Over a beach holiday, my friend Tarik and I played a lot of competitive shithead… and one evening we agreed to forfeit a Facebook status if we lost three games of cards in a row. This resulted in two different creed-based updates:

I’m tired of being in the closet. The religious one I mean. People here are so sincere and incredible about their faith that I’ve decided to finally admit I believe in God. – T

And

How does one go about converting to Islam? It’s been on my mind for a while now. Any Muslims out there want to give me some guidance? – R

Reception to both was very different and revealing. Turns out it’s acceptable enough to discuss believing in a deity, but more controversial if you’re contemplating conversion.

Whilst Tarik’s friends liked away, probably recognising his status was most likely a prank, responses to mine were stronger and raised more serious concerns. Specifically, there was the notion that my mind would be restricted by a mostly male-controlled dogma, and that I would have to accept being a 2nd class citizen. Some friends reached out via private messages and offered to discuss the matter with me. It was a most curious situation.

My stance about the whole religion quagmire remains this – I care about humanity and believe in a thing called Love.

In any case, I recommend listening to Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue and checking out this very intriguing Kickstarter for a game called Dujanah.

There’s also the trusty xkcd.