"The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem, it is generally employed only by small children and large nations." - David Friedman

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Facebook note: An Increasing Dissent

"I was out with a few friends of mine this Friday to grab a cup of coffee and have a pleasant night out. We got a table by the food court a friend of mine rolled a few cigarettes and we had a decent fun talking.

Being Pakistanis, one of the things that came up in our discussions was Religion. It was brought up by a conservative friend. The discussion started on a perceived failure of an Islamic missionary community operating in NUS usually referred to as the Tablighi Jamaat. The observation of failure is grounded on a seemingly wide spread consumption of alcohol, a lack of discrimination in dietary consumption and a general disregard for religious duties amongst the NUS Pakistani Mulsim community.
What explains this increasing dissent?

The conservative would prefer to blame it on the preaching methods.
My opinion? Rational choice. And I'm not being sarcastic.

Us Pakistanis here truly have a choice unlike back home where such a blatant disregard for 'duties' as consumption of alcohol can often lead to persecution and dangerously ill reputation amongst even family members let alone extended family and the community in general. Given the choice of adhering to a system of life that we've been brought up in for at least the first 20 years of our lives and a lifestyle that we are only gradually becoming familiar with, most of are choosing wisely. We don't have secular preachers, no atheistic missionary groups and people are still moving away from religion. That doesn't simply explain the dissent, it justifies it.

Islam is often referred to as the Deen-e-Fitrat (loosely translated 'The Natural Faith'). A faith that we would almost instinctively and naturally be inclined to. Why, if this were true, would you need to preach it?. I think the failure of the tablighi jamaat in NUS is a clear indicator that for us guys around here in NUS, Islam is not the natural faith, or at least not natural enough to stop us from having a drink now and then."