So his only problem with terrorism is to complain about how Muslims are being treated because of it? Maybe they/he should speak against it so we know where they all stand. It's very quiet on that front.
. On Tue, Jan 13, 2015 at 11:22 AM, Michael Dinowitz <mdino...@houseoffusion.com> 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:373081 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
