comment Expresses the writer's opinions.
The word “Islam” means submission. I remember the sentence from a textbook I read when I was studying the history of religion at university. But even better, I remember my reaction when I read it: Oh my God, what a stupid religion! In any case, Islam is not for me.
Yes, because that was actually the most important reason I studied this subject at university at that time, I was a research person.
It was only later that I realized how lucky I and many of my people were, who saw religions, ideologies and views on life as a buffet table from which we could choose at will.
If my parents were among the world's two billion Muslims, religion would likely not have been a matter of choice, but rather destiny. About something that has been decided once and for all by someone other than me. As it would have been if I had been born in Norway five hundred years ago.
It's easy to forget this perspective for those of us who grew up in a secular society, which has long made religion a private matter.
Tommy Sorbo
Tommy Sorbo is an art historian, author, and playwright. He wrote several plays and a number of books on art, aesthetics and social issues, among other things. Sorbo has worked as a satirist and humorist on radio and television, and is an active social debater, lecturer and tour guide.
Not a word about religion
We simply have difficulty accepting the fact that most people in this world do not relate to religion based on what they like, but rather on what they consider to be the absolute truth. This is almost regardless of how brutal and oppressive the religious practice is.
Therefore, many people miscalculated when the pace of migration accelerated in the 1990s. Not least among liberal immigration academics on the left, who have long held decisive power in the immigration debate.
They expected, or perhaps hoped, that when immigrants from, say, Syria, Afghanistan, Palestine, Somalia, and Pakistan met our enlightened part of the world, yes, they would distance themselves from the primitive, pre-modern features of their religion. Be it honor violence, oppression of women, social control, clan identity, gang loyalty, and lack of individual freedom.
When that didn't happen, they pulled the cultural card and made it clear that some of this had to be seen as part of their culture, and therefore something that we, with our background, had no right to criticize them for. In principle, every person had the right to develop their culture.
But with the ever-increasing number of cases of violence against women and gang crimes, immigration advocates have changed their interpretation. Now it is no longer culture that has become the villain, but rather the unfortunate consequences of social and economic conditions. The latest was in Dagsreven on Wednesday this week, where police chief Benedikt Bjornland explained the recent significant increase in youth crime among young people, with school dropouts, drug problems and cramped housing.
Not a word about religion. Most surveys conducted on youth violence show that young people with immigrant backgrounds are overrepresented in statistics.
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It is better to give a diagnosis of Islamophobia
I understand the police chief's fear of touching. A fear of touch that you share with many sociologists, social workers, and politicians. We have made the ability to practice religion a human right. A good thing that we are proud to have fought for. So what do we do if this particular religion turns out to be the cause of injustice, poverty and human rights violations?
The idea is so disgusting, unfair and irresponsible that it must be crazy. At least considering that there are two billion Muslims on the planet.
There are of course some independent sociologists who believe they can prove their claims about the negative impact of religion. One of them is Ruud Koopmans, who in his book “Islam Vorvalny Obsession” documents how violence, stagnation and lack of freedom in Islamic societies and environments are linked to Islam.
It is best to diagnose these people as Islamophobic, so that you do not have to take a position on what is on their minds.
It is likely that the responsible authorities will continue to avoid addressing the issue of religion for the longest time, when new cases of social control, honor killings, forced marriages, and gang crimes emerge.
Irresponsible students of religious history, who call some religions stupid, probably don't need to worry about that either. Perhaps today's students have enough business sense to submit to the most important principle of cultural relativism: all religions are equally good.
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Damn, it's not that serious with these women
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Therefore, Anders Magnus is the useful fool of the unjust imams
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