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Freedom Of Speech And Islam


Deut28Thirteen

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Also.. of the 'observant' muslim women I've seen, in Houston... none of them smile.

Something is terribly wrong.

Hmm. I'm not gay and they don't smile at me either. Guess they're not observing very closely!

(Or maybe too closely. The great thing about being fat and bald is you don't have to worry about _getting_ fat and bald! :lol: )

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Hmm. I'm not gay and they don't smile at me either. Guess they're not observing very closely!

(Or maybe too closely. The great thing about being fat and bald is you don't have to worry about _getting_ fat and bald! :lol: )

To be clear, all this gay talk was just a joke at Bryan's expense...since he's sensitive to these kinds of things. But yeah, there were a fair number of observant Muslim women at UH, and I've seen them smile; you just have to do something that endears them to you, if only ever so slightly...and be receptive...one smile usually brings out another. Hold a door for someone, nod, make eye contact, smile. Pick up something that they dropped, return it, nod, make eye contact, smile. To the extent that they seem distant, I can't help but wonder if it's just a learned behavior because most Americans feel intimidated by traditional garb or have a preconceived idea that it's an impenetrable and insular community, and thus avoid talking to them. I'd probably come off as distant, too, if people actively avoided socializing with me.

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I understood the gay talk to be tongue-in-cheek and I thought my response was in kind. You (TheNiche) probably have more experience with Muslim women than I do, although I have encountered a few. I've always tried to be polite but I thought it was respectful to minimize anything that might possibly be construed as flirtatious in any way, such as a smile or eye contact.

Yes, innocent things like that which one would normally expect in encounters between non-Muslim male and female strangers, I try to avoid because I don't want to offend or make them uncomfortable. For all I know, that may make me seem aloof to them, but that's not my intent.

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I understood the gay talk to be tongue-in-cheek and I thought my response was in kind. You (TheNiche) probably have more experience with Muslim women than I do, although I have encountered a few. I've always tried to be polite but I thought it was respectful to minimize anything that might possibly be construed as flirtatious in any way, such as a smile or eye contact.

Yes, innocent things like that which one would normally expect in encounters between non-Muslim male and female strangers, I try to avoid because I don't want to offend or make them uncomfortable. For all I know, that may make me seem aloof to them, but that's not my intent.

I've had some dealings with them, and I don't treat them any different than anyone else.

Perhaps just minding your manners is probably the best thing you can do.

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To be clear, all this gay talk was just a joke at Bryan's expense...since he's sensitive to these kinds of things.

Here I thought you were suggesting gay men were hardwired to be incapable of differentiating between a smile and a frown on a woman... which would go a long way as to explaining why they're gay.

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Here I thought you were suggesting gay men were hardwired to be incapable of differentiating between a smile and a frown on a woman... which would go a long way as to explaining why they're gay.

Ha!

But no, Marmer, the clarification that this was a joke wasn't directed at you personally. I had just read back through the conversation...and there are only so many posts that you can keep a joke going before people start taking it seriously.

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  • 2 months later...

All this talk about female Muslims made me realize something. Out of the dozens of clients I've worked with from Saudi Arabia I've never seen a female one.

Women have to have permission in order to leave the country.

Most Muslims live in Indonesia, India, and Pakistan. The problem with Saudi is that it is using its wealth to spread its version of Islam.

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  • The title was changed to Freedom Of Speech And Islam

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