Why do I need to call myself an ex-muslim?
There are two parallel roads Muslims usually take when the horrendous topic of ex-muslims comes up
“You don’t like islam? Fine whatever, that’s your life, but why do you have to make such a big deal out of it?”
“How can you even call yourself an ex-muslim. There’s no such thing as an ex-muslim, you were never muslim to begin with”
Well let me break it down for you
I choose to call myself an ex-Muslim because leaving a system of living that is culturally, morally, and socially drenched with Islam is fucking difficult.
I choose to call myself an ex-muslim because -for many people- I don’t seem to exist. My reasoning for leaving and experiences are apparently invalid, and that my very personhood is negotiated as soon as it becomes apparent that I don’t share the beliefs of mainstream muslims.
I need to call myself an ex-muslim to make it clear that someone who is born into islam can leave islam, that someone born into a muslim family doesn’t have to conform to so called family values.
And most importantly, I call myself an ex muslim because i want to represent the opportuity for a meaningful life after leaving a system of thought that convinced me for so many years that everything unrelated to a specific definition of allah is meaningless.
