# 30 Days: My So Called Life as a Muslim **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 30, 2005, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-days-my-so-called-life-as-a-muslim/310465 "2005-06-30T03:07:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![marymargaret](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@marymargaret](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marymargaret)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-days-my-so-called-life-as-a-muslim/310465/41 "2005-07-01T20:47:56Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Haven’t seen the episode in question, but I saw the first two and loved 'em. I definietely did an :eek: when the “Fountain of Youth” side effects started to roll in… What happened with the fountain of youth? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-days-my-so-called-life-as-a-muslim/310465/42 "2005-07-01T20:48:15Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > One prophecy says that the messiah will enter Jerusalem on a white bronco. . I think it’s “eatting a white burrito” which is obviously a mistranslation of “eatting white falafel” ;j ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2005, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-days-my-so-called-life-as-a-muslim/310465/43 "2005-07-02T00:05:07Z")
> [@marymargaret](#): > > What happened with the fountain of youth? Liver problems inside of two weeks, low sperm count + dead sperm, wild mood swings, the wife was on the verge of tears near the end, yadda yadda yadda. The doctor going around saying “I have never seen anything like this” was _not_ reassuring… ---
**Author:** ![marymargaret](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@marymargaret](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marymargaret)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2005, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-days-my-so-called-life-as-a-muslim/310465/44 "2005-07-02T01:28:53Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Liver problems inside of two weeks, low sperm count + dead sperm, wild mood swings, the wife was on the verge of tears near the end, yadda yadda yadda. The doctor going around saying “I have never seen anything like this” was _not_ reassuring… What type of stuff were they doing/not doing? ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-days-my-so-called-life-as-a-muslim/310465/45 "2005-07-02T02:21:05Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > 1. He learned that Christians are idiots who unfairly demonize Islam. I had never seen any of Morgan Spurlock’s work before. I just happened to channel surf by 30 Days and it caught my attention. Luckily it was at the very beginning of the show. I expected it to just the kind of ham-handed, simplistic dreck that you assumed it would be. But I was pleasantly surprised. Dave (the Christian) was ignorant at the beginning. It was easy to see him as stupid, but he proved that was not the case. He showed himself to be sincere and interested in learning as much as possible about his host family and their culture. The Islamic people were not presented as universally flawless and wonderful. The first Imam was pretty much a dope and was unable to provide Dave any useful information or guidance despite Dave’s express, repeated pleas. Both Dave and his hosts were portrayed as sincere, devoutly religious people. I ended up respecting Dave far more than I had expected to at the beginning of the program. Also, the “Did he just flip me off?” moment at the end was just priceless. So **Astorian** , with all due respect I have to ask: Did you actually see the show before making your criticism, or were your comments rooted in the fact that you disagree with Morgan Spurlock’s politics? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2005, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-days-my-so-called-life-as-a-muslim/310465/46 "2005-07-03T11:49:30Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > As for the episode in the OP, I don’t understand why **Sampiro** is surprised. There’s always been a lot of ignorance in the US about Islam, and it’d be a trivial effort to go to any American city and find someone willing to spout their ignorance. Not to mention their ignorance about the Bill of Rights. The people complaining about the call to prayer must not realize that the First Amendment covers freedom of religion as well as freedom of speech. ---
**Author:** ![threeorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@threeorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threeorange)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-days-my-so-called-life-as-a-muslim/310465/47 "2005-07-04T10:21:33Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > I liked the show (and I like the concept in general) but I was a little disappointed that they didn’t challenge some of Islam’s most misogynistic tenets. I suspect that many American Muslims deal with the misogynistic tenets of their religion the same way that most American Christians and Jews deal with the [misogynistic ideas](http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/women/long.html) in theirs; by pretending they don’t exist, or by downplaying their importance. Culture of place often trumps religious ideology. