The Islamophobia Myth
KenanMalik.com (UK)


Ten years ago no one had heard of Islamophobia. Now everyone from Muslim leaders to anti-racist activists to government ministers want to convince us that Britain is in the grip of an irrational hatred of Islam - a hatred that, they claim, leads to institutionalised harassment, physical attacks, social discrimination and political alienation. Former Home Office Minister John Denham has warned of the 'cancer of Islamophobia' infecting the nation. The veteran anti-racist Richard Stone, who was a consultant to the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, suggests that Islamophobia is 'a challenge to us all'. The Director of Public Prosecutions has worried that the war on terror is 'alienating whole communities' in this country. The government is so concerned that it is introducing a new law outlawing incitement to religious hatred.

But does Islamophobia really exist? Or is the hatred and abuse of Muslims being exaggerated to suit politicians' needs and silence the critics of Islam?
The trouble with Islamophobia is that it is an irrational concept. It confuses hatred of, and discrimination against, Muslims on the one hand with criticism of Islam on the other. The charge of 'Islamophobia' is all too often used not to highlight racism but to stifle criticism. And in reality discrimination against Muslims is not as great as is often perceived - but criticism of Islam should be greater.

In making a film on 'Islamophobia for Channel 4' (link) what became clear is the gap between perception and reality. Islamophobia driven by what people want to believe is true, rather than what really is true. A good example is the debate about police harassment of Muslims. Last summer the Home Office published figures that revealed a 300% increase in the number of Asians being stopped and searched under Britain's anti-terror laws. Journalists, Muslim leaders and even the Home Office all shouted 'Islamophobia'. 'The whole Muslim community is being targeted by the police', claimed Khalid Sofi of the Muslim Council.

Certainly, the bald figure of a '300% increase' suggests heavy handed policing and continual harassment. But dig a little deeper and the figures reveal something very different. They show that just 3000 Asians had been stopped and searched in the previous year under the Terrorism Act. Of these probably a half were Muslim. In other words around 1500 Muslims out of a population of more thtan 1.6 million had been stopped and searched under the terror laws - hardly a case of the police targeting every Muslim.

A total of 21,577 had been stopped and searched under the terror laws. The vast majority of these - 14,429 - were in fact White. Yet when I interviewed Iqbal Sacranie, general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, he insisted that '95-98% of those stopped and searched under the anti-terror laws are Muslim'.
The real figure is actually 15%. But however many times I showed him the true statistics he refused to budge. I am sure he was sincere in his belief. But there is no basis for his claim that virtually all those stopped and searched were Muslim - the figures appear to have been simply plucked out of the sky...."
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"Islamophobia" is ad hominem

By Ali Sina
2006/05/26

One friend alerted me to a discussion going on in Wikipedia on the neologism “Islamophobia”. Someone has suggested that this category should be deleted because the term Islamophobia is divisive, inflammatory and it is frequently used to inhibit very valid criticism of Islam.

This suggestion, of course, as it is to be expected, has been rejected by Muslims who have Islamized everything including Wikipedia. This friend asked my opinion. Here is what I think:

Islam is an ideology. Rejection of an ideology cannot be classified as phobia. To call the opponents of an ideology phobic is a fallacy. All ideologies have their critics and opponents but we do not hear Christians calling the critics of Christianity Christianophobe, communists calling their critics communitophobe or Hindus calling theirs hinduphobe. The term "Islamophobia" is both technically and logically incorrect and misleading.

According to Dictionary.com Phobia is “a persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid it, despite the awareness and reassurance that it is not dangerous.” Therefore the neologism "Islamophobia" implies that Islam is not dangerous and the fear of it is irrational.

This claim has not been established and it is not universally agreed upon. There are many who argue that Islam is indeed a dangerous ideology and they have their logical arguments to prove their claim. Irrespective of whether the critics of Islam are right or wrong about whether Islam is dangerous or not, calling them “phobic” implies that their criticism has been already refuted and the irrationality of their fear of Islamic threat has been established. Therefore their disagreement with Islam is not logical but a mental disorder.

All ideologies have their opponents. It is sheer arrogance to call criticism of any ideology, phobia. This implies that the truth of that ideology is already established and anyone opposing it is adopting an irrational position and is in need of psychological help.

Only Muslims are capable of this much irrationality and arrogance. We all recall Muhammad Abdullah, the Afghani man who converted to Christianity and who was facing execution. When the government of Afghanistan was pressured to release him, to save face they accused him of being insane and not fit to stand trial. In the mind of Muslims only an insane person would disagree with Islam. This is sheer arrogance.

Buddhism is by all accounts a peaceful religion as non-violence is the core of it. Despite that Buddhism has its critics and we never call then Buddhistphobes.

The neologism Islamophobia makes absolutely no sense. It is derogatory and is used in a pejorative way to discredit the critics of Islam from the outset.

