Why is Islam spreading in the U.S.?

[Grand_Duchess-Elizaveta]

You all looked at the religous aspect but forgot about Immigration and birth rates.......remember that muslims are now going through a boom in America because they are going into there second generations....they also have the highest birth rates out of any religion in the world.......but it doesn't mean that they live the longest because I think they have the lowest life expectancy rates in the world.

Think about how many Bosnians Immigrated or Albanians immigrated not to talk about how many from Africa or from the Mid east. Yeah thats why more mosques are being built and because now the communities are established in AMerica and well the fundign is there to build a mosque.

It happened with Christian Immigrants before but now its happening with the Muslim Immigrants.

I don't think its about converts I think its just for the reason mentioned above

Welcome to TAW, Canmak! Check out the "Militants of TAW" thread and introduce yourself! It's in the "sticky threads."

 

[xenia]

Feminine modesty is another attraction. Occassionally our girls' volleyball team plays another private high school and on that team there's a muslim girl. Under her standard skimpy volleyball uniform this girl wears some kind of body suit for the sake of modesty. She also wears the head scarf. All you can see are her hands and face, and her face looks quite happy. She definitely stands out as the sole model of virtue. Some people will look at her and think "bondage" and "legalism" but others will see her and think "wow, what courage of conviction." It's made "worse" by the fact that this muslim girl is not a wallflower. She's cheerful, plays well, goes the extra mile to get the ball and is a great encourager for the other girls on her team.

Of course, compare her with the bomb-strapped women at the seige of the school in Russia and it's obvious that Islam has many faces.

Love, Xenia

 

[nicodemus]

I think Vanshan has hit on something really important. Clearly, Orthodoxy offers a depth and -- if the word can be used -- a challenge that people are looking for. It is a Church that demands something of us, in the sense that we are not allowed to simply loll about in our pews for an hour or so and then put it up til next Sunday. But, like Vanshan said, we need to be very aware of the creeping marginalization of the ascetic demands of Orthodoxy. If we allow ourselves to lose the ascetic nature of the Church, or downplay it as unimportant, then no matter how much our theology differs, we are simply presenting a face to the world that looks like every other western alternative.

James

The primary reasons Islam is the "fastest growing religion in America" are due to immigration and higher birthrates. There are certainly westerners converting, but not at the rate the statistics would have you believe. "Fastest growing religion in America" makes it seem like tons and tons of people are converting, which isn't the case. While many African Americans have converted to Islam, it's primarily been to the Nation of Islam (Farrakhan) and that group is disavowed by most Muslims. I think NoI is to Islam as Hare Krishna is to Hindu or Mormon is to Christianity. The majority of mainstream believers keep their distance.

 

[nicodemus]

Has anyone even stopped to think about the fact that maybe people are attracted to Islam because it presents a simple and straightforward picture of God that's easy to understand, ie, no Trinity, no hypostatic union, and such. To the rational mind all those things seem downright contradictory. If God is one, then He is not three, but if He is three, then He is not one. How can God who is utterly transcendant and beyond man actually be a man at the same time. Islam doesn't have to deal with these tough questions. It simply teaches that Allah is one God. Moreover, some people actually like the paternalisitc, domineering, and sometimes vindictive Allah as he is presented in the Koran. Since that is the view of God they favor it makes sense they would choose Islam.

I've gotten into this discussion with converts to Islam...and you can't underesitmate that. Imagine two Americans, one a convert to Islam and the other a convert to Orthodoxy debating. It was respectful through and through and while frustrating at times, actually enjoyable in that I learned a lot.

The simplicity is the reason that Sikhism formed in India too. They said Hinduism and Islam were getting too complex and so came Guru Nanak with Sikhism.

 

[nicodemus]

I've gotten into this discussion with converts to Islam...and you can't underesitmate that. Imagine two Americans, one a convert to Islam and the other a convert to Orthodoxy debating. It was respectful through and through and while frustrating at times, actually enjoyable in that I learned a lot.

The simplicity is the reason that Sikhism formed in India too. They said Hinduism and Islam were getting too complex and so came Guru Nanak with Sikhism.

Lastly, I might add that a lot of these answers are correct in some way. Before I became Orthodox, I pondered long and hard about what to become, which path to follow, etc. Islam appealed to me very much because it is quite disciplined, modest and simple in many ways. I understand the appeal, it had a great effect on me. If it weren't for the reality of the Truth of Jesus Christ, I'm sure I'd be a Muslim today based on what I saw of the outer life of various religions' followers. I'm sure 9/11 would've thrown me for a loop if I'd made that choice, but I did find Islam very appealing for a time.

 

[InnerPhyre]

I hope you all don't mind me chiming in here, but I really find this topic fascinating, since I myself have not become too fond of my own culture over the past couple of years. There was a time when I thought that God favored the US over other nations because we were such a God fearing people. The rose colored glasses came off and I began to see the darker side of things. We export the filth of pornography all over the world. We commit genocide, killing 44 million unborn children in in the latter half of the last century. We place our faith in things instead of God and make idols of possessions and wealth. The Lord knows that I am not innocent of such things. I fight hard to to put God ahead of the newest technological gadget available at Best Buy or the new model of corvette that's just hit the streets. Our society tells us we need these things to be happy and all else is secondary. Christianity ought to cause us all to question and reject these things, but our country has become so wishy washy when it comes to religion that people just follow blindly. Islam helps people to focus on modesty, charity, and humility. People are DESPERATE for these virtues. Until American Christianity goes back to its roots and offers people the only medicine that will cure these ailments, we will see Islam continue to grow.


*edit to add* I acknowledge that this is not simply an American problem, but I only speak for my own nation in this case

 

[Theophorus]

I don't want to overestimate it, but we also have to realize that Islam is spreading quickly in the prison system especially among African Americans. And unfortunately, it is usually of a more radical variety, one that is anti-western and anti-Christian.

I can attest to this, having worked in the prison system as a guard. (my past military life)

There were two big movements within, occultism and islam. The occultist were more independent and often secret, but the islamic group was very present and open. It was rebellious in nature, putting extra demands on the system. It functioned similar to a fraternity. It was very radical in its view.

This is a good point because I noticed within the prison system, a kind of microcosm of culture. It was the world but with little gray and often times fierce allegiances. Prison many times just expedites what a person would do or lean towards when in society.