Sometimes I feel frustrated by how difficult it is to even find something to agree with when I hear Muslim apologists. Attempting to guess why they make such extreme, unacceptable and often all-out immoral claims and what could be worth listening to behind that all can be very bothersome.
Worse than that, it also distracts me from the actual issues that could be discussed to reach constructive understandings. It is true that such understandings have a remarkable tendency to drive people away from Islamic beliefs, and that may help in explaining why apologists so rarely further these, but things are as they are.
Still, fair understandings should be pursued nonetheless and proper, valid arguments and perspectives are a valuable gift to attain. So I will attempt to collect some here in this thread.
Contributions are welcome, with the following ground rules:
1. Attempting to convince me of the truth of the Qur'an, let alone that I should somehow prove that it is wrong, is a non-starter. I have wasted far too much time down that lane already. What I am interested in is at another level of practice and argument altogether.
2. Likewise, I have no interest at all in discussing how the evil Western values are supposedly oppressing poor helpless Muslims. There is a time and place to rightfully discuss how serious military intervention in Muslim-populated areas is. Not in this thread.
3. I reserve the right to add additional rules as needed, depending on how much pressure away from proper discussion is brought here. I am attempting to understand where apologists come from, not to "give them a chance". They have no chance, not with me, not with a religion of conformance and scripture and theism, not with Islam.
Given these admittedly strict constraints (although they are considerably more open than many will understand or admit), what is there to consider about the appeal and values of Islam that is not fit for summary riddance?
First and foremost, the love for a stable society with clear, reliable, predictable social roles. I can certainly see the appeal of having a fairly good idea of what one should expect of the future and of the people one knows. It is too bad that this so often ends up feeding homophoby and repression of basic personal freedoms, but nonetheless I think this appeal should be recognized and given a measure of respect. Attempts to dissuade away from Islamic beliefs, necessary as they are, would do well to recognize this factor and attempt to work with it instead of against it. People feel a legitimate need for predictability, a degree of recognition for their efforts and personal dedication, commitment and support from others. That is no small conquest.
A related appealing element of Islam is the fairly succesful attempt at equanimity. For all the qualifications that must come with it, Islamic societies tend to indeed have a significant degree of roughly equal respect for most people and social classes. It is too bad that the exceptions tend to include theocratic and military leaders, but I suppse human nature can't very well be denied. All the same, these somewhat socialistic ideals must feel appealing to those used to the often cruel inequalities of "the West", of some competing religions, of many poorer countries. I only wish they were a bit more honest about the limits of the reach of those ideals. It is at the very least disconcerting to hear Muslims claim that "Islam has no Priests" and the like.