Phobia is a disorder. Here is a short list of a few phobias: Achluophobia or Lygophobia (fear of darkness), Acrophobia, (fear of heights), Androphobia (fear of men), Aviatophobia (fear of flying), Chiraptophobia (fear of being touched), Claustrophobia (fear of confined spaces), Coitophobia (fear of coitus), Decidophobia (fear of making decisions), Agrophobia or Demophobia (fear of crowds), Eleutherophobia (fear of freedom), Gynophobia (fear of women), Hadephobia (fear of hell -this is the phobia affecting all the Muslims), Hylophobia (fear of forests), Insectophobia, (fear of insects), Isolophobia (fear of solitude, being alone), Necrophobia, (fear of death or dead things), Neophobia (fear of anything new), Phasmophobia, (fear of ghosts), Philophobia, (fear of falling in love or being in love), Xenophobia, (fear of strangers or foreigners), etc. (For more see this)

How can criticism of Islam fall into this category? These are all irrational fears that require therapy. Are Muslims suggesting that the critics of Islam should receive therapy? We can’t classify disagreement with Islam as phobia. Islam is an ideology. Phobia is irrational fear of things, people or situations but not beliefs. You can't be phobic of a belief system. Beliefs per se are not frightening. It's people who follow nefarious beliefs that become dangerous and frightening. As one can see, the very term "Islamophobia" is stupid because Islam is a belief system and it is not possible to be phobic of a belief. From whichever angle you look at Islam you find its stupidity glaring at you.

Muslims suffer from an irrational fear of the Jews. Muslim children are taught that the Jews are evil and that they eat Muslim children and make pastries with their blood. Jews are caricatured in derogatory and demonized ways, depicted as bloodsucking monsters. In a television show aired in Palestine a three year old child was interviewed and asked what she hates most, and she responded "the Jews" and the journalists praised Allah upon hearing this stupid remark. So the neologism Judeophobia (fear of Jews) is a correct lexicon, because the irrational fear of Jews is inculcated in all Muslims since childhood. Muslims gravely suffer from this disorder.

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If children anywhere were taught to fear Muslims, the way Muslim children are taught to fear Jews, then the neologism Muslimphobia would have made sense. But that is not the case. Islam is a belief system. It is a human right to disagree with any belief. Calling that disagreement “phobia” is a logical fallacy. Islam is the only ideology, whose followers try to discredit its critics by calling their criticism "phobia".

Islamophobia makes no sense at all. It is as meaningless as "Fascistophobia". Of course people have the right to disagree and criticize any ideology, whether good or bad. The goodness of an ideology is in the eyes of the beholder. Inhibiting criticism of an ideology is infringing upon the basic human rights, which is freedom of speech.

The absurdity of the Muslim mind is such that they think it is okay for them to incite hate against the non-Muslims in general and the Jews in particular and yet it is not okay for others to criticize their ideology of hate.

What is behind this paranoia and phobia of criticism? It is the inability of Muslims to counter the valid criticism of Islam. Failing that, they resort to ad hominem and try to discredit its critics by undermining their character. By classifying the criticism of Islam as a disorder, Muslims absolve themselves from responding to valid criticisms against their faith.

The neologism “Islamophobia”, is therefore the symptom of the intellectual bankruptcy of Muslim clerisy to come up with logical arguments and defend Islam against criticism in a rational way.
"Islamophobia" is an ad hominen. It is a logical fallacy and an insult hurled at the critics of Islam. It highlights the fact that Islam is a lie, unable to withstand criticism. That is why Muslims need censorship and must eliminate the truth by brutal force (law suits or violence) to protect their lie.

The very existence of this neologism is a tacit confession of Muslims that Islam is a Lie, which can't be defended logically and that ad hominem and censorship are the only ways to defend it.

http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina60526.htm

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The woman in my avatar is Cristina Scabbia and the woman in my profile picture is Tarja Turunen
Sun flames and moons glow, timeless the tides will flow, what will I face, what will be mine, fortune and fate the other side...

Post of the week:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inferno You just don't relate to my sense of humor. How about this. Gosh darn funny man living in a whale. doncha know that gawd could do that I betcha he could. wink wink.

LOL

I settled that here: For all others to see:

Islam Bashing Threads

You took a powder- after losing yet another!
(You don't even know you lost.
You may may not even know there was a 'discussion'!, as opposed to empty/evasive replies on your part)
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The woman in my avatar is Cristina Scabbia and the woman in my profile picture is Tarja Turunen
Sun flames and moons glow, timeless the tides will flow, what will I face, what will be mine, fortune and fate the other side...

Post of the week:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inferno You just don't relate to my sense of humor. How about this. Gosh darn funny man living in a whale. doncha know that gawd could do that I betcha he could. wink wink.

Victory in substance that I was glad to link to and you didn't, I find is always better than empty last wording.

Above was Makkede's 140th Post Today (app 10 Every waking hour). And the day is still young!

How's Life?

Makkede 141 to follow.

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The woman in my avatar is Cristina Scabbia and the woman in my profile picture is Tarja Turunen
Sun flames and moons glow, timeless the tides will flow, what will I face, what will be mine, fortune and fate the other side...

Post of the week:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inferno You just don't relate to my sense of humor. How about this. Gosh darn funny man living in a whale. doncha know that gawd could do that I betcha he could. wink wink.

http://www.politicalforum.com/newrep...reply&p=667923
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anyone denying that there is an Evil side of Islam is burying their heads

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Aint but three things in this world thats worth a solitary dime,
But old dogs and children and watermelon wine.
Tom T. Hall
http://www.obamatruth.org/

__________________
The woman in my avatar is Cristina Scabbia and the woman in my profile picture is Tarja Turunen
Sun flames and moons glow, timeless the tides will flow, what will I face, what will be mine, fortune and fate the other side...

Post of the week:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Inferno You just don't relate to my sense of humor. How about this. Gosh darn funny man living in a whale. doncha know that gawd could do that I betcha he could. wink wink.