The respect islam craves

Submitted by Sean (Spain), Jan 18, 2008 at 15:56

Ten years ago if you'd stopped your average Brit in the street and asked him to name as many of the world's great religions as possible I'm sure most Brits would have attempted to rattle off some list and islam may well have been included. Things have changed though and I like many other average Brits, five years ago, would never have even heard the terms Sunni and Shia let alone Wahabbism, burka, etc, etc.

Now if you were to stop your average Brit in street and ask them the same question you would probably get a bit of a pause before Islam was included in the list. People don't really know what it is, but in their heart of hearts I'm guessing they don't believe it's a religion anymore.

So to help them clarify their own perception of what islam is I've developed a multiple choice question. It goes like this..

Which of the following for you best describes islam?

A. A religion
B. A religion with political themes
C. A political ideology with religious themes
D. A political ideology
E. A cult

I'm guessing most people have moved off of A and are making there way further down the list. I know I have. Feel free to use this question.

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