Bangladeshi residents and others in Monfalcone say decisions to prohibit worship at cultural centres and banning burkinis at the beach is part of anti-Islam agenda
The envelope containing two partially burned pages of the Qur’an came as a shock. Until then, Muslim residents in the Adriatic port town of Monfalcone had lived relatively peacefully for more than 20 years.
Addressed to the Darus Salaam Muslim cultural association on Via Duca d’Aosta, the envelope was received soon after Monfalcone’s far-right mayor, Anna Maria Cisint, banned prayers on the premises.
“It was hurtful, a serious insult we never expected,” said Bou Konate, the association’s president. “But it was not a coincidence. The letter was a threat, generated by a campaign of hate that has stoked toxicity.”
Monfalcone’s population recently passed 30,000. Such a positive demographic trend would ordinarily spell good news in a country grappling with a rapidly declining birthrate, but in Monfalcone, where Cisint has been nurturing an anti-Islam agenda since winning her first mandate in 2016, the rise has not been welcomed.
I feel like I have to make a final comment, because I disagree strongly with the comment you linked. That being an atheist is about being cool and edgy. One of the main reasons I dislike religion in the first place (especially Islam), is due to all the horrible stuff happening in the name of some religion. Stuff like religous wars, hatred towards other religions, rejecting science, and controlling of others (especially women). You may call atheism a religion on its own, and that I hate muslims, but I disagree. It’s all about not tolerating the intolerant.
Well I hate that too and Ig I should have clarified that, for me religion is something you study and own but only for yourself, not something you impose on others, sure you can share it, but forcing it, a big NO
Science is comparatively not talked that much about in religion because it is not the main topic
Talking about quran specifically, I don’t think you will find anything that goes against established science, because all of the things it talks about are not some rocket science but rather everyday observations (plants growing, embryos etc), and I know it’s far fetched, but if you study comparative religion, you wont find anything in it that completely contradicts common sense, or is forced or bigoted, some strict rules that might exist are part of what you accept when you accept a particular religion/take part in something, and since there is no compulsion, I don’t think there is a problem (https://quran.com/al-baqarah/256)
And I would also like to add that that I understand your frustration, a tree is recognized by it’s fruit, you can’t say ‘Oh we are the worst kind of people, but my religion makes sense, see for yourself’, I think any sane person will respond somewhere along the lines ‘Why should I tolerate a tree whose products are rotten people like you’ or something idk I can’t seem to come up with anything better, so it’s something we all have to work on
Edit: And a lot of strict rules about women aren’t that strict to begin with, they were just made so by overly conservative people or people who somewhat misunderstood some quranic verses based specifically about the prophets household, thankfully most people nowadays are of a much more moderate position (see for eg nouman ali khan, he is stated as conservative by a lot of people, but you could see his stance his much different than what the media and extremely conservative scholars might make you believe)
So I will say, that your frustration is not completely unreasonable, but I will still maintain that taking someones basic right based on the fact that they are muslims is wrong, you can maybe put them in extra scrutiny when traveling or in public spaces, but stopping them from making a prayer? I don’t think so