When Mohamed, the prophet of Islam, was depicted in a caricature as promoting violence, Muslims around the world reacted with anger and outrage. Western media invoked freedom of speech to justify the printing of this degrading caricature.
Pastor Terry Jones has called on his followers to make 9/11 the "International Burn A Koran Day". Muslims are already expressing anger at this initiative. Will western media invoke freedom of speech again to justify this hate-promoting initiative?
Since 9/11, Islamophobia, i.e. the prejudice against Islam or Muslims, has been on the rise. What are the roots of this alarming phenomenon? Well I think there are many of them but it all boils down to ignorance.
What has been adding fuel to the fire is the almost daily front-page headlines where terms such as "Islamic Terrorism" and "Islamic Fundamentalism" have been used to describe terrorist activities undertaken by some Muslims. Whether it is done out of ignorance or hatred the use of these terms has left the average reader with the twisted notion that Islam promotes violence and orders its followers to use it against innocent civilians. It is true that some Muslims misinterpret some of the verses in the Koran which refer to "fighting the enemy". Nevertheless we have to remember that they are only a tiny minority.
We can't judge all Muslims based on the actions of few. If we were to accept this simplistic way of thinking we would have to admit that Muslims have the right to accuse all Americans of being murderers for the crimes committed in Iraq and Afghanistan against innocent civilians, not to mention the illegal invasion of these Muslim countries. Whether the U.S. army deliberately or not targeted civilians is irrelevant for the families of the victims and for the general Muslim population.
If you are still not convinced that Islamophobia is on the rise you should only read about the recent controversy surrounding the construction of a Muslim community center near New York's Ground Zero. The main argument goes like this: how can we, Americans, allow a mosque to be built near Ground Zero, a place that was attacked by Muslim terrorists. Even Sarah Palin, the former vice presidential candidate, weighed in on the issue by asking peaceful Muslims to "refudiate" (warning: you will not find this word in any English dictionary) the construction of the "mosque". Has the Land of the Free become less tolerant than Lebanon where a Synagogue was allowed to be rebuilt in Beirut's Ground Zero, a city that was heavily bombarded by Israel, the US closest ally in the region?
Unfortunately, this new trend of Islamophobia is becoming mainstream. It is fostering an atmosphere of fear and suspicion. Worst of all it is nurturing extremism on both sides of the spectrum. The Muslim world can also perceive this as part of a bigger war on Islam. Let us instead try to foster an environment of mutual respect and mutual understanding where we respect each other regardless of our religious affiliations.
We all need to condemn Islamophobia. It is pernicious and dangerous. To that end I suggest we amend the comments guidleines of this site to explicitly include lslamophobia along with racism, sexism, homophobia, and anti-Semitism in its list of unacceptable intolerances.
Feel free to criticize the extremists--I will join you. But we need to stop attacking the whole of Islam.
Peace/Salaams/Shalom
I think the question you're asking is whether freedom of speech should be "revoked" to defend the sensibilities of certain individuals. I think not.
The government has to stop the speech or practice of religion for rights to be infringed.
Now, in both cases, they have every right to do what they want. Those who bash one and not the other are just being hypoctrites.
The printing does not need to be justified. The paper has the right to print things that people may find offensive. I find it odd that the author does not have a problem that "Muslims around the world reacted with anger and outrage." How is that response of "anger" and "outrage" get protection when something that is apparently based upon anger does not? The response is justified because of the cause? Is that the only way that something that is "bad" gets a pass?
" Will western media invoke freedom of speech again to justify this hate-promoting initiative?"
Huh?
To justify? Is that right? It is not a justification. It is a statement of fact. In America one has a right to freely express his or her beliefs even if they are offensive or wrong. I can blame America's problems on any group or person without worry about getting into trouble. People in America actually have the right to blame identifiable groups wrongly for their problems. That is why the KKK still exists and why there are anti-semite groups and anti-muslim groups and anti-christian groups and anti-homosexual groups.
i received an article about india and pakistan. the writer wanted to know why india was becoming an economic power house and pakistan mired in third world poverty his conclusion
Simple answer to why the Indians fare better than the Pakistanis – They don’t focus on religion all the time and neither do they spend time and money in devising ways to kill their own and everyone else over religion
Dr Farrukh Saleem
the 9/11 terrorist wanted a religious war the problem was americans in 2001 couldnt care less about somebody else religion. america was india
so the noted saudi terrorist financier, alwaleed bin talal, became the second largest shareholder in foxnews. now those who want a religious have a mouthpiece that can produce their goal make america pakistan..
to fight terrorism the first two steps are:
1. turn off foxnews.
