
The Invention of Islamophobia (2011) - mpweiher
http://www.signandsight.com/features/2123.html
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jdietrich
The term "Islamophobia" is in many cases a justified label for bigotry and
prejudice, but I see it being used increasingly to stifle legitimate concern
and criticism.

A 2015 poll of British Muslims conducted by ICM on behalf of Channel 4 found a
number of attitudes that I think are genuinely worrying. 39% of respondents
agreed with the statement "wives should always obey their husbands". 52%
disagreed with the statement "homosexuality should be legal in Britain". 23%
supported "areas of Britain in which Sharia law is introduced instead of
British law". More than a third agreed with the statements "Jewish people have
too much power" and "Jews have too much control over global affairs", while a
quarter agreed with the statements "Jews are responsible for most of the
world's wars" and "people hate Jews because of the way Jews behave".

I have been accused of Islamophobia simply for reporting on this data. Our
ability to have a meaningful conversation about a significant social issue has
been stifled by ideological absolutism - on one side by bigots motivated by
hatred, and on the other by those who see anything but unconditional
acceptance as symptomatic of bigotry.

[https://www.icmunlimited.com/wp-
content/uploads/2016/04/Muli...](https://www.icmunlimited.com/wp-
content/uploads/2016/04/Mulims-full-suite-data-plus-topline.pdf)

~~~
apta
Report similar results about Jews and you'll be accused of anti-Semitism.

And stop bringing Jews into any discussion about Muslims. It's a fallacy.

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heraclius
Bruckner seems to be focusing on the word instead of the ideas behind
different uses of the word. There are of course some who wish to see Islam
“inviolate”, and it is natural for them to use the term “Islamophobia”. But
there are also those who oppose different types of attacks on Islam, or
different forms of fear of Islam. To resist a reflexive hatred of Islam per se
is to say something that also usefully uses the word “Islamophobia”. It
therefore makes little sense to attack the use of the term, as opposed to (a)
overly broad usage where it is unnecessary, (b) automatic assumptions that an
attack on Islam is invalid, and (c) attempts to render Islam “inviolate”.

[Edit] A further thought: Islam isn’t homogeneous, as many point out. Just as
it is generally unhelpful to attack Christianity on the basis of observations
of the Roman Catholic church, so too it is probably more helpful to describe
specific groups or collections of groups. This works both ways: it helps to
invalidate attacks on Islam as a whole based on rare practices, but it also
helps to invalidate lazy responses that rely on a small liberal group of
Muslims being representative, which is about as unhelpful as denying Christian
homophobia by citing the examples of a few Oxonocantabrigian liberal Anglo-
Catholics.

~~~
mpweiher
> Islam isn’t homogeneous

From the text: "Above all, however, it wants to silence all those Muslims who
question the Koran, who demand equality of the sexes, who claim the right to
renounce religion, and who want to practice their faith freely and without
submitting to the dictates of the bearded and doctrinaire."

~~~
heraclius
Yes, this is an important instance of the problem with excessive
generalisation. Unfortunately Bruckner ends up excessively generalising about
the use of the term “Islamophobia”, hence the not unjustified comments here
attacking him for bigotry.

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Ice_cream_suit
The article is a poorly argued white supremacist screed.

~~~
heraclius
I think that this is a valid initial reaction, but there is a useful point
here, which unfortunately has been expressed in the middle of a combination of
potential bigotry as you note, bad translation (possibly) and poor phrasing.

A reasonable attack on something then begins to use a word (“Islamophobia”).
It is then used by those who seek to render Islam “inviolate”. Clearly some
people exist who think this, if not particularly many. Because Islamophobia
can be construed as referring to any attack on Islam, there is a risk that one
then incorrectly concludes from the fact that many things described as
Islamophobic are bad that everything potentially Islamophobic (using the word
in the broadest possible sense) is bad. Unfortunately this useful point is
obscured by lots of other at least unhelpful material.

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FineThanks
The term islamophobia is of french origin and dates back to at least the
begining of 20th century ( _).

This fact alone gives clear indication of how serious Brukner and consorts
(Fourest, Finkelkraut,etc) who have an agenda of downplaying the rise of anti-
muslim bigotery on Europe.

(_) Maurice Delafosse, « L’état actuel de l’Islam dans l’Afrique occidentale
française », Revue du monde musulman, vol. XI, n°V, 1910, p. 57

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tomlock
> it denies the reality of an Islamic offensive in Europe

Stopped reading here.

There's no evidence of this.

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xondono
Are you serious? The hundreds dead in terrorist attacks aren’t evidence enough
for you?

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miclol
Are you serious ? Islam = Islamist terrorism ?

Check which religion are the first victim of Islamist terrorism in numbers and
then think again...

~~~
xondono
There’s a different between islamist and muslim...

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berbec
Islamic is to Islamic extremist as Christian is to KKK.

We don't go judging our local Baptist congregation by the Klan and it's
equally unjust to judge a Mosque full of peaceful, loving people.

~~~
xondono
Why do we have to play such word games around Islam?

When someone plants a bomb and claims to do it for christianity, I call that
"Christian terrorism". When someone plants a bomb and claims to do it for
islam, I call that "Islamic terrorism".

am I saying all christians are terrorists with the first statement? of course
not. It would be ridiculous. am I saying all muslims are terrorist with the
second statement? of course not. That would be ridiculous too.

It's about time we start calling a spade a spade.

PS: And before the "Alt right" BS starts, no, I'm not right wing, I just voted
one of the most left leaning parties in my country.

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factsaresacred
Criticisms of ideologies is fair game.

Especially ideologies that are the source of illiberal thought and which
legitimatize violence as a defensive tactic.

Islamophobia tends to get equated with discrimination towards people, however.
Something which obviously should be condemned.

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gristig
What I find weird and annoying is that we call people who are against Islams
as Islamophobics. For the most part they are not afraid of Muslims, but rather
hate them. I think there reason for calling them -phobics is because it is a
way to make fun of them. They are not a strong force fighting people who they
hate, but rather scaredy-cats who should be ridiculed.

