Ex-muslims
That must have sent a shiver down some Muslims’ spines. So taboo. The worst sin you can ever commit in the eyes of Allah is- no, not murder, or rape, or child abuse, although those are considered heinous. Nope, it’s apostasy. It’s shirk. Because how dare you use your brain and decide Islam is a load of hooey. How dare you stand up to Allah and declare you find evidence of his existence to be insufficient. Allah doesn’t require your worship, your slaving devotion. It’s YOU that needs him. And he’ll make sure you remember that, when you’re roasting in the pits of Hell for all eternity.
But wait, isn’t he more merciful and loving than your own mother? And isn’t he Self-Sufficient? Why does he care what a bunch of pesky humans believe? I certainly wouldn’t give a shit if I were Allah. I’d be the most Powerful of all- the one that created the fucking universe and everything in it. Yet Allah does care- so much that he loses his shit at the very idea of us not bowing to his will. So much that to him we are the worst of the worst- having received Guidance and turned our backs on the world’s most peaceful, tolerant religion. So much that he mandates his Servants on earth to disown, imprison, and/or kill us- for the crime of holding a differing viewpoint.
As an ex-Muslim living in a Muslim majority country, run partly by Muslim law, I know my right to apostatize is not recognized here. I’m forced to lead a double life amongst my conservative Muslim family. The pressure to keep up the facade is threatening my emotional health. I can’t expect the State to protect me from being forced under religious tyranny by my own community. I should have a right to religious freedom, I should have a voice in my country, to speak openly and freely about my experiences as someone who left the faith.
I certainly don’t blame Muslims as a whole for this. My best friend is a (liberal) Muslim, and coming out to her made no difference. She loves me all the same- before deconversion and after. And there certainly are many Muslims like her, who view me as a human being first, an ex-Muslim second. But the Muslims who think otherwise are far greater in number, and their voices drown out the sane ones. And their religion gives them the ammo to be hateful. It needs to stop.
I’m glad, however, that things are changing. The newer generations of Muslims are far more accepting of differences than their elders. Or maybe it’s just that tumblr is full of open-minded Muslims, haha. Either way, it’s an encouraging pattern and I hope it continues.
