Okay, so I want to mention 5 things that really affect Islam negatively;
1) Isolationism; I can say that there will NEVER be more muslims than christians in the world with absolute certainty. Islam always put muslims before unbelievers at a cost. I believe muslims can learn something from how American christians operate. If America wants to destroy a muslim leader, they first send their reporters to find negative things about the muslim regime and then use it to gain support from buddhist China (generalisation) and atheist Europe (generalisation). They gather support from other faiths before attacking. Muslims on the other hand, are struggling with dawah. Just look at the other religion section on NL, for every atheist question, there are 20 christians ready to blast you with quotes and explanations from the bible. Everyone needs friends or allies.
2) Arabic langauage; I have tried and given up about learning islam in English. I dont know Arabic and so, learning about Islam is limited. I actually know more about Bhuddism and Judaism because these religions have enough resources in English. Even when you go to an English muslim site, there are quotes in Arabic.
People fear what they do not understand. How is your religion to survive if most people have to stress themselves to understand your religion?
3) Blasphemy laws; This is the best motivation to troll. Being a troll sometimes myself, (Yes, I am not ashamed of my addiction to derailing religious threads, especially christian ones), I can tell you that there is ultimate satisfaction when a religious person whines like a crybaby when their religion is criticized. You can not legislate the internet and free speech (No, hate speech against islam is not free speech). You can not have blasphemy laws to punish people for insulting Allah because;
a) Allah is not a human being. He has no human rights
b) You will have the problem of defining what constitutes an insult against allah; as an atheist, are you going to arrest me for saying "Allah doesnt exist" or arrest christian for saying "Jesus is the ONLY real God"
c) Criticism and asking questions is neccesary for the development of human beings
d) Silencing people with genuine intentions will cause anger and retaliation because they will feel cheated. "Draw Muhammad Day" started because of the banning of the south park episode with Muhammad. In America, comedy doesnt really have much limits and can make fun of anyone.
e) Many countries dont have blasphemy laws and the internet is global. Therefore, your religion can be insulted from another country with the troll protected by his country's law.
However, please note that I support fair criticism and not hate speech aginst muslim. I am not supporting statements like "All muslims are terrorists" or "Muhammed is a rapist" etc I support fair criticism. For example; this is how I trolled my muslim girlfriend- "how do you stop fasting during ramadan if you're in a country that doesnt have sunset because of midnight sun"
4) Sex; I trolled some Saudi's on the train the other day by squeezing my girlfriend. They were horrified at the sexual touching. I did it because they were already giving me nasty looks because they clearly were not happy that an Arab girl is with a black guy (I dont know if they knew I wasnt muslim). The hot slap I received from my girlfriend when we got home was worth it! I got troll satisfaction from the Saudi's horrified and disgusted faces.
Look, I get it. Islam is chaste and has rules on relationships and sex. However, your haraam doesnt apply to me or other atheists/non-muslims. If two people are kissing, why not let them be? Do you know why Thailand and Malta are better than Nigeria? Sex. Sex is power and money. People from US and Europe go to these poor countries to party and have sex. Sex and alcohol boosts economies.
The main point to be taken from number 4 is that sex makes the world go round and non-muslims like me just feel that Islam should chill and be more accepting of our differences on sex/sexuality. The Olympics brings money to host countries. Seriously, look at the olympics, do you think people watch volley ball or gymnastics just for the sports? Does islam approve of the outfits/uniforms;
5) Pigs; Yes, muslims dont eat pork. But does that apply to playing with pig toys? One of my muslim friends (a grown man) said that he didnt like my pig toy (which was given to me by my neice) and didnt want his daughter to play with it. Also, are muslims not allowed to touch pork? There was a story my cousin told me that he didnt like the the way a woman in Burkha (Who was the sales attendant at the counter in the supermarket) packed his items. She threw the pork sausage as quickly as she could into the plastic bag but was cool with the other items.
How can someone hate my pig from "angry birds"?
So, what do you think?
(please do not go down the route of saying that I am trolling/insulting islam, these are things that affect our everyday lives when muslims and non-muslims interact)