If you think that way you may want to buy the Black Like Me book, its author used to think the same before he made his color switch.
Didn't I say that "
that might not be as great as a method of learning in comparison to first hand experience, but it's still reliable, feasible, & efficient"?
You could just pretend. Yeah, you'll have to study a bit. True, you can't experience the family life but you'll make new friends in a new city.
That's the point you don't understand. A Muslim is forbidden from pretending to be a follower of another religion as long as there is no threat of persecution, torture, or death.
Doubtless you'd deal with that challenge if necessary.
Sorry, but I can't prostrate to an idol simply for the sake of an experiment. Don't you recall that a Muslim may not prostrate to an idol except under threat of torture or death?
Since in Pakistan blasphemy carries the death penalty you can be sure this proviso can't apply.
What do you mean by this? Are you implying that a person need not partake in their religious rituals for the sake of this experiment just because of the blasphemy law? Don't you think that practicing the religious rituals of the belief is important for the experiment you are suggesting to work? The logic behind this is that you will get to observe the reactions of the Muslims if you were to practice your belief openly.
Of course, you'll have to work hard to convince whoever it is that they'll be able to write up their experience and return to their normal life at their previous religion without fearing for life, limb, or property. That sounds like a very tough sell. You're asking the non-Muslim to risk all these things, because
Convincing anyone to take part in such an experiment taking in to account the existence of the blasphemy law would be extremely difficult. I am not asking & neither will I ever force a non-Muslim to risk anything for such an experiment, here is what I stated in my original reply to you:
"
A better approach to this experiment would be to ask a Pakistani Hindu or Christian if they are willing to pretend to be a Muslim, & write about their experience as a Muslim & contrast it to their experience as a Hindu or Christian."
No one can be forced to take part in this experiment, & it's true that due to the existence of the blasphemy law, I doubt anyone would take part in this experiment even if it was feasible to do so.
you are unwilling to risk - say, what exactly would you be risking, in your own words?
What is the point of such a question? Both Muslims & non-Muslims face similar risks if they were to conduct this experiment. Why then should either risk their "
life, limb, or property"? If you are implying that we are too fearful or unwilling to risk the consequences resulting from such an experiment, I assure you that that is not the case, & we are certainly not cowards. As I said earlier, it is forbidden for a Muslim to pretend to be a follower of another religion except under threat of persecution, torture, or death.
Besides, you can't just ask people to conduct random experiments. You do realize that we have duties, commitments, & responsibilities to fulfill towards our families? How many social experiments have you conducted? In conclusion, I guess it's safe to say that it's unlikely that such an experiment would be taking place anytime soon. We can not abandon our beliefs or disobey some of the most important Islamic laws for this experiment. We will have to rely on other means to learn about the problems our religious minorities are facing, & then come up with solutions to help them.
Raja, what do you make of the suggestion p(-)0ENiX masquerade as a Hindu or Christian for a while?
No one else's views are required since I am not going to conduct that experiment.
