Agreed. Also it is best not to even mention another's poster's name usually. I have followed this at times. At times I slip.
I'll tell you one of my favorite law stories. Many years ago I represented a Polish guy in the immigration prison. He lost his green card because of a crime. He fled and was apprehended for a speeding violation. He was arrested in full Nazi uniform on his way to a Nazi meeting in rural Louisiana. He hated black people passionately based as far as I could determine based on some assaults in Chicago shortly after he moved from Poland and they were practically the first black folks he had ever been in contact with. He might have been a Nazi, but he was an honest one. He asked the immigration judge to deport him to So Africa so he could fight for the white race at his first hearing. About a year later at his final hearing, which he lost, the Judge asked him if he was still a racist. Mr. Nazi who was honest and never was afraid to speak his mind said: "You know, Judge, I don't think so any more. As you know I have been locked up in the immigration prison for over a year and I don't spealk any Spanish, so the only guys I have been able to talk to are these guys from Nigeria and Africa (mostly college educated types) and many of them seem like fine fellows!! I believed him.
http://www.thethinkingatheist.com/blogpost/18 Anytime I deviate from my usual skewering of Christianity (my former faith) and dip a toe into the pool of Islam, there are always knee-jerk accusations that I am a hater. A fear-monger. A divider. Ignorant. Islamaphobic. My friend and page fan, Meg, has first-hand education and experience (and very strong opinions) on Islam and the Qur'an, and I asked her for her perspective. She wrote a blog, which appears below the line. It's not a short read. But it's a compelling, interesting one. Let the hate mail begin. -Seth So, yeah, maybe it's not as simple as "they're all just racists/xenophobes."
Fantastic article. True. I oppose those parts of the doctrine and those who display intolerance. I don't oppose the regular people who happened to have been born into being members of that religion. That's the funny thing. It describes glynch and those who mindlessly call me "Islamophobe" or "racist" or "Nazi" to a T.
keep up the good work ATW, fear of Islam is not irrational Hiding behind religion and minority status might fool some naive leftist types, but the rest of us know immorality when we see it (honor killings, stoning gays, suicide bombers).
i find it impassably strange that liberals are so sensitive about protecting an ideology that suborns the killing and marginalizing of homosexuals and women.
if it were white Christians doing this stuff, leftists would be outraged Aesthetics like skin color and tribal ritualism ties them in intellectual knots. The laws of multiculturalism forbid them to pass judgement (except against white male Christians of course).
Conversely, I'm sure leftists find it funny that people who attack Islam tend to draw from the same inspired source, and hold similar positions on, among other things, homosexuals, the status of women, sex etc. I'm an atheist who thinks that all of the repressive Abrahamic religions, at least in their organized forms, are holding mankind back. only truly consistent position you can have on this issue, but eh.
People who attack Islam believe in stoning of homosexuals, honor killings, and death to unbelievers? Weak moral equivalence.
How many Islamophobes are there who draw from the "my religion is better card." like--- my religion in the American context allows more freedom for the women (something I'm trying to get corrected) my religion in the American context allows more freedom for the gays (who are an abomination, and something I'm trying to get corrected) I feel like extreme Christians, and extreme Islamists, are two sides of the same coin. And both of them have unhealthy grasps on Third World countries, each of which have problems of their own already, which makes it easy to distort attacks on the core faiths. Of course, this particular forum doesn't have someone who obsessionally posts about Uganda considering executing homosexuals, or the Lord's Resistance Army.
They definitely tend to believe in repressing the rights of women, and homosexuals. If there's anything that will tend towards a repressive movement akin to Islamism, it will come from the religious right, a movement wherein the fiercest attacks towards Islam tend to come from.
Sharing Obama's position on gay marriage (I don't) and believing the unborn have rights does not make one a repressor of gays and women.
Do you believe in a religion that doesn't ordain women as priests? That quotes from the book that says--- Leviticus Homosexual acts are an abomination to God. 18:22 Leviticus If a man has sex with another man, kill them both. 20:13 Homosexuals (those "that defile themselves with mankind") are included on the list of lawless, disobedient, unholy, and profane people. 1:10 Paul lists ten things that will keep you out of heaven, including homosexuality and being "effeminate." 6:9-10 For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man." (I Corinthians 11:8-9) That promotes a misogynist culture that promotes the exploitation and subordination of women---and that despite all its' ethos of female equality, somehow manages to have one of the lowest rates of female representation in the halls of power---below even feminist stalwarts Iraq and Pakistan?! yeah, well, if you do, and if you're attacking Islam for repression, it might be time to start considering that you're part of the problem, and not the solution.
Wow, that was terrible. There are many comparable essays running around the internet, with slight modifications here and there. A few points on them- -Almost all of these letters, without exception, use translations of the Quran which lack in accuracy. -All of them are fundamentally decontextualized; The idea is to highlight specific verses and use them as a rubric for explaining the normative Quranic message (or perceived normative Muslim conduct). -Anyone who would believe that Muslims honestly believe all of those things in that format are typically predisposed to believing the worst about Muslims anyways. I simply dont have the time to respond to all of the comments in the essay, but I can recommend some citations that will provide a more accurate reflection of Muslim beliefs: -Vision of Islam by Sachiko Muratta and William Chittick is very good in articulating the Quranic message. -The Just War and Jihad by R. Joseph Hoffman -Relatively recently, there was an article written on Patheos which compared the Quran's treatment of war with the Old Testaments, making the point that the Quran's treatment is largely defensive and restricted whereas the Old Testaments is often unlimited. The author was a Christian and I recall it causing quite a stir. I'll have to find the citation and post it here. -An interesting article by Sherman Jackson (one of my favorite authors) published regarding Muslim Theological Perspectives on Human Suffering. -For those interesting, he also has a phenomenal work on Muslim Theological Responses to Black suffering entitled Islam and the Problem of Black Suffering.
The word "Islamophobe" is a misnomer already, as it implies a negative connotation. Islam is an ideology with elements in it which promote severe intolerance, which can be and are directly interpreted in a way that leads to violence, oppression, and murders. "Islamophobe"? Seriously? So, what's next? "Racistphobe"? "Klanphobe"? "Scientologyphobe"?
