So, I'm interested in Islam

[Munch]

I can tell you Deidre32, I have walked a mile in those shoes, in losing loved ones, friends, things that matter to me. But one thing I never lost though it all is what matters to me as a person, my analytically mind to the world around me, to the truth of what others want from you.

You seem like an intelligent, passionate person, which is why I'm imploring you to look deep into what you wish to follow here, and don't let grief cloud your ability to analysis and see what is really happening, such as in this cult called faith.

[SGOS]

This is a normal practice to seek out people with problems, and work on them when they are vulnerable.

People with problems desperately seek relief.  I get that.  My father suffered from depression all his life.  He was indoctrinated by his Baptist parents as a child, but later in life he returned to fundamentalism during a severe bout of depression.  He started talking in tongues and "gave himself up to God."  He died without ever finding relief from his chemical imbalance.  He did experience reduced symptoms from newer drugs from time to time.  Basically, he gave up moderate Christianity and  became a depressed fundamentalist.

[leo]

Deidre32 we can't know  for sure if any god at all exists or not but we can know for sure that all religions texts are man made stuff and  the deities as described in all religious texts are very unlikely to exist. The point is that all religions are manmade stuff not based in facts and truths about our reality.

[aitm]

The Chinese had math 1200 years before ole Adam got laid, and 1900 years before Mop-head crawled out of his cave, but god picked two ignorant warring tribes to reveal himself too instead of the ones with education....sounds right.

[Deidre32]

The Chinese had math 1200 years before ole Adam got laid, and 1900 years before Mop-head crawled out of his cave, but god picked two ignorant warring tribes to reveal himself too instead of the ones with education....sounds right.

lol ^_^

When we look at the history of religions, I tend to liken them to how each culture might have envisioned God, and how they wished to follow him, culturally.

Interesting to note, my Muslim friends here live far different lives, than if there were still residing in the middle east. I'm not naïve to that fact.

I can tell you Deidre32, I have walked a mile in those shoes, in losing loved ones, friends, things that matter to me. But one thing I never lost though it all is what matters to me as a person, my analytically mind to the world around me, to the truth of what others want from you.

You seem like an intelligent, passionate person, which is why I'm imploring you to look deep into what you wish to follow here, and don't let grief cloud your ability to analysis and see what is really happening, such as in this cult called faith.

Thank you so much for this, it helps to be understood, or at least someone is trying to understand where I'm coming from.

[Desdinova]

Thank you so much for this, it helps to be understood, or at least someone is trying to understand where I'm coming from.

I think most of us are trying to understand, but since you have been part of our community, and many of us have grown to like you, including me, we find it hard to let one of our own make a decision that we find illogical and hard to fathom.  Your presence here indicates that you harbor some doubt, if not outright denial, about faith and religion.  We feel like we are losing someone in a fog and when we find them again they won't be the same person.  It would be a shame.

[Hydra009]

Interesting to note, my Muslim friends here live far different lives, than if there were still residing in the middle east. I'm not naïve to that fact.

I had some neighbors who immigrated from Bangladesh around the same time as the Bangladeshi Liberation War in 1971 (excellent timing on their part).  They're good people and speak great English (their kids are native English speakers) and haven't seem to have much of a problem assimilating.  No turbans or burkas or IEDs that I know of, lol.  They're actually fairly center-left politically.  (The Jesus Party doesn't really appeal to them either, what a shock)

As for religion, they do fasting, prayer 5 times a day, and the Eid sacrifice.  The whole animal sacrifice thing is a little weird, but on the other hand, my family does pig pickins, so not that big of a difference.  They don't eat pork, but neither did a couple of Jewish guys I knew.  Not a terrible lifestyle, though I'd imagine that even those rules might be hard to keep.

Personally, I'd recommend looking into a variety or religions, even some nontheistic religions if you wish.  I can't say that I sympathize with your desire for spirituality - I don't have a spiritual bone in my body.  But hey, it's your choice.  Just pick something that you'd be comfortable with.

[Deidre32]

I think most of us are trying to understand, but since you have been part of our community, and many of us have grown to like you, including me, we find it hard to let one of our own make a decision that we find illogical and hard to fathom.  Your presence here indicates that you harbor some doubt, if not outright denial, about faith and religion.  We feel like we are losing someone in a fog and when we find them again they won't be the same person.  It would be a shame.

I have tears in my eyes reading this, wow. Didn't expect to read this just now. I've typed out a few things, and delete them. I'm rarely at a loss...but I am right now. Thank you for this...

[PickelledEggs]

aitm makes a great point. It did seem like you were choosing to "believe there is no god" when that is not how we really came to our conclusion. If we chose anything, we chose to analyze the facts, religions, and everything else that lead us there.... which is the main difference.

For me, my belief in god and christianity (which always was a bit relaxed) took about 4 years or more to transition in to a lack of belief of all gods and all religions. I didn't even choose it... I looked at christianity and thought.... this doesn't make sense because of (x)... I worked my way through a few until my last religion I was seeing if it was the one that I actually believed in was LaVeyan Satanism, where I realized they are just atheists with a set of rules. All of the religions, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Scientology, etc, were contradicted by science and when they weren't contradicted by the parts of science that I understood, they still were contradicted by everyday logic (They still were contradicted by science, I just didn't have the expertise to know what science it was at the time).

