@ReasonOnFaith Atheists + secular humanists used to advocate for religious freedom. Now they demonize; contributes to anti-Muslim bias.
— Volkan Topalli (@VolkanTopalli)
Atheists, deists, agnostics and secular humanists still call for the freedom of and from religion. Read my short About page. Does that strike you as someone with an anti-Muslim bias or an anti-Muslim agenda?
If there is an anti-Muslim bias out there, it is not because of the intellectual critique of ideas by non-theists. I would posit that the rise in Islamist and Jihadist ideology and their actions are responsible for this.
I also believe that the problematic term ‘Islamophobia’ is partially responsible. It obfuscates the plight of actual victims of bigotry for ideological propaganda that is effectively saying:
You’re not allowed to intellectually critique this specific religion. Our ideology, no matter how homophobic, misogynistic or controversial, gets a free pass, got it!?
We can critique ideologies independent of people, but when some Muslims purposely create and repeat the conflation between critique of Islam and Anti-Muslim Bigotry, they are hurting their own people.
Twitter user Miriam said it best:
Islamphobia: a rational criticism of an ideology that hardly constitutes a phobia, used as a subterfuge to terminate an honest discussion
— Miriam (@miriamsassan)
Ex-Muslims and other non-theists stand with Muslims in condemning Anti-Muslim Bigotry. We suffer from it too.
Respectfully, I believe that what you see as a demonization is primarily a discomfort with the foundational texts of your belief system being challenged. However, I do not read your Twitter feed.
Please provide a specific example of where you feel that I, as Reason on Faith, am demonizing actual Muslims and I will respond to that allegation.
In the meantime, why not reflect on the foundations of Islam? Here’s a playlist of videos from the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain. Consider the very gentle and polite tone here, encouraging you to ponder with an open mind and an open heart.