Another mass shooting at a gay nightclub by a muslim man who had called 911 and mentioned his allegiance to ISIS. Authorities are still figuring if it is ISIS directed or ISIS inspired. I am not gay, nor am I a Muslim, but I am hurt by hate because here the answer to homophobia is not Islamophobia.

I am writing this post because of the amount of hate mongering that is happening around us. I am writing this because it is important for us to rise above the fear that the enemies of humanity plan to instill in us and divide us.

Islamophobia by non-muslims is exactly what organizations like ISIS wants to happen so that they can deceive and trick more muslims into their filthy agenda. So in my opinion fighting islamophobia is also in a way fighting ISIS and terrorism in the name of religion.

That being said I am not one of those people who will say Islam is a peaceful religion every time someone wrecks havoc in the world in the name of that religion. I will not say that because I believe inherently every religion is violent because they were created in a barbaric era… in the brutal past of our human history. All religions were born at a time when we humans were much less civilized and knew much less about our world than what we know today. So it is a fact that the code of ethics of every religion is outdated and needs serious refinement and this refinement should happen from within the religions.

Islam is not alone and you can find violence in the history for the Christian religion, you can also find wars that form a very integral part of the hindu religion in the past. But we have seen refinement happen. Even now refinement of religion can happen and should and will happen.

It is also true that we see more violence today being initiated in the name of the Islamic religion than any other religion and it is important for us to accept that fact as well; Also understand that it is the muslim community that is impacted most by these religious terrorism. This is something that we all need to seriously debate, both non muslims and muslims alike. Why is it happening and that could have its root in not just religion, but also politics and economy and more.

I believe that any religion is made peaceful not because of its doctrines but by the people who follow it and over years they refine the religion to discard irrational dogma and even probably enter a simple path of spirituality that does not just live on the agenda of identifying themselves as different from people of other faith or faithlessness. It is that refinement to have the ability to accept diversity. That feeling of oneness….

As an Atheist I call this oneness feeling as ‘humanity’ where as a spiritual person sees everything as a part of divinity. As long as humanity or divinity is not constructed on top of a discriminatory outlook we still have hope. You can find spiritual people in Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and other religion who do not succumb blindly to strict religious traditions but identify with a religion just enough to be spiritual. These people also do not find a reason to defend their religion or even fight for it. It just becomes a personal preference. Faith becomes a personal matter of the truth seeker.

I am not gay and I am not a muslim but I know how difficult it is to live freely in a world when some people have homophobia and some people have Islamophobia. I consider both phobias to be bad for our society because I share this society with people from all walks of life who have an equal right to be here and be loved and be responsible.

When the incident happened the Imam in Orlando came out and condemned the act and I read a lot of reply comments filled with anger that flowed back. Rather than seeing this and many other outreach programs put forth by muslim people during the occasion as a positive sign of solidarity many are resorting into hate mongering, which is not right.

It is very tough for each one of us to imagine what happened in Orlando, having to survive amidst flying bullets. But what we all need is a collective effort because ISIS and such terrorists are targeting our way of life. It is targeting the life where people can live in both agreement and disagreement through debates and peacefully protests. There is a civilized solution to a problem and that is not violence or hate mongering. It does not matter who does it but hate mongering just makes our society more cynical.

I am not gay nor am I a muslim but I know the right thing to do is fight homophobia and Islamophobia in the same vigor and support the muslims who are fighting against terrorism within their religion.

I will end this blog with what one of my muslim friend’s posted on Facebook

“Sad, shamed and exhausted apologizing for people killing in the name of religion.
Pain sees no sexual orientation. Bloodshed sees no borders. These are trying times for humanity.”

It is indeed a tough time for each and everyone of us. I am not gay nor Am I a muslim, but I am hurt because of homophobia and because of Islamophobia

Categories: Articles, Articles & Opinions, Opinions, Society

Tags: homophobia, Orlando