Saturday 6 August 2016

Except No-One's 'Demonising' Buddhists, Or Mormons....

I wrote last week about the initial reporting of an attack on French tourists in the Alps. The alleged perpetrator was said to be Moroccan-born and to have acted because his alleged victims – a woman and her daughter – were wearing skimpy clothes. Those details alone were enough to lead some to conclude an Islamist motive, though the claim about offence having been caused by the women’s attire was quickly dismissed.
After I wrote about the case, further information emerged that suggested the man might have taken offence at a gesture made by the victim’s husband. And it was said that when questioned by police, the suspect shouted “Allahu Akbar” – though his defence lawyer told local media that his client had used the words simply because he felt oppressed during his interrogation.
Is there anything that Muslims don't feel 'oppressed' by..?
So will religion prove to be the underlying motivation in this case? Maybe. Maybe not.
That's why they pay you the big bucks at the 'Indy', is it, Will?
Over the weekend, one Twitter user took me task, however, for being on the side of “Islamopsychotics”, and for defending them “to the end with the mantra of whoever complains is Islamophobic”. Putting to one side the modest overreaction, I was struck by the use of the term “Islamopsychotics”, which seemed to combine several stereotypes in one.
Seems like pretty accurate shorthand to me...
This is dangerous because we run the risk of conflating religious devotion with mental illness (atheist jokes aside) and of simplifying and demonising both.
I'm not too bothered by 'religious devotion' when it manifests itself in arranging flowers for church or providing food for the community.

But when it manifests as blowing up children, well, 'demonising' seems a damned good place to start.

6 comments:

Antisthenes said...

Fear always has a cause. Often the cause is found to be other than that which is feared. However to curtail that fear reasonable proof must be provided to show that that fear is unfounded.

Rightly or wrongly non Muslims fear Islam because anecdotal evidence points to Islam being violent in nature, favours medieval practices and behaviour, are misogynists, has world domination ambition and believe in enslavement or conversion of non believers of their religion.

As of yet I have heard many denials and no evidence in support other than opinion that Islam wants none of these things. Coupled with refusal to countenance open debate to show that the reasons for that fear are unfounded.

The only evidence available which we see being shown and expressed every hour of every day on the TV and in the newspapers can only be be assessed by any reasonable person that Islam is a religion we should be very fearful of indeed. I ask those supporters and apologists for Islam to supply me with the evidence that will disabuse me of that fear. Platitudes and calling me names like racist and Islamophobe will not do.

Anonymous said...

"...anecdotal evidence points to Islam being violent in nature, favours medieval practices and behaviour, are misogynists, has world domination ambition and believe in enslavement or conversion of non believers of their religion."

Not that anecdotal, all this stuff is there in black and white in their holy book of crap.

Stonyground

Lynne at Counting Cats said...

Couldn't possibly a hateful Islamic nutjob. He wasn't Norwegian...

Jim said...

I think what were are seeing now is the full effect of my theory that the Left is in fact collectively mentally ill. They have created their own reality, to fit their own idea of how the world should be, and now as reality moves even further away from their ideas (it was pretty far away when they just thought socialism could provide more wealth than capitalism) they are reduced to saying black is white, even when the most inattentive observer can see that not only is it black, its the blackest black you could imagine. I think its why the Left are getting more and more agitated and violent - the mental gymnastics required to keep the show on the road when reality is so opposed to their mental map must test the limits of their sanity.

Ted Treen said...

"Islamopsychotic".


Isn't that just a tad tautological?

JuliaM said...

"However to curtail that fear reasonable proof must be provided to show that that fear is unfounded."

This is why I oppose the term 'Islamaphobia'. A phobia is an irrational fear.

"Not that anecdotal, all this stuff is there in black and white in their holy book of crap."

People say the same about the Old Testament, as if it proves something. But I don't know any CoE vicar who preaches the OT, does anyone else?

"Couldn't possibly a hateful Islamic nutjob. He wasn't Norwegian..."

Or bullied...

"I think its why the Left are getting more and more agitated and violent..."

Is it 'the Left' or is it those that have infiltrated their ranks?

"Isn't that just a tad tautological?"

Quite!