Baghdad, Iraq - The younger generation of Iraqis is turning from Islam, blaming the violence in Iraq on religious extremists, The New York Times said.
Videos in Iraqi markets and on the Internet show extremists reciting Koranic verses and crying "Allah Akbar" during beheadings and other acts of violence but this is leading many younger people in Iraq to grow disillusioned with religious leaders influencing daily life in Iraq, the Times said Tuesday.
"I hate Islam and all the clerics because they limit our freedom every day and their instruction became heavy over us," a high school student in Basra, Iraq, told the newspaper.
The shift in sentiment among Iraqis runs counter to the rising mood in the Middle East where religious affiliation is replacing nationalism as a factor defining solidarity, the Times said.
The dwindling of allegiance may weaken the power base of religious leaders in Iraq and its effect is seen in the drop in references to religion among many leaders.
Some Iraqis said their religious affiliation is more about identity than about faith, citing the large number of votes for Shiite political parties as a chance to show their numbers.
"It was a fight to prove our existence," one Shiite journalist said to the Times. "We were embracing our existence, not religion."