There are many things wrong here. The Muslim teenagers are imposing their beliefs on the boy - which is wrong. However, the father is also wrong in not letting his son practise the belief which he wishes to - this is wrong also, but i can understand his concern, given the wave of extremism that has appeared over the last few years. Religion and politics in that respect is highly dangerous. It has happened frequently throughout history -------

Religion + Misinterpretation + Politics + Bigotry = War + Death + Suffering

The boy's statement regarding "fighting Christianity" is the most worrying. "Muslim" Extremists assume that innocents in Western society all belong to a particular religious group, as they still do in the Middle East etc. Not only is the lack of information on their part worrying, it shows the scale of the range of people that they wish to slaughter to get their "divine message" across. The problem of extremism from people who call themselves Muslims is something that is on the increase and is unlikely to stop any time soon, in my opinion.

Just goes to show how far we actually are off achieving peace and love. Religions start off meaning well, but most of them are dominated by fundamentalists, bigots and hypocrites - fundamentalist Catholics used religion to maintain a totalitarian grip over Europe for well over 1000 years, commiting atrocities on an unprecedented scale, now, these extremists seek to destroy what they do not understand or agree with. The Israeli government commits horrific acts against innocents in Lebanon and Palestine, but no, we can't touch them, because they're Jews (no offence intended to anyone). They are under the influence of the lethal cocktail of Religious Politics. What they do not admit is that they are using something that is meant to be pure and holy, something that is meant to be righteous and peaceful - their faiths - to justify horrendous acts of shameful debauchery of human life and welfare. They are hypocrites of the highest order, and are ruining our world. I have heard many people say that religion is the problem - but it is not. WE corrupted and raped religion. WE are responsible for creating this mess, not religion. (When I say "we" i mean humanity in general - it is our nature to be arseholes in this way)

Anyway, sorry for getting sidetracked..............

I know quite a few Muslims. They are all perfectly respectable individuals, but almost all of them know someone with radical ideals, one even had his parents questioned over the London Bombings - So yes, extremism is an incredibly widespread and large problem (In England at least). The youth are particularly susceptible to influence by others as many of them are particularly weak-minded, or, if they have parents of a particular religion, they may have beliefs drummed into their heads from an early age. Also, all kids (and probably most adults) are intolerant at some point, just want things to be done their way, and are unable to see things from the point of view of others, this is why, in what is now a predominantly mixed world (in terms of people from different backgrounds living in the same place), conflict is inevitable. For example -  I would like to think of myself as a Christian, but I did once lose my temper with a fellow Christian who was attempting to impose his beliefs on a Muslim, and convert him, so to speak. 100 years ago, something like this would not have happened - there would be no Muslim, I would, being a 15 year old, have been raised without such an attitude towards bigotry and fundamentalism, and things like this (obviously on a larger scale) would not be happening right now. In present day, we have more freedom of speech, freedom of belief and freedom of expression. But society and, indeed, the world is rife with problems caused by this. With freedom comes potential for disorder, but, eventually, humanity will learn, as the vast majority of people on this forum have, that there is no point to arguing or self-righteously imposing our beliefs upon others. Each to his own.

Oh dear. It appears that I got sidetracked again. (Apologies)

Regarding the boy, In my opinion, as it is clear that the his desire to convert to Islam is not a belief of is own, and has been exacted upon him by small-minded radicalist antagonisers, his father should talk to him, and explain what is happening, and if necessary, prevent him, using any measures within reason, from popping down the local Mosque. However (again, my opinion), the father should not force him to perform Hindu rites and rituals if it against his will. Apologies that i cannot offer more advice on dealing with the peer pressure, I'm unsure of what is going on in the boy's mind, and cannot really give any fatherly advice on the subject - that is for his father to do, and i have no experience in the field as i am only 16 (I deal with peer pressure in my own way, which suits me and know nothing about the boy, sorry) Also, the youth do not see this kind of thing as "cool" and "trendy" - I know, from certain people who know these people, that they genuinley believe it - usually through no choice of their own  - they are brought into it by relentless barrages of propaganda.

My fingers hurt.


Hope this helped abit, but was mainly a rant about various things that I think are wrong with the world. (Sorry again, i just get sidetracked abit much)