Islam isn't the scary monster people say it is, it's just another oppressive religion: What I learned in 30 minutes talking to two Muslims.

Today after work I was walking home.  I had hopped off my L90 bus near the town hall and walked up George Street towards Town Hall Station but I wanted to stop at Starbucks first so I walked on the same side of the road as the Town Hall.  There were Muslims handing out brochures.  Because of my curiosity and working in the media I picked one up. 

It said, "About Islam: A brief introduction" so I read it and stopped.  One of the first phrases was, "The Arabic word Islam literally means submission to the one true God (Allah) alone".  My immediate thought was, well that's not too different to other religions.  They all want you to submit to God and live by God's rules not anyone else's and not the laws of the world.  Due to the negative press Islam has been receiving and my own bias against Islam I decided to go back and ask some questions.  In my mind the questions were, "so if Islam says you have to submit to God then isn't that just the same as other religions?" and I also wanted to ask about the Muslim dress like the Chador, Hijab, Niqab and Burqa.

I went back and chatted with two nice guys, Anwah and Roy.  I'm not sure if I have the names spelt correctly but Anwah certainly didn't seem like a terrorist.  He just seemed like someone strong in faith who wanted to spread the word.  And he said that the difference between Islam and Christianity is that Muslims believe that God is almighty and they do not see Jesus as the son and the father.  They see Jesus as a prophet and the son of God/Allah.  So are you with me so far?  It seems like Muslims and Christians aren't that dissimilar.

Other questions I wanted to ask were why Muslim women wear the Hijab etc, and Anwah's answer was that if you had a precious diamond you wouldn't want to show it off the world.  This is a valid point but I still think the clothing is oppressive.  He also raised the point that other religions require women to cover up too - Nuns have to, and in Pentecostalism women are not supposed to even wear make up.  That's pretty standard across all religions.  He said that it's only really in the last few years that people have become more relaxed about what women wear.  He gave me a brochure about the hijab and the basic bottom line was women wear it because they want looks and appearances to be taken out of the equation.  In other words it means that instead of women being sex objects they're treated as people on the inside.  In some ways this could actually prevent eating disorders and reduce pressure.  It would be interesting to know if the rate of eating disorders actually is lower in Islam as a result of the Muslim dress.  Even though Muslims would say the burqa, chador and niqab are not oppressive I do think the burqa and niqab should be banned as they are simply inappropriate in Australia.  And as for Muslim men, they grow beards because that is what Mohammed did according to the Koran. 

Of course, given I was there I had to ask him about ISIS in the sense of, "is it like how some pedophiles are Catholic and some terrorists happen to be Muslim but the two are not necessarily interdependent?" and he basically said yes.  He said that Muslims do want Sharia Law but not in the sense that ISIS is going about things.  He seemed peaceful based on the 30 minutes I spent chatting with him.

Apparently women are allowed to speak in Mosques too.  The only time women can't speak is during prayer.  Further research shows that some men don't want women present in prayer, BUT this wouldn't be exclusive to Islam.  Take for example Hillsong, Hillsong and other churches run women's conferences and men's conferences and in the business world there is still "an old boys club" which very few women manage to break through, but some do.

Throughout history all religions have been guilty of inciting violence and hatred based on their views, but in reality, in my view, based on the half hour conversation, I don't hate Islam anymore.  To me it is like all other religions.  It does oppress and it does restrict freedom, but as I say, that's true of all religions, so if you're going to hate Islam based on how it oppresses then in reality, you should hate all religion not just Islam.

Some people are against Halal because it's like having Islam shoved in your face, but is it really?  If someone wants to pray before killing an animal does that really affect the taste of it?  As long as we still have choice of what we buy and don't have to forsake our Australian values to make religious minorities happy I couldn't care less.  Research shows that even cat food and fitness snacks are halal.  It's harder to escape than you think, but at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter, just don't stop selling certain things to appease a minority and we're all good.

And it is for this reason I am agnostic.  I prefer to live by my rules not a God/Allah which may or may not exist.  Religion has no place in the modern world.  You're either a good person who believes in not killing and respecting your neighbour, or you aren't.  You don't need religion to give you the virtues of common decency.