attention to your views, as well as demonstrating that you are not alone, and not without support in the blogosphere.

If you are already an ex-Muslim blogger and would like to submit any links to your posts then, by all means, you are very welcome to email me through the website.

And we come to the end of this second edition of the X-Muslim Blog Roundup. We'll have another one up in a couple of weeks. I have tentatively decided to make the Carnival a fortnightly occurence. This may change because the ex-Muslim blogosphere is rather small, and this will no doubt affect the rate of involvement. But we'll see.

Thanks for reading and do check back in a fortnight! 

 

Posted on Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 11:08AM by Registered CommenterX.Muslim | Comments16 Comments | References73 References

References (73)

References allow you to track sources for this article, as well as articles that were written in response to this article.

Reader Comments (16)

Wonderful reading- thank you so much! Indeed- all of you apostates are so needed- WE NEED YOU! We need you to help us and help those non-muslims who do not yet understand the dangers of islam. Your voices are hard to refute, and therefore so needed to help spread understanding. You do have non-muslim friends out there who understand and we want to support you. Stay strong murtadds. With Love and Respect- Sharmuta (of LGF)
March 27, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterSharmuta
Also- I sure hope you post more than bi-weekly. The Round ups are great, but I'd like to hear more from you too. :)
March 27, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterSharmuta
Wonderful new site! Great posts, links, and commentary! Looking forward to more!
March 28, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterBamboo
Muslihoon writes "Why are they insecure? Are they afraid Islam cannot endure challenges?

I believe there is an honest fear of scrutiny within Islam. Muslims, as a whole, have not faced the scrutiny that Christians have faced in the West. The world has become smaller and smaller over the last 50 years with radio, television, air travel and now the internet. Current times have snuck up on some Muslim countries and they are lashing back because they aren't prepared to face the future. We are dragging an entire culture kicking and screaming into modern times.
April 5, 2007 | Unregistered Commenterratherdashing
This is quite interesting, the announcements and comments of apostates. What are the numbers of apostates around the world, I wonder? Growing, as I hope? Of course, with Muslim money buying converts (in the early '80s, a Westerner in Saudi Arabia could earn over $10,000 by converting, but I have seen figures saying it's about $600 to buy into Islam an Ethiopian and his family).

I've met some wonderful Muslims, usually Iranians or Malaysians, but I occasionally wonder why they persist in Islam. Certainly peer pressure helps, as does the death sentence of leaving Islam. When I look at what Islam does to its believers, let alone its neighbors and unbelievers, I am amazed anyone could adopt such misery willingly.
May 5, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterComrade Tovarich
I want to introduce the world to a long overdue nomenclature that best summarizes those problematic elements whose resurgence is a threat to modern civilisation. "Nihilislam"


June 5, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterD. H. Immy
Thank you, this is such positive work you are doing.
June 10, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterBlazingcatfur
Muslims are afraid that if there is open scrutiny of their religion, droves and droves of them will abandon this 7th century Arabic colonialism disguised as religion.

In Indonesia for instance, if one becomes an apostate, it won't show on his national id card. No matter that you've marked your religion as Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, when you renew your card, if you used to be a Muslim, the government will not change it. You will forever be a Muslim, at least on your national id card.

One would think, so what. True, you don't need an ID card to tell you what you believe in. It's just that when you die you can not be buried in the same cemetery as your loved one, since you'll be buried in a Muslim cemetery.
June 24, 2007 | Unregistered Commenterjasmine
THE VERY FACT THAT MUSLIMS HAVE NOT WRITTEN ANYTHING AGAINST THIS BLASPHEMOUS BLOG SITE UNTIL NOW, IS ENOUGH TO SHOW THAT MUSLIMS CAN TAKE CRITICISM AND HOPEFULLY INSHALLAH ALL OUR RESPONES TO THIS WOULD BE VERY SANE AND LOGICAL AND BE A FITTING REPLY TO ALL THE LIES THAT U R TRYIN TO SPREAD!!!
June 28, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterPROUD TO BE MUSLIM
VERY IMPORTANT STATISTICS CONCERNING KORAN

By
Larry Houle
www.godofreason.com
intermedusa@yahoo.com


Muthuswamy cites research on the Koran, conducted by the Center for Political Islam, which illustrates the Islamic focus on conformist behavior and beliefs. According to the Center's analysis of the Koran, the Sira, and the Hadith, only 17% of the Islamic trilogy deals with the words of Allah. The remaining 83% refers to the words and deeds of Mohammed. Of all of the references to "hell" in the trilogy, 6% are for moral failings, while 94% are for the transgression of disagreeing with Mohammed. Statistical analysis of the trilogy revealed that 97% of references to "jihad" relate to war and a mere 3% to the concept of "inner struggle."

About 67% of the Koran of Mecca deals with punishing unbelievers for merely disagreeing with Mohammed. Over 50% of the Koran of Medina deals with hypocrites and jihad against unbelievers. Nearly 75% of the Sira deals with jihad. About 20% of the Hadith by Bukhari is about jihad. The majority of the doctrine is political and it is all violent.

In 4% of the cases, women were superior, in 91% of the cases they were inferior and in 5% they were equal. But there is a big catch. The only way that women are equal is after death on Judgment day, when men and women will be judged on how well they followed the Koran and the Sunna. And guess what? The only way to follow the Koran and the Sunna is to obey men. Equality means obeying men

Woman are superior by being a mother, who must obey her husband. So the perfect woman on Judgment day will be a mother, who obeyed all the men in her life. So really, the women are subordinate to men in 100% of all of the Koran, Hadith and the Sira.

January 14, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterLarry Houle
000000000000000
March 3, 2008 | Unregistered Commenterbuy viagra online
favorited this one, dude
March 22, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterMargauxtv
allah agbar
April 23, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterKa82
One afternoon, I was in the backyard hanging the laundry when an old, tired-looking dog wandered into the yard. I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home. But when I walked into the house, he followed me, sauntered down the hall and fell asleep in a corner. An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out. The next day he was back. He resumed his position in the hallway and slept for an hour.
This continued for several weeks. Curious, I pinned a note to his collar: "Every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap. "
The next day he arrived with a different note pinned to his collar: "He lives in a home with ten children - he's trying to catch up on his sleep."

I cried from laughter
Sorry, if not left a message on Rules.
May 2, 2008 | Unregistered CommenterMelissik

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.

My response is on my own website »
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
 
All HTML will be escaped. Hyperlinks will be created for URLs automatically.