Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski
How does the fact that the Kurds, both men (YPG) and women (YPJ) are fighting ISIS fit in your (false) narrative? Kurds are Muslims. In fact many Muslims are fighting and dying in the struggle against ISIS.[/url]
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While it's true that the majority of anti-Islamist fighting is done by Muslims, Kurds are not the best example.
Kurdish culture has a clearly secular bent (meaning separation of the spiritual from the everyday life). In other words they often follow the Muslim traditions, but don't consider themselves very religious. (Probably partially Soviet influence, and partially from being I think forced converts to Islam.)
They're also not all Muslims (although the vast majority are). Something like a million of Iraq Kurds are Yarsanis, another half a million are Yazidis, and I think even the Zoroastrianists (which derives from the teachings of that Zarathustra) have their own areas.
And they follow I think kind of their own branch of Sunni Islam? (Or a branch that's not as common in the area anyway.)
Please don't quote me on any of this though
I think my main point is:
a) There's a lot more variation in religions in the Middle-East than what you can learn from media, and that variety matters more than people think
b) The Kurds are probably the least religious people in the Middle-East.