Guys, /u/erik675 had a lot of questions, but since his post isn't showing up (probably because he has a new account), I'm copy-pasting them here:

Hey, just sending this as a message because my comment isn't showing up on your post.

Hopefully, they'll become visible at one point, but knowing the filtering system on reddit they'll more likely appear a week after this thread dies down.

If you have the time, could you response to my questions?

Hey, thanks for making this thread! I have two somewhat-lengthy questions about Islam and Muslims in general. 1: Why do some Muslims insist that Islam overrules family, culture, nationality? Growing up where I did in America, I met many awesome Muslim women and men who had their own goals, aspirations, etc. Many female Muslims I got to know didn't wear the hijab, and all of them were fairly practical and liberal about the application of their beliefs. Sometime later, I learned more about Islam and Muslims abroad, and subsequently a very conservative, very segregative groups of Muslims(I'm not just talking about the Wahabis/Salafists, I'm talking about people Sunnis/Shias/etc from Malaysia/Pakistan/Somalia/Bangladesh/etc.). A few months after that I learned more about apostasy issues, blasphemy, issues, etc. and it frustrated me that so many Muslims worldwide either do nothing to challenge these corrupt laws, or actively enable them. Throughout all of this, whenever I pushed the issue as to why so many people stick their head in the sand, I kept getting the same reply: "You're not Muslim, you'd never understand.", "Being Muslim is being part of our Ummah, your [kafir/murtad] petty nationalism and borders being nothing to us! Islam first, our Ummah first!" I'm aware that not all Muslims share this view, but too often I've come across the notion that simply being Muslim means you're part of a "family/community", and that you should dismiss any emotional/cultural attachments you have to your actual family/culture/nationality/etc. 2: What's with the hijab/veil/niqab and gender segregation at large? Again, this is coming from someone who grew up knowing Muslims (Quranists, for example) that either wore the hijab at most, or disregarded it altogether and just wore a standard pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I get it if it's a personal choice, but I've read stories of Muslims effectively slut-shaming other Muslim women who don't weird a veil----and other stories of Muslim men who all but assume acting all rapist-y is justified simply because a women isn't wearing a hijab/niqab/etc. The whole expectation that modesty=veil seems a little presumptuous at best. And about the gender segregation point----why is this a thing? I've read that Muslim countries(Iran, for instance) have very limited roles Muslim women and play in an actual combat/fighting type position, and usually those roles don't involve being intermingled with men. As someone who has had the honor of practicing melee combat with many women-----Muslim women included-----I see no meaningful difference between their fighting capabilities and a man. Anyone who loves the thrill of combat and fighting should have should have avenues open to them----gender is irrelevant.