I agree with everything in here, but there is a danger that he only briefly skims, and the danger is to extend the actions of a few to the greater whole. Two assholes "practiced" their version of the Islamic faith by murdering people. Meanwhile, billions of others practiced their version of the Islamic faith by kneeling quietly and praying.
Islam, like all widely adopted ideologies, doesn't necessarily suffer from an inherent problem written into it's creed, but from the simple fact that it's practiced by PEOPLE. Plain, ordinary, wonderful, corruptible, disgusting, flawed.....people. He is right to draw a stark contrast between Islam the ideology, and the Muslim people who "practice" it. A few (thousand) of those Muslims are really, really, REALLY shitty people. The vast majority of them are not. Same can be said of any widely adopted ideology. Terrorism, and even the recent rise in cruelty of, specifically, Islamic terrorism, is merely another incarnation of the same basic problem: People. I firmly believe that you cannot be turned into a terrorist unless you have some basic flaw which allows such corruptibility. Unfortunately these flaws can be easily passed "genetically", by way of parents brainwashing children who's only "flaw" is that their general sense of right and wrong is not yet developed, and is essentially stunted and replaced by the shit they are fed. If one is not content to simply live and let live, that lack of interest in self-preservation must stem from some sort of devalued perception of their own self worth, which can come from MANY different sources......parents, mental illness, immaturity, poverty, hunger, abuse, etc. In my (admittedly cynical) view, terrorism (and all similar evil) is less an affront to our human condition, than it is a purer representation of it. On Tue, Jan 13, 2015 at 10:22 AM, Michael Dinowitz < [email protected]> wrote: > > I found this to be a very thought provoking post and one I had to agree > with. As an American, I don't want any religion injected into my daily life > other than what I choose and I don't want to inject my religion into anyone > else's life. I wish everyone felt the same way. > > Aral Balkan â Islam is Privilege > https://aralbalkan.com/notes/islam-is-privilege/ > > Islam is Privilege > > You cannot both purport to support social justice and attempt to protect > privilege from criticism. > > This Wednesday, Charlie Hebdo, a satirical French newspaper was attacked by > two jihadists. Shouting âAllahu Akbarâ, they proceeded to murder 12 > people, > including nine journalists and two police officers, for offending their > religion. > > Itâs important that we understand this tragedy for what it is: the latest > chapter in the clash of two incompatible ideologies; liberalism and Islam. > > It is ironic, sad, and quite possibly catastrophic for the future of our > freedoms and human rights that those who should be most outraged by this, > my fellow liberals, are often the very same ones who do not understand it. > Islam is an ideology, Muslims are people. > > The first mistake many liberals make is to confuse Islam (an ideology) with > Muslims (people). > > Islam is a set of ideas. It is an ideology. It inherently deserves no more > or less respect than any other ideology. That is to say, it inherently > deserves no respect whatsoever. > > Just like any other idea or ideology, Islam also deserves no special > protection from criticism or critique. Affording it any such privilege just > because it has a supernatural origin story is not compatible with reason. > > Muslims, on the other hand, are people who have adopted Islam as dogma. > > It should really go without saying (but, unfortunately, needs to be said > repeatedly because idiotic right-wing fascistic nutjobs exist) that just > like any other person, Muslims inherently deserve to be respected as > people, treated with dignity, and have their rights protected. > > Those rights, however, do not include special privileges that render their > adopted dogma or any actions stemming from the exercise of that dogma free > from criticism. > Islamophobia is a homeopathic phobia > > Criticising Islam is no more Islamophobia than criticising capitalism is > Capitalophobia or criticising the patriarchy is Patriarchyophobia. > > When you equate Islamophobia with homophobia, you are doing the cause of > gender equality the greatest harm. I can choose to adopt a certain dogma or > other, I cannot choose to adopt my sexuality. Homophobia is fear of a group > of people because of who they are. Islamophobia is a made up, meaningless > word invented by those with religious privilege who want to stifle > criticism of said privilege. > > If you want a label to use for the right-wing fascistic nutjobs who target > Muslims in hate crimes, call it what it is: Muslimophobia. > > We cannot hope to have a meaningful conversation about an ideology that is > diametrically opposed to human rights, equality, and democracy if we > constantly conflate the criticism of ideas with the discrimination of > people. > Criticising Islam is not racism > > Islam is not a race. Islam is an ideology that can be (and is) adopted as > dogma by anyone regardless of age, sex, or race. > > Take me, for example. Both my parents are Turkish. I was raised Muslim. I > am no longer Muslim (I no longer believe in any form of supernaturalism). > > As an apostate, although I might lose my right to life or liberty in some > Islamic countries, I am quite sure Iâm not at risk of losing my race. In > fact, Iâm rather confident that Iâm still the same race I was while I was > Muslim. > > In the future, while I can easily adopt the dogma of Christianity, Judaism, > or Buddhism, I canât quite as easily become Hispanic or Black. Thatâs > because religion is ideology and dogma, not race. > > Calling Islam a race only helps to elevate its privilege. > > Islam is an ideology that is adopted as dogma by over 1.6 billion people, > roughly a quarter of the worldâs population. It is the second most popular > religion in the world. It enjoys a huge amount of privilege; privilege that > it uses daily to stifle basic human rights and freedoms especially in those > countries in which it has the power of law. > > Criticising Islam is not punching down. It is punching up against an > ideology that enjoys the dogmatic devotion of a quarter of the worldâs > population and whose endgame is to attain ultimate, unquestioned privilege > in a world where men are in charge of women, homosexuality is persecuted, > and anyone who doesnât believe in your dogma is your enemy. > > Iâve lived under the judgement, xenophobia, and sexism of this toxic, > repressive, ideology. Iâve felt the suffocating grip of its privilege. So > check your privilege before calling a Middle-Eastern Ex-Muslim > âIslamophobicâ or âracistâ. Stop trying to Whitesplain to me what > Islam is > based on a Ben Affleck video you watched on YouTube from the comfort of > your ivory tower. > > If you still want to call me âIslamophobicâ and âracistâ for > unapologetically criticising the ideology of Islam, that is your right. But > what you absolutely cannot do is to also call yourself a champion of social > justice. > > At the heart of social justice lies equality and human rights, including > the right to freedom of expression. Privilege is the natural enemy of > social justice. > > And Islam is Privilege. > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:373077 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
