floridadynamo In a conversation about the role of Islam in modern society, a friend referred to me as being anti-Muslim. I took umbrage at that statement. When he made that accusation, I immediately began to compose a response. As I quickly formulated my answer, I realized that he may be suffering from a very common social malady that became very apparent to me ever since the building of the mosque controversy, i.e., thinking that Islam and Muslim are synonymous. Unfortunately, too many people, deliberately or through ignorance, do not seem to understand the difference between Islam and Muslim. I have heard it expressed all too often that if a person is anti-Islam, he/she/it (I prefer the “it” since I do not have to be concerned with the sex of the individual and grammatically correct gender terminology) is automatically anti-Muslim.
My slightly edited response to him is what I now want to share with you.
Please do not refer to me as anti-Muslim.
That is a gross mischaracterization.
Such a depiction implies that I accept stereotyping as being socially acceptable. For the record: stereotyping is not just sloppy thinking, it could also be a manifestation of irrational hate.
I try to avoid stereotyping religious or ethnic groups irrespective of whether or not they are Muslims. People are diverse. And cognizance of diversity should be acknowledged. Not all Germans were Nazis and not all Poles nor all Christians antisemitic. If that was true then there would be no such thing as the Righteous Gentile at Yad V’Shem – the memorial to the Holocaust in Israel. There were those Germans, Poles, Dutch, Danes – Christians all – who helped to save Jewish lives. My cousin was one of the Jews who was saved by a family that practiced Catholicism.
Permit me to clarify something that which I thought would be quite obvious from my writings.
My understanding is that Islam is the name of a religion; Muslim refers to adherents of Islam.
Yes, I am anti-Islam for several reasons. If you had characterized me as being anti-Islam, in all likelihood I would not have responded. But then again that should be expected since I am an atheistic secular humanist and am opposed to all organized or disorganized religions.
I am not anti-Muslim.
I am opposed to those Muslims who want to carry out all of the mandates Mohammad inserted in the Koran about killing the infidel, specifically the Jew. I have nothing against those Muslims who reject that aspect of the religion. Make no mistake, when Muslims reject the anti-social views embedded in the Koran, in the eyes of the fundamentalists they are not being good Muslims. If this makes me anti-Muslim then so be it.
I am opposed to those Muslims who want to kill me and others because we refuse to believe what they believe. If this makes me anti-Muslim then so be it. I have nothing against Muslims who reject this aspect of the religion.
I am opposed to Muslims who so disrespect me and others that they demand that life must be their way – on their terms – or no way. If this makes me anti-Muslim then so be it.
I am opposed to those Muslims who justify murder and mayhem (terrorism) because of something as stupid as a religious belief – irrational religious beliefs – no facts, just a belief. (Anyone who really understands the deep disgust in my voice when I use that word belief would then understand the full depth of what I am saying. I agree completely with the discussion of the detailed word belief in Gottlieb’s book The Naked Mind. Belief could be one of the most dangerous and disgusting words in the language.) I have nothing against those Muslims who reject this aspect of their religion.
Stop and think:Â Supposing everyone decided to kill and destroy because others do not accept their beliefs that they call religious?
Would you respect, let alone tolerate, such behavior?
If this makes me anti-Muslim then so be it.
I am opposed to the media that has introduced a double standard which includes magnifying anything deemed anti-social that Israel or an Israeli does but not report what the Muslim Arabs are doing. The article I sent you about Palestinian men raping women who come to promote peace and the Palestinian cause is just one example of what I am referring to. Another example would be the failure of the media to fully report on the significance of and use of the Muslim war cry “Khaibar! Jew, Mohamad’s army is coming to get you!” by the Muslims in Bali and in the flotilla incident. If this makes me anti-Muslim then so be it.
Please, do not label me anti-Muslim because I want to live in a safe and peaceful world and not have to worry about someone imposing their irrational beliefs on me for any reason but especially on the threat of death if I refuse to obey them. I do not want my children or grandchildren to have to live in such a world. Obey is the correct word because Islam means submission (to god) and Muslim means one who submits (to god. By extension, I suppose it could also mean one who submits to a cleric who supposedly speaks in the name of god. Is not that an aspect of recruiting potential suicide bombers and other terrorists?).
Please, do not label me anti-Muslim because I want to live in a safe and peaceful world where I do not have to worry about someone calling me a Jew, in the most derogatory sense of the word, because they have made this part of their religion and their vocabulary.   I am not required to and I refuse to accept such uncivilized behavior as the norm. I do not want my children or grandchildren to have to live in such a world.
If, because of my views I am no longer considered a liberal or its current incarnation, progressive, so be it.
From my perspective, people, especially liberals/progressives, who accept the uncivilized behavior that I oppose, because such acceptance would supposedly demonstrate great tolerance and understanding of multicultural equality on their part – or does not jibe with their current anti-Israel politics, is a fool. I am well aware that by my saying this I will be angering many people. It is time someone held a non-fog mirror to their face and hope that as they look into it, their eyes will really be open.
Now I will ask you:
Do you accept the behavior that I described and oppose as being socially redeemable?
Do you want to live in the world that I oppose?
Do you want your children and grandchildren to live in such a world?
If you agree with me, then are you willing to stand up and say so?
Would you then be willing to don the label of being anti-Muslim?
