EDIT: nvm the whole thing, I am not the Hero the Middel East needs. I was having my period yesterday and it broughtsome drama to my life :-p

I want to start some sort of a youtube project that targets the Muslims in the Middle East. I want to encourge people to think instead of just following their birth religion and having it picked for them.

I don't want to convert people, that's not my aim. I just want them to stimulate their brains and make them accept or see that there are other possibilities out there.

I am hoping the youtube channel would get some strong reactions knowing how sensitive muslims can get, especially those in the Middle East. Take Denmark drawings ,Quran burnings and Hamza Hashgari events for example.

I am planning to use some books and make the videos 2-2:40 (max) minutes long.

Any suggestions are welcome, open-minded Muslims should contribute too.

Why the middle east? There are people just as closed-minded throughout the rest of the world. People everywhere create (and follow) a particular belief system and become set in their ways. To target a certain part of the world is to admit that you are closed-minded enough to not accept their specific different perspectives. You should re-think what you aim to accomplish, and maybe self-reflect a bit before moving forward with any part of this.

Lol nice try, I just declared a fatwa on you. 

They speak Arabic. I only speak Arabic. I don't think there are ohter parts of the world that speak Arabic? I also live here, I can approach my people in ways I can't employ with people following different cultures.

I want people like me be able to buy the "taboo" books and not have them banned just not to hurt the believers feelings. I want people to talk about Muhammed without getting chased all over the god damn planet. Google Hamza Kashgari.

It's not like I am going to make a change, I am just hoping it would encrouge people like me to be speak up and stop living in the shadows.

Wait you write perfect english but only speak arabic? That's amazing.

Anyways, @OP. I'm a devout christian and I can tell you the people who were able to talk sense into me are those that were

1) Honest

2) Intelligent

3) Patient

4) Slow to jump to conclusions

5) Slow to judge

6) Knowledgeable about their topics and more stating things as they are than offering subjective interpretation.

I have had some excellent exchanges with non-believers. Be ready to ask and be asked alot of questions, and above all DO NOT JUDGE!

my two cents ;)

I am not a non-believer. I don't think my English is perfect and I definitely can't speak English well.

Thanks for the advice :)

From my experience, if you want to alter a person's core beliefs, that person has to be open-minded. And I don't think there's anything you can do to opens a person's mind. Because to opens a person's mind, they would have to be willing to open their mind, therefore, they would have to be open-minded already. Being open-minded is really something that a person achieves on their own imo through their own experiences.

Here is a video on open-mindedness



And here's a video on faith



I'm pretty sure you are familiar with open-mindedness and faith. These videos are just to help you articulate your points clearly and powerfully.

Good lick!

Difference is that by trying to do this, you're not only attempting to tell the people to "think" outside of their religion, but you're also telling them to "think" outside of their culture. Since you live there, you should know that religion = the foundations of culture in the middle east. Thus, by targeting the religion you're also targeting the culture, and unless the audience is very open-minded and liberal, it would be near impossible to get them to "accept" other possibilities. I'm not saying that you shouldn't try it, it's just that a deeply rooted culture like in the middle east would take more than a youtube project to stir.

Jay, no offense but I watched 6:40 of the first video and I found it very biased and plagued with pre-suppositions and jumps in logic.

Not something I would consider helpful for someone who is trying to bridge with people who believe in something, rather the contrary.

No offense but it's my honest opinion on that first vid.