Thank you for your good answer
Thank you for going through the trouble of listening to it!
I do not say all muslims are good or that they do not do wrong.
Clearly, a very high percentage of Muslims are good people, and most are in fact remarkable for their sincere and deep efort at being good people.
And of course it is ok to make critique of those who do wrong. But what i do not agree in is that we can take every muslim under same umbrella and say everyone is bad. Because that is not a right view.
Very much not a right view. Not even arguably right.
Personally i do not fear any muslim or any other religious individ or religion. Ofcourse we should not go around killing those who are not agree with our own views.
So true. Unfortunately, it is just as true that historically we have, far too often.
IMO it is also true that very often we simply have not learned better ways of dealing with differences in culture, belief, and political opinion. If I read today's political trends even roughly accurately, there is a very frequent and strong undercurrent of expectation that attaining political power "should" be a license for
refusing attention and even basic respect for others.
Clearly enough, such a mindset is a sure-fire recipe for ever growing waves of resentment, authoritarianism and insecurity, as there is not even the willingness to allow other people to attain one's respect and good will.
Worse still, being consistently treated as unworthy and untrustworthy encourages people to play the part and perhaps to enjoy it even.
A lot of cultural issues has been mixed in to many religions and maybe this is where things go wrong? I do not know.
I don't think that religion and culture can or should be separated. But I do think that there is a lot of internal challenge and self-imposed hardship in certain beliefs, including what I can only describe as arrogance and victimization.
Very often people expect to be spared from facing difficult truths and from the need to achieve personal growth due to their beliefs. I do not find that a reasonable expectation.
But it is the constant negative view of islam that i wish we can end. Personally i have both met and been friends with many muslims both in Norway, but also in other parts of the world.
I am sure that you have, as have many, many other people.
Alas, I am considerably less certain that Islaam as a whole can be dealt with constructively without a considerable element of confrontation and direct challenge. At its root it has certain political and dogmatical traits that can not really be appeased in a constructive way.
Of course, the random Muslim will not necessarily be even aware of those, although I for one wish they were and had functional awareness of the implications.
I do not have all the answers to what we can do. But maybe we can start with seeing each others as human beings and not Muslim, Christian, Hindu or Buddhist?
That is certainly a good step. And one that may easily itself turn out to be a challenge to Islaam.