100,000 Islam converts in the UK.

[anotheoldgit]

http://tinyurl.com/373hpny

Why are these women so keen to convert to the Muslim faith?

Will these converts be happy to become almost subservient to their husbands, or will they set an example to Muslim women of how they are being oppressed?

[sacha.86]

Thats what our society is lacking... Disaplin. Its the strictest faith in my opinion, isn't that a good thing?

[Oneeyedvic]

///All the best to her, but I hope she realises if she marries him, it's will be for life, not a bad thing really, but just like being a nun she will be forced into a strict behavioural way of life, with no turning back.///

Luckily, AOG knows all about the religion, having read the Koran, met many Imams and studied the faith over the last few years.

Most people's knowledge is confined to what they read in the gutter press.

[Raleigh]

Perhaps you could explain what threats RCs and Jews pose to our way of life venator?

[keyplus90]

////Why are these women so keen to convert to the Muslim faith?////

Yes, do think about that. Perhaps Islam is librating them from so called "liberty" west got them into.

[jake-the-peg]

I think some RCs in a particular part of our country were a significant threat for a long time Rayleigh.

You may have forgotten Tony Blair and Mo Molem managing to end that rather nasty chapter.

BTW - have you ever actually known any muslims? I mean personally?

[anotheoldgit]

/// AOG ought to try living in France as the Muslim percentage is more than double over here. And way ahead of us is Germany and the Netherlands.///

Yes but I wonder if they are treated the same in those countries as they are in ours?

[Raleigh]

jake-the-peg - yes I do know muslims, I regularly use two muslim run shops and my children do a paper round for one. I did use another such shop for a few years but the owner became increasingly bad tempered when serving non-muslim customers and in doing so lost a lot of trade. So I do not believe they are all the same.
As to your first point: yes RC's did pose a threat here some time ago, but we knew what they wanted and eventually negotiated with them. But for a few lingering nutters, that threat is gone.
And the Jews? What threats or attacks have been made by the few hundred thousand Jews here?

[jake-the-peg]

Well that's the point isn't it?

With how many billion muslims in the world we have a few nutters.

Of course it doesn't help when we run off with the Americans invade a muslim country and get 100,000 Iraqi civillins killed does it?

Rather plays into the hands of the nutters

[Raleigh]

The Irish 'nutters' had a simple, specific point. They wanted a united Ireland.
The Muslim fanatic's aims are slightly wider: they want Islam to be the world religion and any person - Muslim or not - who does not agree with this is a target for their hatred. If you believe that this has only occured because of the invasion of Iraq you are obviously not as well informed as you think. They do not need any excuse, for some it is a way of life - and death.
Trouble is, a small minority of fanatics amongst the billions can equal many hundreds of thousands. Probably a lot more than the total number of Jews in this country that a previous poster seemed worried about.
.

[boxtops]

AOG, you are falling into the common mistake of stereotyping. I know many Muslim converts - both men and women - and the women are very happy with their lot. They are not remotely subservient to their modern husbands who are conversant with modern manners and ways of living, they observe their faith, but they dress just like you and I do (perhaps a little more modestly at times) and they are very happy in their chosen path. I see no difference to converting to any other religion - if you become a Buddhist you don't shave your head and wear orange robes all the time. Women and men convert to Islam because they believe it offers them something in terms of religion, and a family structure with some rules and respect which appear to have been lost in much of the Western world. These converts I know (and the women I know who were born Muslim) are far from oppressed and lead comfortable free lives with understanding husbands. It's not all like the Taliban.

[modeller]

There are many people who need an excuse to hide away from society and religion gives them that opportunity. Convents and Monastries are examples of hide aways .
Some religions like Islam allows women to hide away behind the veil .
The freedom in the west is too much to cope with for many people and belonging to some cult, institution or organisation gives them some security . They don't have to make decisions they just need to comply to the rules.

[Kromovaracun]

eyethenkyew: Stop complaining, it's kind of annoying. While on web forums one does generally expect the Ed to justify their actions, they're not obliged to. Your dictator analogy is ridiculous.

AOG:

"Yes but I wonder if they are treated the same in those countries as they are in ours?"

There are plenty of people in France who make pretty much exactly the same complaints as some sections of the Right do here - go figure.

[birdie1971]

Boxtops (and others putting forward a similar point) - “... They [muslim women] are not remotely subservient to their modern husbands who are conversant with modern manners and ways of living, they observe their faith, but they dress just like you and I do...”

I agree but with a massive caveat - Muslim women in the UK are not afforded equal rights to their husbands because of Islam; they are afforded equal rights because of current UK laws. The idea that muslim women in the UK are equal to their husbands because of their faith is reasoning at it's very worst.

If you want to see how females are treated in true Islamic societies (ie. where male muslims have interpreted Islamic scripture and crafted man-made laws based upon the Koran) then have a look at the 'rights' of muslim women in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Sudan, etc. and then tell me that Islam considers women to be on an equal footing with men.

[parkie]

It's strange, isn't it, that anyone who converts to Muslim is headlined in the press but there are thousands of Muslims converting to Christianity but who cannot 'go public' for fear of reprisals.

[bunkmoreland]

Birdie hit the nail on the head there...in those Islamic countries,where women are subject to male dominance and much worse! That is the really bad example of Islam on the female population. However,although we have many wonderful Islamic communities where family and friendship rule,the fundemendalist influence is too prevailing as far as women are concerned.