# Why Do So Many Muslims Want to Kill Apostates? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 20, 2015, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-muslims-want-to-kill-apostates/740911 "2015-12-20T08:44:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-muslims-want-to-kill-apostates/740911/41 "2015-12-21T10:14:48Z")
> [@Waymore](#): > > Care to provide any examples of things people on this board get wrong about Islam? Sure, browse through this thread: > **[Professor at CHristian college suspended for her outspoken support of Muslims](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=778412)** > > Dr. Larycia Hawkins, an associate professor of political science at Wheaton College, a small Christian college in the Chicago suburbs, has been suspended for professing support of Muslims. Interestingly, the suspension is ostensibly not for wearing... ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-muslims-want-to-kill-apostates/740911/42 "2015-12-21T10:16:32Z")
> [@Tithonus](#): > > I have. It didn’t go well. Now can we please stop this hijack. Well then, you’re like the guy who lost his keys a block away, but is looking over here because the light is better. But yeah, I’ll leave you in the competent hands of **Waymore** , who has already answered your question. Good night all. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-muslims-want-to-kill-apostates/740911/43 "2015-12-21T11:08:29Z")
> [@Tithonus](#): > > I have. It didn’t go well. Now can we please stop this hijack. Why? What did the people on that board tell you? ---
**Author:** ![Memnon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Memnon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Memnon)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-muslims-want-to-kill-apostates/740911/44 "2015-12-21T11:29:53Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Why? > > What did the people on that board tell you? They basically told me to fuck off, called me a hater, deleted the thread and revoked my posting privileges. The thread only got about four responses and none of them were at all useful. To be fair, it was my first post and they probably thought I was just trolling them. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-muslims-want-to-kill-apostates/740911/45 "2015-12-21T12:00:40Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > The numbers above refer to the chapters and verses of Deuteronomy, which I assume is one of the books in the Quran. [You assume incorrectly.](http://quran.com/) ---
**Author:** ![T.M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ad7895/32.png) [@T.M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.M)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-muslims-want-to-kill-apostates/740911/46 "2015-12-21T12:11:32Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > It’s not my culture, it’s a culture that went extinct hundreds of years ago. All those Christians who used to do that that you’re talking about are _dead_, and I do not carry their sins just because they were my ancestors twenty generations back. Good point well made ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-muslims-want-to-kill-apostates/740911/47 "2015-12-21T14:25:56Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > [You assume incorrectly.](http://quran.com/) You got whooshed. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-muslims-want-to-kill-apostates/740911/48 "2015-12-21T14:44:33Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > You got whooshed. I’m not so sure, given this: > [@TonySinclair](#): > > In other words, Muslims take their holy scriptures seriously, while Christians don’t – or at least, they haven’t since they lost the secular power to enforce Biblical law. …which seems to imply that a death penalty for apostates is part of the Quran, when, again, it is not. I will await clarification. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-muslims-want-to-kill-apostates/740911/49 "2015-12-21T15:14:37Z")
No, still whooshed. I swear we had this exact same thread referencing the same Pew poll a couple of months ago. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-muslims-want-to-kill-apostates/740911/50 "2015-12-21T15:19:53Z")
Yes, you got wooshed. There are some posters who would post such an ironic comment in all seriousness, not understanding the limits of their knowledge, but I don’t believe **TonySinclair** to be one of them. I do think that there is another reason beyond religious teachings, and that is, **people in fucked up countries tend to believe fucked up things.** Now, I admit that it is a chicken-and-the-egg sort of argument – is a country messed up because its people believe that 9/11 was committed by teh joose? Possibly. But it’s also possible that bad governments, dysfunctional economies, lack of civil liberties, and just generally broken societies lead to extremism. It’s one thing to compare, say, the views of people in Egypt to the views of people in the Palestinian Territories and conclude that Islam is on the verge of going on a murder spree of former Muslims. But hold on a second, those are both fairly messed up countries (though Gaza surely is much worse than Egypt, of course). But then if we would compare the views of Muslims in the United States, where [beliefs are much less radical](http://www.people-press.org/2011/08/30/muslim-americans-no-signs-of-growth-in-alienation-or-support-for-extremism/), you get a very different picture. If Islam as a religion is responsible for support of violence, whether it is suicide bombings or killing apostates, why don’t American Muslims answer these sorts of questions with the same answers as those in Gaza or Egypt? I think the answer is pretty obvious. To the extent that life is generally pretty good, people – no matter what religion – have less use for extremism. