Very well said, Jeff. Thank you very much

Submitted by A very concerned reader (Australia), May 12, 2021 at 06:05

Hello, hello Jeff!

So good to hear from you! I'm upside down, but I got your greetings! ;)

Thank you so much for your post. I feel I am very aligned with your thinking whenever I read something from you. Yes, like me, you know well that there must be plenty of Muslims that have already abandoned their faith but cannot say to anyone at all. Blasphemy and apostasy entail a great price to pay that, of course, no one is ready to pay. As I said a few days ago, I can't blame them. But let's keep focused on what is underlying: Hypocrisy is the backbone of Islam, always after fear. The rest of them live and breathe for Islam. Even those who engage in haram things and get blended so well with the Western mass.

I love your last paragraph, Jeff:

"People are complex, we all have our dark side. Religions try to control our dark side, to contain it, to shrink it, to give us good reasons to shove it aside. The forgiveness of sin (which presupposes the existence of sin) is central to Christianity. But one religion seems to cater to that dark side. Slavery, still legal. Marry a 9 year old. Marry four 9 year olds. Sigheh. 21st century witch trials. Dhimmitude. Death to America. Death to the Jews. Death to the Shia. Death to the Ahmadis. The only religion spread by the sword (as pictured on the flag of Saudi Arabia). Anyone who wants to prove me wrong, please do so. Please".

After reading this, all I can say is yes. Islam is the only religion that not only does not condemn the very dire facts that you have enumerated, but it also keeps on justifying them and practising today. The child brides, slavery, the death penalty/torture/punishment for apostasy and blasphemy, the war against those who dare to oppose them, and many more terrible things still happen. The list goes on. Too much for the religion of peace. Just typing this, my eyes get teary of both frustration and pain.

Jeff, as you pointed out very well once you responded to one of my posts lately, the fact that my experience took place among ordinary people does give us more reasons to be frightened and concerned. That is why I decided to post here finally. People need to be aware of what I learnt, and I am so happy that you could see it so well. What I am saying here many times is not an isolated fact. I have witnessed it already more times than I would have liked it after my experience. The Muslim guy who looks so charming, perfect and integrated, who claims himself, of course, religious but understands that certain things can't be implemented in today's world or make any sense, one day, gets rid of his mask and says just the opposite. Furthermore, the Muslim guy affirms that all those who dare to say something to mock his prophet well-deserve to be punished and even die. What about terrorist attacks? Well, more than likely, they would deserve it. Needless to say why. You all know. And the old "an eye for an eye" is allowed and promoted by Shari'ah. This is how it goes. So no, moderate Islam cannot exist as much as I would have liked to believe in it.

I love what you say about religions born to control the dark side we all human beings have. When it comes to Islam, like you, I just can see that this religion brings out this dark side to the surface by allowing all the things that you have mentioned, among many others, equally heartbreaking. Even more, one man becomes closer to their god by following these Islamic preachings. And if they sin by, for example, loving someone outside their religion -what an irony that love in Islam is a sin!- they only need to pray their salats, and all sins will be wiped off.

They can't prove you/us wrong by any means, Jeff. With their holy books -I have to repeat again-, even and despite being translated at their whim, we have all the evidence we needed to know that this religion cannot bring peace, love, respect and equality by any means.

Thank you for getting back to me, Jeff. It is always a pleasure to read your posts. Take care and greetings from Down Under!

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".