# What if the majority religion in our country was Muslim **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 22, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-majority-religion-in-our-country-was-muslim/558042 "2010-10-22T21:24:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-majority-religion-in-our-country-was-muslim/558042/41 "2010-10-24T07:42:20Z")
Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems like it’d be easier to pretend to be a Christian than a Muslim living in their respective fundy societies. Go to church, praise Christ – ain’t a thing. Islam has all these duties, dietary obligations, dress codes, and grooming habits to keep track of. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-majority-religion-in-our-country-was-muslim/558042/42 "2010-10-24T11:05:54Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > It would be interesting because Muslims are not secular. The whole point is God is part of ALL things and governement is part of that. > > There are a few countries like Egypt and Iraq that are nominally secular but that means they merely tolerate others not that they welcome them. And even then only a dictator keeps the people from voting in a theist state. 97% of the population in Turkey is Muslim. Turkey is a secular, parliamentary republic with no state religion. It has had universal suffrage for both sexes since 1933. Their constitution provides for freedom of religion. The influence of any religion, including Islam, is forbidden. Their form of government is strongly Western-influenced. Turkey has been a member of NATO since 1952 and their defense is closely tied with the U.S. Turkey may be the exception in the Muslim world, but they prove that secularism and Islam need not be mutually exclusive. I’m an atheist, FTR, so I don’t expect things to be different for me if the U.S. was predominantly Muslim, and expect that our government would continue to not based on or influenced by any one religion. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-majority-religion-in-our-country-was-muslim/558042/43 "2010-10-24T12:45:52Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I don’t think this is necessarily so. I think the big difference is that Christianity was a minority religion for the first three hundred years of its existence - it developed as a non-state religion. Islam, on the other hand, caught on quickly - it was a state religion within the lifetime of its founders. That’s a good reason, too. But would that have to be different for Islam to be popular here? Would Islam’s development as a state religion have made it harder to have persecuted sects that would want to form their own country away from everyone else? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-majority-religion-in-our-country-was-muslim/558042/44 "2010-10-24T13:36:24Z")
As a devout atheist, I had to hold my nose when voting “Better Christian.” Even with Christians in the majority, this is still mostly a secular country. I don’t see it continuing that way if Muslims are the majority. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-majority-religion-in-our-country-was-muslim/558042/45 "2010-10-24T13:43:30Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > 97% of the population in Turkey is Muslim. Turkey is a secular, parliamentary republic with no state religion. It has had universal suffrage for both sexes since 1933. Their constitution provides for freedom of religion. The influence of any religion, including Islam, is forbidden. Their form of government is strongly Western-influenced. Turkey has been a member of NATO since 1952 and their defense is closely tied with the U.S. And I assume they have a history of supporting LGBT rights? Not. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-majority-religion-in-our-country-was-muslim/558042/46 "2010-10-24T14:12:00Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And I assume they have a history of supporting LGBT rights? > > Not. That honestly did not occur to me. I had no clue as to what their track record is regarding gay rights. For that, I admit to being ignorant. Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-majority-religion-in-our-country-was-muslim/558042/47 "2010-10-24T14:27:12Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And I assume they have a history of supporting LGBT rights? > > Not. American Christianity hasn’t exactly been a shining example of tolerance for homosexuals either. