{"id":671,"date":"2013-04-09T17:19:13","date_gmt":"2013-04-09T07:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/hellfireclub\/?p=671"},"modified":"2013-04-09T23:37:39","modified_gmt":"2013-04-09T13:37:39","slug":"islam-and-islamophobia-a-little-manifesto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/hellfireclub\/2013\/04\/09\/islam-and-islamophobia-a-little-manifesto\/","title":{"rendered":"Islam and “Islamophobia” – a little manifesto"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Republished in its entirety\u00a0from my old site for this blog; still timely, I think.)<\/a><\/p>\n

Islam and “Islamophobia” – a little manifesto<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let’s accept – as I think we should – that some dislike of Islam, or\u00a0 impatience with Muslims and their spiritual leaders, has a quasi-racist\u00a0 character, grounded in parochialism and xenophobia, and perhaps a dislike of\u00a0 Arabs in particular. It is not coincidental that much of the public criticism of\u00a0 Islam as a religion, and of Muslims and their practices, emanates from European\u00a0 political parties and associated groups found on the extreme right, such as the\u00a0 Front National in France and the British National Party in the UK. These\u00a0 organisations typically promote an intense, even bigoted nationalism – combined\u00a0 with what they portray as a defence of Christian traditions and values, and an\u00a0 endangered “Christian identity”. They thrive on a fear of strange cultures and a\u00a0 fear of change.<\/div>\n
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An obvious problem for critics of Islam who do not share the values of the\u00a0 extreme right is that they may find themselves painted with the same brush.\u00a0 Conversely, extreme-right critics of Islam have gained a degree of\u00a0 respectability by co-opting issues and adopting stances that many politicians\u00a0 and members of the public find compelling. E.g., extreme-right figures have attacked such practices\u00a0 as forced marriages, honour-killings, female genital mutilation, and highly\u00a0 conservative apparel for women such as the burqa and the chador.<\/div>\n
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At the same time, many Muslims in Western countries continue to suffer from\u00a0 suspicion, cultural and personal misunderstanding, discrimination, and outright\u00a0 intolerance that sometimes rises to the level of harassment and violence. The\u00a0 extreme right exploits and encourages an environment where all this is possible.\u00a0 In the circumstances, it is unsurprising when a phenomenon such as Islamophobia\u00a0 is identified by academics, political commentators, and public intellectuals…\u00a0 and steps are taken to combat it.<\/div>\n
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This situation creates a complex set of advantages, disadvantages, and\u00a0 risks. The extreme right benefits from the availability of politically\u00a0 respectable criticisms of Islamic thought and associated cultural practices. As\u00a0 this goes on, there is a risk that the word “Islamophobia” will be used to\u00a0 demonize and intimidate individuals whose hostility to Islam is genuinely based\u00a0 on what they perceive as its faults. In particular, we should remember that\u00a0 Islam contains ideas, and in a liberal democracy ideas are fair targets for\u00a0 criticism or repudiation. Religious doctrines influence the social and political\u00a0 attitudes of their adherents in ways that merit public comment (favorable or\u00a0 otherwise), and many religious leaders and organizations exert immense power or\u00a0 influence. It is in the public interest that all this be subjected to monitoring\u00a0 and criticism.
\nEven attacks on Islam that are made opportunistically – motivated by\u00a0 something like racist thinking, or by extreme kinds of national or cultural\u00a0 supremacism – cannot be dismissed out of hand as worthless.<\/div>\n
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After all, there are\u00a0 reasons why extreme-right organizations have borrowed arguments based on\u00a0 feminism and secularism. These arguments are useful precisely because they have\u00a0 an intellectual and emotional appeal independent of their convenience to\u00a0 extreme-right opportunists. Regardless of who uses these arguments, they\u00a0 plausibly apply to certain elements of Islam, or at least to attitudes and\u00a0 practices associated with it. Whether or not they are put in good faith by\u00a0 organizations such as the BNP, nothing precludes them being put sincerely, and\u00a0 perhaps cogently, by others who are genuinely passionate about the issues.<\/div>\n
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Thus, there are legitimate reasons for some people who are not racists,\u00a0 cultural supremacists, or anything of the sort, to criticize Islam, or certain\u00a0 forms of Islam, or to express hostility towards it. These relate to their\u00a0 disapproval of various doctrines, canons of conduct, associated cultural\u00a0 practices, and so on, and to the power wielded by Islamic leaders and\u00a0 organisational structures. In this situation, expressions of disapproval or\u00a0 repudiation cannot simply be dismissed, a priori, with the assumption that they\u00a0 are racially motivated. Such dismissals are, moreover, all-too-convenient for\u00a0 those who wish to stifle genuine criticism of Islam.<\/div>\n
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A number of lessons can be drawn from all this. One is that opponents of\u00a0 Islam, or some of its forms, cannot reasonably be expected to keep quiet when\u00a0 accused of racism or the quasi-racism of “Islamophobia.” When these accusations\u00a0 are misdirected, they are likely to inflame passions even further, though they\u00a0 may intimidate some individuals into silence. This suggests that we understand\u00a0 that quasi-racism does not underlie all attacks on Islam. In particular, it\u00a0 would be wise to avoid painting critics of Islam as members or dupes of the\u00a0 extreme right without additional evidence.<\/div>\n
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There is also a lesson for critics of Islam, and associated practices, who\u00a0 do not identify with the extreme right. For a start, they need to understand the\u00a0 situation, including the extreme right’s co-option of mainstream issues and\u00a0 arguments. This may lead to greater patience with opponents who make the charge\u00a0 of Islamophobia, though it hardly makes the charge more palatable (and I must\u00a0 say that I find it difficult to maintain my patience when I see people who are\u00a0 palpably not racists being maligned).<\/div>\n
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At a more practical level, opponents of\u00a0 Islam who do not wish to be seen as the extreme-right’s sympathizers or dupes\u00a0 would be well-advised to take care in the impression that they convey. Where\u00a0 practical, they should explain their positions with as much nuance as possible,\u00a0 distance themselves from extreme-right figures making similar arguments, and\u00a0 avoid sharing platforms with them.<\/div>\n
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But these are all voluntary choices and there are limits. The words “where\u00a0 practical” are important, because what is practical in, say, a philosophical\u00a0 essay may not be practical in a satirical cartoon, or even in a polemical book aimed\u00a0 at a popular audience. We mustn’t exclude the talents of people whose\u00a0 training or temperament does not suit hedged, half-apologetic communication. Nor\u00a0 must we always communicate in ways that most people find boring and bland.\u00a0 Beyond a certain point, there is too much disadvantage in walking on eggshells.\u00a0 We don’t have to do it all our lives.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Republished in its entirety\u00a0from my old site for this blog; still timely, I think.) Islam and “Islamophobia” – a little manifesto Let’s accept – as I think we should – that some dislike of Islam, or\u00a0 impatience with Muslims and their spiritual leaders, has a quasi-racist\u00a0 character, grounded in parochialism and xenophobia, and perhaps a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,19,11,18,13],"tags":[261,260],"class_list":["post-671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-debate","category-philosophy","category-politics","category-religion","tag-islam","tag-islamophobia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/hellfireclub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/hellfireclub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/hellfireclub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/hellfireclub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/hellfireclub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/hellfireclub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/hellfireclub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/hellfireclub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skepticink.com\/hellfireclub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}