Okay so I have an opinion about this ongoing court case with regards to the opening of the mosques during lockdown but I'm not sure whether I should share it or not.

Okay screw it. This might be a long thread but here we go:

For some background info. I grew up in a very religious household. My father is a part of the more concervative end of the Dutch reformed church. Sunday church services were compulsory come hell or high water. I did 13 years of Sunday school. I was borderline dogmatic religious.

That being said I am agnostic at this point in time. I left the church 5 years ago, to the dismay of my father, because I could not see the values that were being spoken about and what was being done by people in the church overlapping. Nothing irks me more than this.

I am currently reading the Quran and learning what I can about Islam. I find much of it very beautiful and some of the people I love and respect most in my life are Muslim. This is where my opinion of the court case comes in:

We are living during a pandemic. Lives are at risk. As a human being I think this should be the first consideration. It is fundamentally wrong to put anyone at risk. I would personally not want any of my actions to ever lead to the death of another. Period.

I don't think the Muslim community wants this either. The argument that this lockdown is infringing on religious rights is not founded in rationality. It is religious dogma.

The same dogma I left 5 years ago.

This kind of thinking is not the goal of religion in my opinion.

I believe we all should have religious rights. But more importantly, we have a religious responsibility to the people around us

Because what is religion if not a way of life, a tool to try and improve our lives and the lives of the people around us?

Would going outside and gathering do that?

To be frank.

No.

I would add that making this argument makes a mockery of the struggle of people who are having their religious rights impeded.

The Uighur Muslims in China are going through hell. They can't even practice their faith at home without being prosecuted, let alone at the mosque.

Perspective is everything.

This pandemic will not last forever and I pray that it doesn't decimate our vulnerable population.

From a religious perspective. I believe God is everywhere.
He is not limited to a place of worship.

To quote the Persian poet Shams Tabrizi:

"We believe that God sees us from above, but he actually sees us from within"

We can be religiously good. From home.

This tragedy has already claimed hundreds of thousands of people's loved ones. Let's make sure our actions don't make it any worse than it has to be.

This is my opinion. Feel free to disagree. (end)