Just a note: A professional blogger I am not, but I am trying to be more consistent for anyone who wishes to read what I have to say.
Political - Religious Commentary
Normally I try to limit my comments on my Facebook wall about religion and politics, especially my views on Islam because many people automatically have their own assumptions and opinions. The issue for me is I see so many misconceptions on Islam and Religion in general and then add in politics or geopolitics and it makes me very sad indeed. First a little about me and then perhaps this will give a better understanding of where I am at in my perspective of these issues. I also want to add I am neither democrat or republican - I consider myself an independent as I prefer the issue rather than the party lines.
I am a mid-westerner by birth, Wyoming to be exact and my religious background was none specific. My father felt that I should be able to make my choice of belief when I was old enough. This did cause some issues as my mom was baptized into the LDS (Latter Day Saints) church when she was young - her mom's family was Mormon since shortly after the church was founded. Dad on the other hand was Baptist - but none practicing.
Mom at the time of their marriage had become distanced from the church so as you see my religious background was very none specific. I had gone to a Lutheran Church, Methodist, been exposed to Catholicism, Pentecostal etc. When I had reached adulthood and moved to where we live now I became more exposed to the LDS church. It wasn't until 1994 after the birth of my sons that my choice of religion became a passion for me. It was funny how this happened - my oldest son who was born in 1984 came up to me one day (we were trying to raise them in both the LDS belief system and Islamic belief system) and asked me "Mom I want to believe the way you believe and I want to believe the way dad believes, Who do I believe". It was like being punched in the stomach and if my jaw could have it would have dropped to the floor. I was doing the same thing to my boys as my parents had done to me and it made me realize I was making a huge mistake. Why? The reason is children need consistency and we were not giving them that as far as their religious beliefs. One mistake parents make when it comes to teaching children religion is they are either to harsh or to lenient. Parents have to be consistent and balanced. If you are to harsh you will drive your children away and if you are to lenient then your children may not have conviction so it is a very delicate balance. Children should always be taught ethics, caring and understanding and if religion is properly used it can enhance these attributes.
I did a lot of soul searching after that question and a lot of research on Islam. Hubby and I had been married for about 12 years at the time so I had some exposure to Islam. We did not live in or near an Islamic community - in fact at the time we had just barely met our first Muslims in the area. Well, as I said a lot of research and soul searching and I decided to take my Shahada (this is what Muslims do when they become Muslim) it is the declaration of faith. There is no God but Allah (Arabic for God) and Mohammad is his prophet.
Shahada
To be continued:
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