from Europe News:
The Irish actor Liam Neeson, who was raised Catholic, reportedly is considering converting to Islam. While Neeson may nor may not be serious, the trend towards conversion to Islam has apparently been accelerating in recent years in the West.
This might seem like an odd development, given the relentlessly negative image that Western media has of Islam, especially since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Neeson told The Sun newspaper that the thought of conversion came to him while making a film in Turkey.
"The Call to Prayer happens five times a day and for the first week it drives you crazy, and then it just gets into your spirit and it's the most beautiful, beautiful thing,” he said.
"There are 4,000 mosques in the city. Some are just stunning and it really makes me think about becoming a Muslim."
He added: "I was reared a Catholic but I think every day we ask ourselves, not consciously, what are we doing on this planet? What's it all about? I'm constantly reading books on God or the absence of God and atheism."
There are many reasons why a Western Christian might convert to Islam – some because they want to marry a Muslim person and wish to make such a union easier; others because they have a spiritual beckoning towards Islam.
Neeson would appear to be part of the latter group.
Should be embrace Islam, he would not be alone.
According Faith Matters, a multi-faith organization in Great Britain, there are now in excess of 100,000 Muslim converts in the United Kingdom -- having doubled in just a decade -- with more than 5,200 adopting the faith in 2010.
Moreover, the average Muslim convert in the U.K. is described as a "27-year-old white woman” -- quite surprising, given the widely held notion that Islam is oppressive to women. (...)
Liam Neeson and Islam: Conversions Among Westerners Increasing
International Business Times 27 January 2012
By Palash R. Ghosh
By Palash R. Ghosh
This might seem like an odd development, given the relentlessly negative image that Western media has of Islam, especially since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Neeson told The Sun newspaper that the thought of conversion came to him while making a film in Turkey.
"The Call to Prayer happens five times a day and for the first week it drives you crazy, and then it just gets into your spirit and it's the most beautiful, beautiful thing,” he said.
"There are 4,000 mosques in the city. Some are just stunning and it really makes me think about becoming a Muslim."
He added: "I was reared a Catholic but I think every day we ask ourselves, not consciously, what are we doing on this planet? What's it all about? I'm constantly reading books on God or the absence of God and atheism."
There are many reasons why a Western Christian might convert to Islam – some because they want to marry a Muslim person and wish to make such a union easier; others because they have a spiritual beckoning towards Islam.
Neeson would appear to be part of the latter group.
Should be embrace Islam, he would not be alone.
According Faith Matters, a multi-faith organization in Great Britain, there are now in excess of 100,000 Muslim converts in the United Kingdom -- having doubled in just a decade -- with more than 5,200 adopting the faith in 2010.
Moreover, the average Muslim convert in the U.K. is described as a "27-year-old white woman” -- quite surprising, given the widely held notion that Islam is oppressive to women. (...)
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