In all truth its a mixed bag and the following will be shared with prejudice and positive. I’ll start with my prejudice and hopefully finish on a positive note…
I acknowledge that I am bigoted from having been at war with the followers of Mohammad my entire adult life. Although I acknowledge that is geopolitical. I was born in the West and when I went to war I did so not against the faith but in defense against the attack that took place upon my country on 9/11 coupled with the expulsion of a Fascist Dictator in Iraq for in my eyes how could every other generation of Americans hear the call to arms and I feign being deaf to such a call.
So I enlisted in the Marines for love of country. Ideologically speaking at that point I had no dog in the fight for at that time my enemy was an oppressive regime. After Saddam Hussain was toppled and the radicals moved in I had to dig internally to understand their fight. Coming from a Western nation who spent more time abroad I found more of a connection with my enemies than my own citizens. The men I engaged with in combat did so to preserve their country and way of life. Which in truth are at odds with where I am from. To this day I still respect my enemy.
Concerning Islam and those who practice the faith the core difference between the 2 lye in the fact that Islam requires you to submit to Mohammad and you have to do so 5 times a day. For the devout they project the desire to submit to a higher power. Which is where my divide comes into play. To me the act of submission is an act of subservience to something. Thus making you a slave and stealing your individuality.
The Christ AKA Jesus rebelled against the establishment who wanted to “Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” He also gave salvation to those who make the conscious decision to follow not to submit but to transcend and choose your path to “salvation”.
In my travels and conflict in the muslim world I have found that the identity of self is removed. Which is why everyone is named Mohammad and one has multiple siblings with the same name. Essentially stripping the individual of their own personal identity. You become apart of a collective much akin to that of socialism. Whereas in the west the individual is celebrated were your culture, sexuality or gender identity is protected.
When I was in Kabul and I saw women in the Burka totally devoid of their ability to even be seen as themselves I knew I would die before I would ever allow that to be the fate of my daughter. The distinction between the rights of men and women is so stark that woman are veiled in a way they have no individuality at all. They are masked and replaceable by the next form hidden behind a curtain.
With Islam “in MY perspective” they are protecting what they value above all else. Which is their mothers, wives and daughters but in doing so steal their abilities to truly be themselves and contribute in a way that can advance the world. Where as in the West we leave woman open to harassment without the protection that is rightly deserved.
This closed society that rigidly puts people into their prospective roles retards their ability to be the person they were born to be.
I believe that men and woman are equal who serve the society as a whole in different roles both of which should be equally respected and that choice as to how they want to contribute should be given to the individual Independent of the sex they where born into.
Concerning my Islamic friends- They have been some of the most caring people I have ever met. Who took time out of their busy day to help me through what I was facing. Interacting with them and the dynamic they had in the home was not oppressive but complimentary to the “natural” roles we were intended for but there was still a divide. If anything it was a more natural one that showed respect for the complimentary way in which men and women behave.
I do not hate muslims nor the faith but I recognize the divide that exist between the 2 cultures. I am a Western man who currently fights for the survival of true equality of all humans but I ultimately side with my own camp because I feel it gives the individual the most freedom and choice for ones self.