Post by sugarJackal on Jan 24, 2021 15:23:48 GMT -6
I used to be Islamophobic. It's not something I'm proud of, but looking back, I can confirm that my notion of Muslimah was very skewed.
I viewed hijab and other religious veilings known in Islam as oppressive, but I was always met with the argument that it was a liberating choice.
As I chose to focus on countries where being seen in public without veiling meant death or violence (Somalia and Saudi Arabia, for example), I couldn't understand what they meant. And then, I had my first interaction with the goddess I am dedicated to. It led me down a new path, Religio Romana.
After my conversion, I noted the deep suggestion that I should be covering my head in public and when outdoors. I don't know how to describe the suggestion other than a nagging in my head. So, I bought three turban scarves at a secondhand store (I'm committed to reusing things, for the environment's sake) and tried it out.
I get it. I get it now, I absolutely get it. Places where a beautiful religion has been militarized aren't the majority and shouldn't be seen as such. In most of the world, Muslimah have the option to wear hijab, and if they do, it really is their choice. I learned later that Roman mystics would cover their heads while praying to receive their gods' prophecies without distraction, and that married women, as a matter of modesty, also covered their heads when in public. I learned that hair was considered to hold a woman's magic power, and so protecting it was of utmost importance. So, I continued to cover my head, to show my devotion to my gods, receive their prophecy, keep my modesty, and protect my hair.
Things have changed for me, in bursts of both divine and personal urgency. Lately, I find myself rushing to greet the world. To offer a hand to struggling strangers. Inviting them to games, getting people's hacked accounts straightened out, offering to help people who are struggling with resumés, and feeling an overwhelming sense of love and wholeness with everyone and everything around me. I find myself rushing to "lay down the law", to push basic ethics and critical thinking on radicalized people who were so far gone that they had tunnel vision. I know I need to learn to pick my battles, but I've never said "no" to anything in my life. It's not in my nature.
Something resounding in my head always tells me, "there's a better way", and by goodness, I intend to follow through with that as far as I can take it. I don't think there's a limit to what people can do. We've been to the moon, we've built machines to speak to people across the globe instantaneously, we've made the most beautiful art, written the greatest poetry, so why not this? Something I've finally come to realize after all these years, is that being human is something we all have in common, and we can work with that.
I viewed hijab and other religious veilings known in Islam as oppressive, but I was always met with the argument that it was a liberating choice.
As I chose to focus on countries where being seen in public without veiling meant death or violence (Somalia and Saudi Arabia, for example), I couldn't understand what they meant. And then, I had my first interaction with the goddess I am dedicated to. It led me down a new path, Religio Romana.
After my conversion, I noted the deep suggestion that I should be covering my head in public and when outdoors. I don't know how to describe the suggestion other than a nagging in my head. So, I bought three turban scarves at a secondhand store (I'm committed to reusing things, for the environment's sake) and tried it out.
I get it. I get it now, I absolutely get it. Places where a beautiful religion has been militarized aren't the majority and shouldn't be seen as such. In most of the world, Muslimah have the option to wear hijab, and if they do, it really is their choice. I learned later that Roman mystics would cover their heads while praying to receive their gods' prophecies without distraction, and that married women, as a matter of modesty, also covered their heads when in public. I learned that hair was considered to hold a woman's magic power, and so protecting it was of utmost importance. So, I continued to cover my head, to show my devotion to my gods, receive their prophecy, keep my modesty, and protect my hair.
Things have changed for me, in bursts of both divine and personal urgency. Lately, I find myself rushing to greet the world. To offer a hand to struggling strangers. Inviting them to games, getting people's hacked accounts straightened out, offering to help people who are struggling with resumés, and feeling an overwhelming sense of love and wholeness with everyone and everything around me. I find myself rushing to "lay down the law", to push basic ethics and critical thinking on radicalized people who were so far gone that they had tunnel vision. I know I need to learn to pick my battles, but I've never said "no" to anything in my life. It's not in my nature.
Something resounding in my head always tells me, "there's a better way", and by goodness, I intend to follow through with that as far as I can take it. I don't think there's a limit to what people can do. We've been to the moon, we've built machines to speak to people across the globe instantaneously, we've made the most beautiful art, written the greatest poetry, so why not this? Something I've finally come to realize after all these years, is that being human is something we all have in common, and we can work with that.