Think about it. 4 years... at least. For a suburban kid living on the east coast that never even had a hard grained belief of god to begin with. If it was a long journey for me, it can be also for you. You only ditched religion recently, so be patient. Explore everything objectively a bit.


Losing loved ones is hard. Right now, more than anything, I think you just need some friends to lean on. Someone you can talk to and grieve to. You lost someone that obviously meant a lot to you.  I don't blame you for feeling a void. Death is tough and is really depressing... :(

[Aroura33]

Deidre, I haven't really gotten to know you like others here, as I have been on a bit of an break. That being said, I'd like to tell you how sorry I am for your loss.  My grandmother lived with us when I was growing up, my mom and dad helped take care of her, but she helped take care of me and my brother.  She was like a second mother to me.  When she passed away, I was devastated.  Many people don't understand how hard losing a grandparent can be, if they were not close to theirs.  So my deepest sympathies on your loss.

I wasn't an atheist back when she died, but I hadn't been going to church, I was drifting away from Christianity.  But after she was gone (her health decline was fast, just a couple of months), I started seeking more faith.  I went to a dozen different churches seeking to fill the void Grandma had left behind, but none of it worked. I even looked into other religions.  After some years, I drifted back into semi-disbelief, which eventually led me to full blown atheism.

My point is, it is normal to look for something to sooth the pain.  But Islam, for you in this situation, is no different than taking up drinking because it helps fill that hole.  The pain will ease in time, and your mind will come back to itself. If you need to explore spirituality more, do it!  But I do worry about a woman joining Islam as well.  It isn't just the extremists.

I live in Oregon, and our community has a pretty good sized Islamic population.  They all seem nice.  They wave you in through busy traffic and smile when passing a grocery store just like other nice people.  The men look no different than other men.  But the women....always behind the men wearing clothes that make them stick out like a sore thumb, rarely meeting the eyes of strangers, carrying along the shopping and the brood of kids while hubby leads like a parade. 
Even moderate Islam makes my heart cry. 

I hope you find what you are seeking, but I sincerely doubt that what you are seeking can be found in Islam. 

[Chris topherbrow]

I think most of us are trying to understand, but since you have been part of our community, and many of us have grown to like you, including me, we find it hard to let one of our own make a decision that we find illogical and hard to fathom.  Your presence here indicates that you harbor some doubt, if not outright denial, about faith and religion.  We feel like we are losing someone in a fog and when we find them again they won't be the same person.  It would be a shame.

Thank you for supporting Deidre!  She understands her decision.  It is a mystery to me but I admire her decision in the face of her receiving so much criticism and even what may be the loss of friendships!

Im glad to see people supporting her on an Atheist website!

((Hugs)) {{Deidre}} Even your critics love you...how could anyone not!   

[Deidre32]

I'm fascinated with your decision to consider Islam as the seat of your spiritual future. I, for one, would appreciate watching your journey and gaining some insight into your personal submission to Islam - as it occurs.  A couple of questions if I may?

Are you considering Sunni or Shia?

How did you chose one over the other?

Hello :)

For now, it's a matter of exploring the religion in a general sense, with prayer as my focus...I like the prayer life of Islam. I lack structure, not a very structured type of person, and it helps me in that regard. I know, there are other ways to become structured...lol But, I find the prayer life edifying, as it's probably the main thing I miss (if anything at all) from my days as a Christian. (tbh)

Something I've also been exploring is Sufism, which is a mystical way of approaching Islam. It's pretty involved though from what I've examined, but it is very interesting to me.

The downside of the Abrahamic faiths in a general sense, is that they tend to place god in a box, if you will. He is this, he is that. He likes this, doesn't like that. I mean, some of that, I don't subscribe to.

But, I'm well aware that Islam is all about surrendering one's self to God. So...right now, in the exploration stage.

Airing things here, with people who don't 'know' me ...has been very good for me, as you all keep it real.
Thank you. :)

[dtq123]

You are better than most, and like I said we are here for you whenever you need it 

[Deidre32]

Maybe you should watch this, and look at all the links in the description of his video first before you consider islam as a choice for you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQjTLGgQV2w

I'm sorry for what you've been though Deidre32, I understand that feeling of needing something to comfort you when things get really bad. But I'm not going to split hairs here, islam is a terrible faith, a savage one that teaches the worst things towards others, and all your be doing is cherry picking parts from this faith and ignoring all the hideous, barbaric teachings it tells its followers to subscribe to.

At this stage, I'm exploring it...and there is a lot of beauty within it, that I've found. I've read some interesting articles about the life of Muhammad, and how depending on what 'scholar's' work you read, he was misunderstood. I've read that he wasn't a wager of violence against non-believers, he was defending the faith, etc. I've read some very hard passages in the Qur'an, and it is still in a learning phase for me. But, if I'm honest...I cherry picked much of Christianity, once I became an adult. :/

I can't believe I'm at the doorstep of religion again. Sheesh, I honestly thought I would never return to an Abrahamic faith...and I need to do some reflecting on why that is. I mean, a person can be deist, he/she doesn't have to be a theist. Why am I drawn back to theism? I sometimes wonder...if I had been raised by atheists, if all of this would cease to matter. I know atheists who do convert in adulthood, but most of my atheist friends, including men I've dated, have been life long atheists and they have no clue as to the struggle that one goes through after deconverting from a particular faith.

[Deidre32]

You are better than most, and like I said we are here for you whenever you need it 

aw, thank you!