It’s late, I’m tired. Still, I blog.
Two themes keep cropping up: One, that Muslims must not be denigrated in the media because…well, I don’t know why not – perhaps because they won’t much like it. Two, that it’s culture, not Islam, that we should be criticizing.
Svend White’s concern for Muslims’ image was once criticized on this blog, here. I don’t think I can say much more that isn’t covered there. Basically, Muslims really don’t need to worry further about their ‘image.’ It’s been effectively spoiled for at least a century, and they rounded things out neatly by flying planes into buildings. No, their image is beyond rescue at this point.
I actually believe their image will improve the greater visibility ex-Muslims achieve. Christians, after all, are a vastly improved lot by virtue of being lapsed or nominal.
But theorizing about the whys and wherefores is really besides the point. Muslims are being shamed in the media, and they best get used to regarding themselves critically. It’s about time. Perhaps this shame, if it’s ubiquitous enough, will actually seep in and do some good damage to their unjustified arrogance.
Culture and Islam…I talked about this a little in my brief discussion with Esra’a, a commenter. In brief, Islam is as Islam does. There is no culture of Saudi Arabia outside of Islam. Muhammad effectively destroyed the pagan culture of Saudi Arabia (except for the bits he incorporated into Islam), and installed Islam in its place. Saudi culture is born of Islam.
Islam never has and never will happen in a vacuum. Interpretations, people living the religion, shariah as it is applied – this is all Islam. If it’s different in Syria from how it is in Saudi Arabia, they are both Islam.
Muhammad’s intolerance of dissent is Islam. Muhammad’s multiple marriages – one to a nine year old girl – is Islam. Allah’s vengeance on unbelievers and apostates is Islam. Muslims’ egregious sins towards women is Islam. 9/11 is Islam. The existence of Hell is Islam.
Islam is what the Muslims make it. Just as communism isn’t what one political science professor says it is: it is what actually happened to countries that applied it.
There is no escaping this fact, no matter how much handwaving Muslims do around it in trying to distance themselves from the hopeless depressing sordid reality of Islam today. Admit it’s twisted and wrong – and fix it.
Filed under: Islam/Religion
Given that there’s no actual objective content to religion, it’s impossible to separate out the “religion” from the culture. If you ignore that many of the cultural practices are justified by the belief that those practices are mandated by an invisible sky fairy, you still have the culture in full. Religion is blameless by definition: whatever an individual doesn’t like he simply arbitrarily excludes from the religion.
interesting read..i think that the image of islam would not have been spoiled in the first place if the moderate muslims had spoken out…well written post…:)
I’ve replied at some length to Apostate’s painfully wrongheaded analysis in the comments here http://apostate.wordpress.com/2007/01/15/the-hypocrisy-of-liberal-islam/
In short, she’s talking about these issues like some mainstream intellectual who has no awareness of the existence of racism or the ease with which high-profile crusades supposedly on behalf of minority women end up making the situation infinitely worse.
Not surprisingly, she also overlooks the doublestandards at work. She’s objects to me saying that Asra Nomani and the MSM were bullying Muslims, but what she’s really objecting to is my contention that there’s anything wrong with that.
Apostate shines a spotlight on prejudice BY Muslims (regarding ex-Muslims, etc etc), but seems utterly unaware that there’s a hell of a lot of prejudice AGAINST Muslims today, too.
Or is that kind of prejudice okay? Answer honestly now.
Just don’t hate them.
Svend,
Whoa – I have no pretensions to intellectualism. In fact, when I get compliments worded so from readers, I’m so embarrassed I almost don’t want to publish them.
That’s why I’m blogging and not writing books and/or theses, unlike yourself.
I know about racism, of course, but I don’t know what that has to do with Muslims. Muslims are not a race.
I don’t know that Asra Nomani or the MSM are bullying Muslims. How, exactly? Asra Nomani’s mission started out pretty mildly, and then got a little more aggressive when she hit the wall of Muslims’ entrenched attitudes against change. Still, it wasn’t anything like the level of bullying people face at the hands of the Muslim establishment.
I shine the light on the prejudice by Muslims because it is unprovoked and arises out of Muslims’ own – frankly – nasty interpretations of their religion. The prejudice AGAINST Muslims, on the other hand, is earned. Muslims have earned it.
It’s not ‘okay.’ Prejudice is never ok. I would argue though, that a certain kind of ‘prejudice’ against Muslims is ‘postjudice.’ We’re coming to conclusions AFTER studying Muslims, not BEFORE studying them.
The kind of prejudice that Little Green Footballs and James Taranto and others of their kind have, is problematic – certainly. I have blogged about that too.
Edited to add: I’ve responded to Svend’s comment in the Hypocrisy of Liberal Islam.
I persoanly do not mind the slur of being racist when it comes to opposing islam in some way.To me it just proves how racist THEY are with thier desire for a world wide ‘Arabic’ empire.
When you convert to islam you are given an arabic name.Supposedly you do not have to change your name or even go by the new one.However in the perfect world of islam ,if the world were islamic,all would have an arabic name.
One is not deemed a pious muslim unless he/she reads the koran in Arabic.If anything i have said so far is in error please forgive me and correct my errors.
In my endeavors of reading articles and statements by islamic leaders spiritual,political (is there a difference?) i have come to the knowledge that what islam points at another for doing you can sure believe islam does it far worse and blatantly under thier religious or cultural rights.No matter how horrific or insane it may be.
So it is safe to say that when a muslim points out that you are racist,you can better believe they are the epitimy of such accuasation.
The opinion i have formed of islam is an entity that is racist and genocidal.The view posted that Saudi Arabia has no identity (or any muslims state or nation for that matter) other than islam ,it has no past Arabic understanding of it’s true past.All past history of any one person not to mention nations are erased under islam as there can only be one begining and one end under islam.
In short the my understanding is that the rule of islam brings the erasure of all else….non Arabic,non muslim.
By the way the racist card has been played so much it has no meaning in my opinion anyway.It has been used as a tool and a weopon against people that have bent over backwards to instill equality to each and everyone ,even perhaps at thier peril.The free world needs to restate just what freedom is and how it comes to be.Too many people use freedom that have never desired to uphold it in it’s true form.Freedom means you are free to within the law and as long as it harms no one,islam is a very harmful ….thing that shouldn’t be.
Thanks for your article you have the abilty and a gift never be embarrased to post as you have.You do all involved justice. I wish i had a hint of your talent as i would be beating islam into the ground with my silver tongue.
Any “Religion” that does not give its members
the freedom to leave and brands them apostates
when they do so does not deserve the title
“Religion” and has become a cult in the classic
sense of the word. The Lord bless you all as
you try to free people from the bonds of Islam
and inform the world about who the false prophet Muhammed really was and what he really taught