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-majority-religion-in-our-country-was-muslim/558042/48 "2010-10-24T16:52:35Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > 97% of the population in Turkey is Muslim. Turkey is a secular, parliamentary republic with no state religion. It has had universal suffrage for both sexes since 1933. Their constitution provides for freedom of religion. The influence of any religion, including Islam, is forbidden. Their form of government is strongly Western-influenced. Turkey has been a member of NATO since 1952 and their defense is closely tied with the U.S. > > Turkey may be the exception in the Muslim world, but they prove that secularism and Islam need not be mutually exclusive. > > I’m an atheist, FTR, so I don’t expect things to be different for me if the U.S. was predominantly Muslim, and expect that our government would continue to not based on or influenced by any one religion. “Their constitution provides for freedom of religion” :rolleyes: Then explain why the “Vatican”, the Phanar, the headquarters of 300 million Orthodox Christians has their priest generating seminary shut down by the government. Andy why the law in Turkey now requires the church patriarch to be a Turkish citizen. By the hands of this “secular” government there will soon be no Orthodox patriarch in Turkey because the government has outlawed their ability to produce priests. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-majority-religion-in-our-country-was-muslim/558042/49 "2010-10-24T21:07:30Z")
I again find my ignorance fought. I was completely unaware of this. I clearly have an incomplete understanding of what life is like in Turkey, having gotten most of my information from Wikipedia and from other anecdotal sources. I apologize for not having a solid foundation for my argument. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-majority-religion-in-our-country-was-muslim/558042/50 "2010-10-24T22:25:10Z")
I have a friend from Istanbul that bounces back and forth from here and there. She says most people say they are Muslim, but don’t really practice it, like most US Christians, it would seem. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-majority-religion-in-our-country-was-muslim/558042/51 "2010-10-25T01:50:04Z")
Depends on what flavour of Islam would be in place, pretty lax like Turkey, Wasaabi or some Taliban nightmare. If it were like Australia is now, pretty secular but most people say they are Christian it would be no different to now. ---
**Author:** ![Norse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a9adbd/32.png) [@Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Norse)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-majority-religion-in-our-country-was-muslim/558042/52 "2010-10-25T08:12:02Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Muslims are not secular Just like christians. Or jews. You will find religious fanatics in all of the three “world” religions (judaism, christianity and islam), and you will find secular people in “jewish”, “christian” and “muslim” societies. It’s just that you notice the muslim fanatics more, since they are less similar to yourself. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-majority-religion-in-our-country-was-muslim/558042/53 "2010-10-25T15:22:10Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Loosely Muslim. Is that like, not true Scotsmen? No. It’s like the way that Mayan Indians in Guatemala, or voodoo practitioners in New Orleans, practice a syncretic religion that is loosely Catholic. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-majority-religion-in-our-country-was-muslim/558042/54 "2010-10-25T15:32:08Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > Depends on what flavour of Islam would be in place, pretty lax like Turkey, Wasaabi or some Taliban nightmare. If you’re talking about Wahhabi, that’s not one of the lax forms of Islam. Wahhabi is very fundamentalist and intolerant of any deviations from what it considers the only true religion. Not just Islam but the Wahhabi interpretaion of Islam - most Wahhabi anger is directed against other Muslims who they feel have strayed. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-majority-religion-in-our-country-was-muslim/558042/55 "2010-10-25T15:44:15Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > Depends on what flavour of Islam would be in place, pretty lax like Turkey, Wasaabi or some Taliban nightmare. Is “Wasaabi” a Japanese offshoot? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-majority-religion-in-our-country-was-muslim/558042/56 "2010-10-25T15:53:26Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > If you’re talking about Wahhabi, that’s not one of the lax forms of Islam. Wahhabi is very fundamentalist and intolerant of any deviations from what it considers the only true religion. Not just Islam but the Wahhabi interpretaion of Islam - most Wahhabi anger is directed against other Muslims who they feel have strayed. Maybe **sisu** was thinking of Sufi Islam, which is pretty moderate. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-majority-religion-in-our-country-was-muslim/558042/57 "2010-10-25T15:53:33Z")
“it would make no difference.” ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-majority-religion-in-our-country-was-muslim/558042/58 "2010-10-26T02:05:09Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Maybe **sisu** was thinking of Sufi Islam, which is pretty moderate. - did mean Wahhabi but I was eating some sushi as I typed!\* it should have read "Depends on what flavour of Islam would be in place, pretty lax like Turkey \*\*NOT \*\*Wahhabi or some Taliban nightmare. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-majority-religion-in-our-country-was-muslim/558042.md?page=2)