Lemmy's ignorance about the basics of the islamic religion is even more depressing. It would be easier if everyone who replied just admit they like the idea of gay muslims because it sounds progressive when A) Islam is a lot stricter than most sects of christianity and has not changed over the years and B) As a muslim you can't pick and choose which rules to follow. With homosexuality explicitly banned, you can't call yourself muslim as a gay person. In islamic countries you'd probably be jailed for publicly admitting you're gay.

But go on, tell me I'm ignorant when I actually live in the middle east and actually know what I'm talking about. I wasn't going to bother replying because I don't care, but the amount of "umm actshually" replies is annoying.

[–] ashaman2007@lemm.ee 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

You are getting replies because you are posting opinions that don't hold up in the real world. As a former Catholic I know from first hand experience the crisis of identity that occurs when your personally held beliefs start to clash with your local culture and the doctrine of the religion you gew up with. It is not surprising (hence the effectiveness of this con) for someone to still identify as a member of a religion that explicitly rejects their belief system.

I grew up thinking that the LGBTQ community were lost souls who faced damnation if they did not remain chaste (official doctrine), which of course led to deep prejudices resulting from this "othering" of queer people (Catholic community culture). For years after I began to disagree with the official doctrine and recognize my prejudices, I still identified myself as Catholic. For those who grow up in religious environments the religion becomes an integral part of your identity growing up, and it is not easy to let that go.

My personal experience is that I still felt hope that the Catholic Church's doctrine could be changed, and that my participation in the community could help bring that about. It took a long time to realize this was a lost cause, and that reconciling my internal conflict required real action. Telling my parents I was no longer Catholic was one of the hardest things I ever did, and I am no longer close with them.

So, to sum it up: someone who identifies as both gay and Muslim should not be an object of ridicule by default. Everyone's experience with religion is different. I hope this gives you a new perspective; sometimes things are not as simple as they seem. The article describes a pretty impressive con job, which was realistic enough to last for years...