Yeah, no shit...

I traveled through the middle east and north Africa before 9/11 happened. What shocked me was that there were no women out in public. It was all men for the most part and often the men were holding hands with their male friends. I guess it is just part of the culture. In Cairo I would see some women out in public. At restaurants the wife would have to lift up her veil to take every bite of food.

I will say that I never felt in danger or intimidated in the least. In fact everyone was very respectful and giving. People I met wanted to talk to me about current events, history, etc.

After living in North Africa and the Levant for 15 years, marrying a Muslim girl and coverting for the marriage I can tell you its only a Jew or a Christian who I can count on to trash a religion (Islam) or a culture. Arabs and Muslims NEVER trashed the cultures outside their own. What a lot of chicken heads on this board refuse to accept is the fact the moderate, normal, majority of Islam has nothing to do with IS.

you need to visit some islamic countries that have not been graced by US democracy you will find a completely different picture of islam...I can honestly say that western culture can not hold a candle to peaceful islam, simply because of how decent and "pure" MOST of them a brought up...things like profanity are looked down upon and virtues like tolerance and patience are held in the highest regard...sure in the USA people drive fancy cars and buy 2000$ ihones but branded stuff and having a better car is not a high priority for everybody in the world, based on branded cloth and being a hipster one can argue that muslims lead a "worse" life but it is completely not true...

as for "liberty"....well the USA holds a huge part of the worlds prison population...it is SO easy to be arrested in the USA, I remember reading about guys being arrested for importing lobster tails in plastic bags rather than in boxes :1orglaugh so "freedom" is very very relative...Im sure theres a great reason for no plastic bags, and only boxes, I really believe this, BUT in an islamic country they would have just told you to get it in boxes next time, you would not go to jail or have to pay 200.000$ to a lawyer or have to pay 100.000$ fine USA style...

the shaira crap is blown out of proportion...the "impose islam on the rest of the world" story is also only in the heads of US media and US voters...

So basically you converted so that your wife wouldn't burn in hell for being married to an infidel, not because you find it a good/better religion?

You should visit some London suburbs...

I just remembered that I have real life example from one converter. He was in the same school. Most funny thing was that he painted his eye circles black, and even during winter he came into school through ice and snow, wearing just some thin Arab robe (well.. he had also some jacket). He didn't convert just to being muslim, he converted to Arab. :)

You think Buddhism is Zen?

I spent 5 years in London, well not in the suburbs, but had plenty of contact with the muslim community. I went to a proper british school where we had morning mass to sing to an imaginary friend in the sky, the headmaster of the school would would go ballistic against anybody who did not believe in the local version/brand of christ and I spent a whole year of my education grounded in the school library during break as punishment for being an eastern euro atheist...He would punish students for not singing "up to par" :1orglaugh

Fact: I did not have freedom of religion/atheism in LONDON, and I find it amusing that westerners complain about how pushy muslims are with their religion when they do the exact same thing.

Yes you did. You could've simply moved to another school.

oh in that case everybody on the planet has freedom of religion, they can simply move...problem solved...

Solid logic. :1orglaugh

There are religious schools everywhere. Jewish schools, Muslim schools, Christian schools, all of them teaching the pupils their own religion. If the school you attended was such a school then you should've complied with its curriculum or moved elsewhere. Attendind a religious school isn't mandatory. And if this wasn't a religious school, then it was the parents' duty to report the headmaster to the proper instance.

all the schools in the area are "saint_something" it was kensington and not the suburbs...moving was not a choice...I was 7 years old and never had contact with religion in my life...most of the foreign pupils in my school got the same treatment...also in neighbouring schools, they all have morning brain wash before class...

for comparisons sake during my stay in Libya, where they spray women in bikinis with acid, I got freedom of religion in school and the teachers went out of their way to explain my atheism to the other kids and to explain "islam" to me and they were completely ok with my atheism and did not treat me like a sub-human...

just saying...

Because they're stupid. No other explanation needed.

I hear you and you make a good point. Still, you can't dismiss the fact that freedom of religion in Western societies as a whole is higher than in pretty much all Muslim countries. When was the last time they allowed a church to be built in their country? Or, fuck forbid, a synagogue?

what you get in the form of immigrants in London is not exactly the creme-de-la-creme of any society...the refugees and the desperate are usually from small 3rd world towns and villages where life is practically impossible...the educated and civilized foreigners usually account for a small % of the total immigration to any western country, considering the huge amount of refugees you get...the same refugees come across a non-tolerant society and are alienated by the locals...

this gives western people a skewed view of islam in general...they are, for the most part, the kindest and most honest people you will ever meet save for the Buddhists...the shaira crap is present only in a few countries and is actually supported only by the oppressive government and blown waaaay out of proportion...

Most muslim countries have churches and sinagoues...I have presonally seen synagogues in morocco, turkey, indonesia, kuwait, iraq, iran, kuwait...I am not sure about saudi arabia they probably do not have one and say jemen?...but thats just 2 countries in the world but hey theres no mosque in the vatican?

look:
Maurice Motamed - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

this guy is a jew how was a member of the iranian parliament...

GoFuckYourself.com - Adult Webmaster Forum - View Single Post - only in the UK #ShariahControlledZones

GoFuckYourself.com - Adult Webmaster Forum - View Single Post - only in the UK #ShariahControlledZones

bullshit and you know it...I will fly over to london make some "hail hydra" posters and get the well renowned journalists from such fine publishers like the daily mail and the sun to print "hydra takes over LONDON AND IMPOSES HYDRA LAW"

this is what you basically posted LOL:

http://cdn.bleedingcool.net/wp-conte...s-nigh-007.jpg

BBC != Daily Mail

I would have to say for young dudes it is the promise of submissive women and power, and the chance to "fight" all the hate directed at them.

For the women, it is the traditional role. The big secret about women, that they'll only tell you if you know then well, is that they're conflicted and sometimes wish for loss of control, not just in bed, in life.

Islam seems like an extreme form of that for women to me, but so do most fetishes, crimes, religions, political beliefs, appetites and hobbies. I guess I'm not an extremist that wishes to annihilate myself within a larger group so I have less understanding.