This piece is risky to write for several reasons, but I just need to say it: Muslims are not on the Earth to kill non-Muslims. It seems to be hard for people to understand this very basic truth. I will also admit yes, there are people who call themselves Muslim and in fact kill people. They are not the majority.
What has prompted this from me, you are definitely wondering. Well, Twitter. I saw someone I follow Tweet:
I read @caveheraa's tweet, and though I agreed with the sentiment, I decided to look at what @vanish_forever was saying too, so I opened up their tweet and saw:
Now that you've seen the tweets that have kindled something in my soul, let's talk about them.
What's happening to Uyghur Muslims is disgusting and horrendous, and I could write a whole book addressing it, but if you don't know what is happening to them, you can click here. The Chinese government claims state atheism, and they are totally okay with the annihilation of a specific group of people with a "different" religion. If we break down why it's happening and what China is doing to the Uyghur Muslims, it's essentially forcing their religion–or lack thereof–on these Muslims.
When we talk about ISIS or other terrorist organizations that claim they are doing the work of Islam, the Western world is infuriated when they kill non-Muslims (as they should be), but when it's Muslims on the wrong end of terrorism, everyone wants to use excuses. What do I mean?
Organizations like ISIS and governments like China are killing people. When people say they want to have stricter regulations to stop organizations like ISIS, I'm all for it, except usually those stricter regulations just mean officials and officers being meaner to me than a non-Muslim standing behind me. We need to learn how to tackle terrorism in all its forms–Muslim, White supremacy, and Atheist.
It's high time we stop kidding ourselves that no religion is the solution. You'd be offended if I demanded you convert to Islam in the name of peace, so you shouldn't be surprised when I'm offended that you want me to be an atheist in the name of peace. However, if you are an atheist and you want to be my neighbor, borrow some salt and talk about the weather, I'm totally down for that, and I'd hope you'd be down for that too.
I'm so tired of people acting like violent behavior is due to religion. I don't know actual stats on this, but from what I do know, almost all religions I've heard about preach peace and respect. Even Atheists I know follow a general “goodness” moral compass. At the end of the day, humans are the problem. We are so focused on our own pride and ego that if things don't fit our way, we turn to violence and anger. It's part of our human nature, unfortunately, and personally, my religion is what helps me stay centered. We all need to focus on finding what centers ourselves instead of enforcing rules on each other.