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-muslims-want-to-kill-apostates/740911/51 "2015-12-21T16:03:13Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > If Islam as a religion is responsible for support of violence, whether it is suicide bombings or killing apostates, why don’t American Muslims answer these sorts of questions with the same answers as those in Gaza or Egypt? Because it’s bad PR to admit it. Why do you think, when Richard Dawkins went on The Big Questions, it took him seven minutes to get a Muslim guest to admit that the penalty for apostasy under Sharia law is death? Because he knew that that most British people found such an idea reprehensible, and so wanted to hide it. It’s a lot easier to sell an idea of living and letting live if you don’t admit that your side won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-muslims-want-to-kill-apostates/740911/52 "2015-12-21T16:23:57Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Because it’s bad PR to admit it. Why do you think, when Richard Dawkins went on The Big Questions, it took him seven minutes to get a Muslim guest to admit that the penalty for apostasy under Sharia law is death? Because he knew that that most British people found such an idea reprehensible, and so wanted to hide it. It’s a lot easier to sell an idea of living and letting live if you don’t admit that your side won’t. So your theory is that American Muslims actually support suicide bombings and killing apostates, they’re just lying about it? ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-muslims-want-to-kill-apostates/740911/53 "2015-12-21T16:45:29Z")
Waymore: If memory serves, didn’t the SS troops have an inscription on their belt buckles, or perhaps elsewhere on their uniforms, that they were waging this war for God? ---
**Author:** ![Memnon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Memnon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Memnon)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-muslims-want-to-kill-apostates/740911/54 "2015-12-21T17:01:56Z")
Just a thought, not aimed at anyone in particular, but I would imagine that if there was a thread asking why an insalubrious belief was prevalent among U.S. Christians, the observation that 317+ million Muslims want to kill apostates would be…unappreciated. Tell you what, let’s assume, purely for the sake of argument, that every single one of the world’s 2 billion Christians believes that apostates should be killed. We all on board with that? Great. Now let’s look at why (at the absolute least) 1 in 5 Muslims believes the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-muslims-want-to-kill-apostates/740911/55 "2015-12-21T17:10:13Z")
However many eeeevil Christians there are, all these figures tell us is that some religious people are likely to adopt unpleasant beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![Memnon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Memnon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Memnon)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-muslims-want-to-kill-apostates/740911/56 "2015-12-21T17:11:56Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I do think that there is another reason beyond religious teachings, and that is, people in fucked up countries tend to believe fucked up things. Conversely, there are lots of Christians, Buddhists, and Hindus living in fucked up societies and, while they may believe all manner of unsavoury things, I’ve seen no evidence that any significant percentage of them believe apostates should be killed. Why is this particular belief so prevalent among Muslims compared to other religions? ---
**Author:** ![Memnon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Memnon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Memnon)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-muslims-want-to-kill-apostates/740911/57 "2015-12-21T17:13:05Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > However many eeeevil Christians there are, all these figures tell us is that some religious people are likely to adopt unpleasant beliefs. But why? Is it religious texts? Culture? Both? Neither? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-muslims-want-to-kill-apostates/740911/58 "2015-12-21T17:13:31Z")
Neither. Hindus frequently kill Muslims in India even though our holy books contain almost no incitements to kill apostates, nonbelievers, or really anyone (the Kurukshetra war was between two clans of Hindus). > [@](#): > > …while they may believe all manner of unsavoury things, I’ve seen no evidence that any significant percentage of them believe apostates should be killed. Did you look to see if Pew had polled members of other religions on the same issue? ---
**Author:** ![Memnon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Memnon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Memnon)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-muslims-want-to-kill-apostates/740911/59 "2015-12-21T17:15:29Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Did you look to see if Pew had polled members of other religions on the same issue? I searched for similar polls on Christian attitudes to apostasy but couldn’t find any. As I said to John Mace, if you can find some I’d appreciate it. ---
**Author:** ![Memnon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Memnon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Memnon)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-muslims-want-to-kill-apostates/740911/60 "2015-12-21T17:18:33Z")
> [@Really Not All That Bright](#): > > Neither. Hindus frequently kill Muslims in India even though our holy books contain almost no incitements to kill apostates, nonbelievers, or really anyone. And there’s plenty of historical instances of Muslims killing Hindus right back. Neither of these phenomena have anything to do with apostasy, however. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-muslims-want-to-kill-apostates/740911.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-muslims-want-to-kill-apostates/740911.md?page=4)