Greetings,

Lately I've felt really troubled about an issue that I'm sure most of us are familiar with in the western world, which is the rise of "Islamophobia". What's really troubling me is that I feel that the arguments Atheists have are often taken out of context and used by the Christian-Right.

I don't have any problem pointing out the fact that Islam is probably the worst of all religions on the planet, with its paedophile warlord prophet who rode a flying donkey as proof of divine status, yet at the same time I also acknowledge that for most Muslims that's not really at the forefront of what they feel it means to be a Muslim.

My core problem with Islam, as with Christianity, is the sort of oppressive conservative government policies that extend from their "religious values".

Recently we had protests here in Australia against Islam, by the so-called "Reclaim Australia Movement" and at first I thought it might be the beginning of a movement against religion I had been waiting for, however it is a movement led by members of the Christian-Right, after a little bit of reading and seeing photos of their protests, it is clear that even though they may have Jewish and Atheist members within their ranks, the people at the forefront of the movement are Christians looking to impose their religious laws and opinions just as much as any Muslim would, with some of their key policies being the protection of Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter.

This is also a problem that famous atheists like Sam Harris and Bill Maher seem to be facing right now, that they are made to look racist, simply by being forced to repeat their opinions on Islam, without really acknowledging that they are against all religion.

I have heard Atheists say that we should "work with" the Christians against Islam, but I think that right now we are facing potentially irreparable damage.

The people opposing the "anti-Islamification" rallies seem to be that old cliche of the person holding wearing the scalf of a Islamic regime that murders homosexuals over their face while holding a rainbow flag in their hand, confused political followers.

I've probably said enough here for people to get where I am going and what I'm talking about, I'd like to hear back from others how they feel about these "anti-Islamic" protests, perhaps you've gone to protest for or against one of these.

Here is a video from a recent rally: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x12wNRiOZ6E