"religious" muslims are not aliens. they are targeted because of the supposed "negativity" around religion, that is very well-propagated by both atheists and people of other religions. they are the "bad" muslims.

the "good" muslims are those that buy into this islamophobic +

narrative (whether by condemning their religious counterparts, or using the same words and phrases that are used by the islamophobic west to demonise muslims, or by speaking against islam, among other things), thereby making it possible (and easy) to demonise ALL muslims, +

regardless of whether they're religious or not. but the dehumanisation - that starts with religion. and please don't fall into the trap of modern neoliberal usage, which'll have you believe that the muslim identity is different from the muslim religion. the two are intricately +

connected, whether you, as a muslim, are religious or not. i will repeat, the dehumanisation is because, as muslims, we identify with islam, and the LEVEL of our association with it determines whether we are fit to be included in the "good" muslim category that is a big part of +

western neoliberal discourse. in the end, the more demonised ones are used to beat the less demonised ones with, resulting in more otherisation and the systematic EXCLUSION of religion from people's lives. the less religious ones want to be "seen" +

by Power, and want to be categorised as "normal", or "not extremist", or "not terrorist". this makes them dissociate from religion, which makes the ones who hold on to it automatically become "the others", the ones who are "extremists", the ones who are "not normal". +

but yeah, the dehumanisation, the otherisation, that starts with religion. the EXTENT of your religiosity determines it. so people who demonise islam, whether you're muslim hoping to "fit in" with the prevalent narrative, or you're non-muslim hoping to earn political points +

(or maybe you simply hate islam), the end result is the same. muslims are otherised either way. the irony is that some muslims too indulge in this systematic otherisation. in the end, though, the extent of a muslim's religiosity doesn't really matter. so it's better +

if we start flipping this "good muslim/bad muslim narrative" on its face, calling out people who indulge in it unequivocally, whether online or offline. the sooner we all realise this, in my opinion, the better.