Our Islamic obsession - the true need to stop demonising religion

A march in Paris as a result of an 'Islamic' inspired attack (Image: Daily Telegraph)

Let's talk about religion. Oh dear, I hear you cry. Whatever many think, I feel it is vital to get to the bottom of religion because it appears everything bloody and dramatic is being done in the name of it. From the first century when Jesus died on the cross, crucified by Romans in the name of God, to Henry VIII changing Britain's primary religion just so he can divorce.

But centuries ago, religion was a key factor in many decisions that were made. Things haven't really changed in the past century. Adolf Hitler killed millions of those who followed the Jewish faith because of their beliefs. Northern Ireland had to practically force a peace deal in the late 1990s because Catholics and Protestants were fighting against each other. Now, Islam is often pin-pointed whenever we hear about a conflict of some kind.

If you believe in the West-led media, it's currently Islam against the world. It's Islam that started terrorist groups. It's Islam that hates women and homosexuals. It's Islam that wants to take over the globe and enforce 'Sharia Law' to everyone's daily lives. It's a good thing many rational people have a mind of their own and not believe this guff.

Egypt beach volleyball side in action (Image: internet-us.com)

We talk so much about Islam, we're obsessed. Even I'm obsessed by writing about it here today. But in the world of social media, there's no escaping it. This August alone, we have read about burkini-dressed women escorted away from French beaches because they're apparently breaking the law. A British woman, who donned a headscarf, was booted out of an aeroplane because a fellow passenger falsely claimed she was a 'terrorist'. And what about the Egyptian beach volleyball team who, during the Rio Olympics, suffered a culture clash during a competitive match because they wore supposed Islamic garments? And that poor Syrian body who we saw tragic pictures of in recent weeks, becoming the symbol of the horror in Aleppo, thanks to 'Islamic State' bombs - another example of how a heightened story and sticking the same word to make a point can really ruin the reputation of a religion that wasn't meant to serve this way.

It is exhausting, trying to escape reading or hearing about people in the public eye being identified by their religion. Can't Mohammed be Mohammed rather than 'Muslim Mohammed'? Can't Jane be Jane and not 'Jewish Jane'? With an apparent rising number of those who identify themselves as atheist, or a non-believer, this figure is only going to rise if we continue to shout out that religion is responsible for either an atrocity of a huge scale or a tiny controversy that's blown out of proportion.

While I'm not loyal to a particular religion, I see so many positives for having them in society. Largely, they promote peace - love thy neighbour, and so forth. Today, many are integrating, sharing inspiring ideas, and creating harmony locally and nationally. It is such a huge shame that these aren't highlighted. Instead, we are seen to be the PR for terrorist groups who cast Islam, for this instance, in a horrendous light.

It is time we put a stop to demonising religion. If something bad happens, we must stop assuming religion is responsible and God is to blame. It seems almost automatic doing this, and the longer the finger pointing goes on, the higher chance of hatred furthering on forever. It's time for solutions, not sticking head under sand. In my eyes, this needs to be done in two ways.

Catholicism and Islam unite (Image: africanspotlight.com)

The first avenue is political. While I've often argued that politics should be separated from religion completely, we're sadly living in a world which some nations enforce it, such as parts of the Middle East and even Western Europe, where people aren't permitted to wear niqabs or burkinis. What happened to the power of choice? Not every Muslim woman wear headscarves, so why make it policy to either don it or else, or ban it altogether? We find ourselves in a situation where politics target religion when there isn't a need. This simply gives people ideas to make it normal to discriminate those who wear specific religious garments when we should all be perfectly entitled to dress whatever we like.

The second avenue is educational. In school, I was primarily taught Christian and Islamic faiths in Religious Studies. We were introduced to passages in the Bible and Quran. If you read them in full, some of it may appear 'backward', and we are perfectly allowed to disagree with what was written in them. But these were written centuries ago. Overtime, perception of certain groups of people will bound to have changed. Citizens in the year 4000 will say the same about the Daily Mail or Harry Potter books. They may be disgusted by our modern columnists and authors who we cherish and treat as our disciples.

The world is changing, it always has. It's natural and something we have to accept and appreciate. So let's not demonise religions because some create drama in its name. Also, let's stop talking about a religion as if the Bible and Quran have just been released. This obsession has got to stop. Religion is part of our identity, but doesn't define all our actions.