Are we really Islamophobic?

I was thinking recently which can be dangerous on why we are called Islamophobic when it is Muslims we are alleged to be hateful against.  This may clear that question up a bit.

Enjoy


Islamophobia VS Muslimophobia?






Phobia: an irrational or unfounded fear of that which we don’t understand. Many of us have phobias of things we don’t understand. We are scared of the monster under the bed, the dentist, spiders and snakes but are any of these truly things we don’t understand or merely remnants of prehistoric genetic programming? Whatever the reason humans are programmed to stand off whenever we smell fishiness. Islamophobia, as the label of shame applied to questioners of Islam and Muslims reeks of fish and is incorrect as it mis-identifies who the claimed victims are.

When the label “Islamophobia” is applied it is assumed that those on whom the label is given are fearful of Islam. At the same time those doing the excoriating always mention it is Muslims who are the targets of hate-mongering, threats, physical attacks and myriad hate crimes. There have been three incidences recently against Muslims: arson on a mosque in Tennessee, the attack of a Muslim cabbie by a loon and the burning of Qur’ans by a church and its rabid pastor. None of these constitute Islamophobia and the stabbing of the cabbie is, at most a hate crime. Burning anything to make a point, especially books is no more than stupidity with a match.

If there was such a thing as Islamophobia it would manifest itself in ugly ways: Attacking worshippers leaving a mosque, burning to the ground standing mosques with people inside, stopping and beating anyone who looks middle eastern, calls for Islam to be banned as a spiritual practice, rounding up and questioning Muslims and Arabic appearing people and other most egregious acts. We don’t do such things because we are pluralistic and tolerant. Islamophobia does not apply in any sense, especially since we know nothing about Islam and therefore cannot have an irrational fear of that which we are unfamiliar.

According to those who continue to call anyone questioning the ground zero mosque/community center as anti-Muslim, bigot, hate-monger or intolerant, it is a fear of Muslims, not Islam which drives the vitriol. Those who oppose the mosque/community center are accused of hating Muslims and yet are called Islamophobes when in reality the correct term to use should be Muslimophobe.

Can Americans be Islamophobic? The answer is no simply because we have not done anything to know of Islam, it’s tenets or doctrine, or even its holy book, the Qur’an. How many Americans have read the Qur’an as opposed to those who have read the Bible? There are no hard numbers to refer to, although with 89% of the population claiming they believe in some kind of God and half the population professed Christian (159M) an educated guess would be somewhere near 10%. Those who have read the Bible would be at least 50% given the numbers of believers. Does this mean that 10% of the population are Islamophobes and 50% are Christianophobes? If that’s the case then we should be more worried about those evil believers in Christ than those Islamists who call for sharia law and the destruction of Israel and the west on a regular basis.

We in America are Muslimophobes in that we are afraid of what we have not been able to understand. Muslims as a whole have not taken the task to heart to show, through deeds and words that Islam and Muslims are not what it they are perceived by many to be. When Muslims say they are insulted by any questioning of their religion in any form, that creates fear. When Muslims say they want peace but do nothing to mitigate the doctrine which creates war Americans feel apprehension. When prominent Muslims claim they want to build bridges and then refuse to engage in religious dialogue the atmosphere of distrust becomes thicker. We see Muslims as the creator of unknown panic and that will not abate until open, honest dialogue occurs within the Islamic community and non-Muslims.

Americans pride themselves on honest examination of the aspects of the human condition. Islam does not allow any in-depth analysis by non-Muslims and Muslims do not allow anyone to delve into their faith-based hate. No discussions means no understanding.

Muslims define Islam and if there is any phobia to be had it should be directed at those who make it virtually impossible to make sense of the ins and outs of the worlds third largest religion.

Muslimophobia is the new paradigm.