2. develop alternative energy. immediately ban the export of american oil. reduce the import of oil by 10% a year till we no longer need it.
lenin said "we will hang the capitalist and they will sell us the rope." the modern radical islamic terrorist says "we will destroy the great satan and we will sell them the oil to finance it."
You can fool all the people some of the time. You can fool some of the people all of the time and those people are my audience.
Glenn Beck staff meeting April 3, 2009
how do you fight radical islamic terrorism is you antagonize moderate muslims
You can fool all the people some of the time. You can fool some of the people all of the time and those people are my audience.
Glenn Beck staff meeting April 3, 2009
"when the truth is found to be lies"
jefferson airplane
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2006/03/bloody_bloody_b.html
The media invoking freedom of speech? So you saying that we disallow freedom of speech in certain situations because it may hurt some people's feelings? That is scary.
"What has been adding fuel to the fire is the almost daily front-page headlines where terms such as "Islamic Terrorism" and "Islamic Fundamentalism" have been used to describe terrorist activities undertaken by some Muslims."
What should they call it then? These terms accurately describe the terrorists activities. The terrorists have had no qualms about making it clear that their religion is driving force behind their actions.
Of course not all Muslims are terrorists, but unlike the terrorists, they do not have nearly as an effective method of communicating that fact.
Religion works in the wise that anyone who claims to be a part is a part. Regardless of whether or not people think that the Westboro Baptist Church people are christian the members are because they are making that claim. The same goes for the people who claim that Islam commands them to attack others. They may not be using the religion properly, but that is not the fault of the outsiders. Outsiders most definitely cannot detach a person from a group to which they claim membership.
........THESE IDIOTS WHO PROTEST........."HAVE NO IDEA WHY THEY PROTEST.THEY JUST WANT TO HATE AND BLAME OTHERS FOR THEIR ANGER,NO LOGIC INVOLED"........
.THEY ARE MAKING AMERICA A SAD PLACE TO LIVE.....
You can fool all the people some of the time. You can fool some of the people all of the time and those people are my audience.
Glenn Beck staff meeting April 3, 2009
"when the truth is found to be lies"
jefferson airplane
I believe without hesitation that our rights as human beings are inalienable, and that among these rights is freedom of religion. The Muslim community has every right to build a mosque on property that they own, since property rights are inalienable as well. I have had Muslim friends and found them to be good, honest, hard working people.
Despite my core beliefs in this matter, I am fearful of having a mosque in my community. I have no logical argument to justify my fear. It is in my gut, not my brain. Holding all Muslims accountable for the monstrous actions of a few is not a valid reason. The Qur’an does indeed seem to call for the domination of "infidels", but then again so does the Bible.
Christianity has a long history of destroying peoples and cultures in the name of Jesus and there are still extremist Christians today who believe that any means of making the whole world Christian are justifiable. And yet I do not fear having Christian churches in my community, even the ones I think are radical-crazy.
I would appreciate input from HuffPo readers on this quandary I find myself in. Give me a reason to not be afraid for my family and community of having a mosque in my town.
I think you need to figure out what you are really afraid of - let's use the the 'radical crazy' christians as an example. You don't appear to be afraid of them, but you do appear to be afraid of their movement. The same could be said for a 'radical crazy' version of Islam; personally I'm afraid of anyone who is 'radical crazy' anything. But its a worldwide thing, chances are very good that any mosque in your community will be peaceful and loving, VERY GOOD, and you seem to know that. And even if they are 'radical crazy', que sera sera. Because it's not Islam you're scared of, it's the 'radical crazy'; and you can find them in any type of building.
I guess I'm not helping, since I can't really suggest you don't be afraid - but being afraid of a mosque is missing the point.
I think it means convincing people that killing Americans brings down a world of pain on you. And after you decide to stop killing us, we will rebuild your country. Stick and carrot. Don't think it will work this time. We're not in Germany or Japan.