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-days-my-so-called-life-as-a-muslim/310465/48 "2005-07-04T11:50:59Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I was glad that he (the Christian) used Eric Rudolph and Timothy McVeigh as counter examples when asked about terrorists being indicative of all Muslims. Haven’t seen the show yet, the fuck-twits ignored my demand to not work 2nd shift. So I’m taking everything I see here at face value. I’m just curious why the reference to McVeigh and Rudolph. Personally, I celebrated McVeigh’s death with a beer and a New York Strip cooked on the charcoal grill. (You gas types deserve a perma Pit thread unto yourselves) 😛 However, neither of them had any real sway over Christians as a whole. Being Christian isn’t what rallied them to whatever cause they wanted to promote, it was _SHOCKER_ hang onto your hats, folks, A hatred of the current (at the time) Administration. (A recurring theme you may see around here.) The Muslims that are causing the stress are the Imams. You know, those leaders of the peaceful religion calling for death to the “Infidels”. I love reading posts from Dopers that cite the Crusades and the Inquisition (that happened centuries ago) as reasons to shun Christianity, but fall all over themselves apologizing for what’s happening with the Islamic faith. There are leaders of the faith calling for the death and destruction of any person or country not following them. Fellow Doper, this likely includes you. And if you’re in America, it’s guaranteed to include you. Listen up, they want you dead. That’s not rhetoric, nor a warning, nor a threat. It’s real. They want you dead. That’s the plan and end goal. If Pat Robertson, Billy Graham or anyone on TBN preaches us Christians have to kill you heathens, it will count as a point against us. I don’t see it happenning. Muslim clerics are preaching hate, firing up “the base” to kill us, and it seems the apologists only want to ignore it and mention past sins from 50 years or more. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-days-my-so-called-life-as-a-muslim/310465/49 "2005-07-04T11:55:16Z")
And I just realized this is CS. Post was way over the top, written in a Pit mood. Please accept heartfelt apologies, and if the mods would oblige, just delete the post altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2005, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-days-my-so-called-life-as-a-muslim/310465/50 "2005-07-04T21:38:40Z")
No apologies needed, but I do have to add that I don’t know of anybody in this thread who’s ever made a blanket “Muslim Fundamentalists are just misunderstood” thread; some of us have been flamed for being _too_ critical of their beliefs. As for deaths not being ordered by American religious leaders, it has happened: Edgar Ray Killen will be in prison until he’s 140 or dead for that offense. Robertson and Falwell are too legally smart to outright call for the deaths of gays and liberals, but both have accused Clinton of everything from murder to theft, attributed natural disasters and acts of terrorism to gays and feminists, and remarked on how lovely it would be if the liberal SCotUS judges would just suddenly “not be judges anymore”. Both Rudolph and McVeigh were associated with white-supremacist/ultra-right cults whose members did call for acts of violence. The Klan once boasted a membership of 1/10 of the entire U.S. male population and gained major political clout in at least three states. I love America very much, but we do have our own homegrown violent religious wackos here. Thankfully other circumstances prevented their becoming really powerful. ---
**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-days-my-so-called-life-as-a-muslim/310465/51 "2005-07-05T04:43:13Z")
**Duffer** , I agree that your “pitting” was over the top. One misconception you might want to clear up - the idea that Islamic religious leaders are primarily behind terroristic groups etc. Is Osama a cleric? Khalid Sheik Muhammad? I think what you’d see, looking at an Islamist terrorist group, is a “secular” leadership (ie not religious leaders eg imams or religious scholars eg ulama). There would certainly be extremist imams and scholars backing them up, I don’t deny that, but they’re not the prime movers. Beyond that, your rant, like every rant on this topic, fails to acknowledge that Islamist terrorists are a very small percentage of the largely peaceful Muslim population, and the scholars and imams backing their actions are a similarly tiny lunatic fringe (equivalent to the Edgar Killens or Fred Phelpses of Christianity). ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2005, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-days-my-so-called-life-as-a-muslim/310465/52 "2005-07-05T05:34:40Z")
Yes, I understand it’s a very small minority. Keep in mind though that for a few years I’ve read I and all other Christians get lumped in with the likes of Phelps often. No, Osama isn’t a religious leader. I was talking about the many leaders that actually do promote the violence of jihad. In the name of Islam. Again, I forgot that I was in CS and it had no bearing to the overall thread. Again, I apologize. Heat of the moment and all that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-days-my-so-called-life-as-a-muslim/310465.md?page=2)