To me, Somalinimo is comparable to nationalism. You don't have to be affiliated with a specific religion to be a nationalist or to admire and adore your country and culture. I always thought that the reasons as to why ex-Muslims were shunned in our communities were because they were different. I believe that in a way Somalis have a very communistic societal view. To explain that further, we act as a collective without respecting individuality. Everyone who stand out in one-way shape or form are shunned, spoken down to or looked down upon. Nobody wants to see a somali wear a kippah on their head or a cross around their neck because it's different and it isn't typical Somali. I think the fundamental reason why ex-Muslim are not accepted by mainstream media is that they are different. I bet, the same consequence would be granted if they were different in another way.
Me personally, I respect individuality and believe that everyone has the right to live their life the way they choose to. I would never deny a Somali brother or sister their Somali identity because they choose to leave the religion. Somali is something you are and religion is something you believe in and that is that.
We act in communistic way when it comes to social groupings.
Collectivism is in our culture, for example in Somalia or anywhere in Africa you are likely to engage conversations with your neighbours 10 or 20 times daily.
"Ma barideen, iska waran xaalku sidu yahay .........................? and you see someone familiar and carry on with similar convo and so on .
In western world it's practically non existence except within your closer circles and very rare going up to your neighbours saying such things .
Just as you've stated , our people tend to be collectivists and individualism are particulary rare thus its very common among our people not to break that shell due to fear of retaliation , reprisals of social negligennce being looked down upon and sticking out like a sore thumb
One of the main reasons why many ex muslim somalis are keen to conceal their religious affiliations.
It's like being labelled a weirdo but you haven't done something weird enough to be labelled as such , then comes the shunning, acknowledging that this oftenly occurs it's best for that individual's interest to conceal his/her beliefs neither disclosing to their loved ones because that can be catastrophic .
To avoid this just live your life and if you feel like you have to live up to their expectations then it's time to embrace individuality.
No one wants to be a minority within a minority community ,
when we are our own minority in foreign countries .
The identity will remain the same wether Somalis like it or not .