I have to post the most ignorant comment i've yet to hear from a family member.
It was after dinner and as Mohammed was yet again watching Peace TV, I went and got the book i'm reading to amuse myself until he'd leave the room and I could put the news on.
He spotted the title, which was 'Inside Hamas' by Zaki Chehab and asked what it was. I explained it's an account of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist militant organisation and political party. He asked if the book said they were good or bad, I replied it's written by a Palestinian and I don't know yet as i'd just started reading it.
I mentioned the author's a journalist and Mohammed said, "You're not a journalist now, are you?" to which I replied no, i'm reading it because I like reading about such things. It reminded me how careful I have to be about this blog, if anyone finds out i'm writing it, I don't know what they'll do.
Then came the comments. He said, and I still can't believe he did, "Hamas is the best Muslim organisation in the world. The second is Osama-bin-Laden's (Al-Qaeda) and the third is the Taliban". I mumbled something in agreement and buried myself in my book.
This is an excellent example of the ignorant way in which my family follows our religion. As long as you're Muslim, you can do no wrong. Doesn't matter what you do, how many people you kill, if you're Muslim, you're doing it for the right reasons and everything will be forgiven or accepted when you die.
They don't see that some extremists use Islam as a means to their own ends, creating a negative image of the religion for people such as myself.
In their make believe world everything they and other Muslim's say and do is right, regardless of what nonsense it is. Anyone questioning any part of this, whether their authority, the religion or way of life is ostracised or needs to change the way they think.
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