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Showing Original Post only (View all)Rules I'd suggest for critiquing Islam or "Islamists" without aiding Western militarists and bigots: [View all]
Last edited Fri Jan 9, 2015, 07:04 PM - Edit history (1)
1)Acknowledge the Western colonial and military heritage in the Arab/Muslim world(including the Iraq/Afghanistan war and the continued, and the effect this heritage has had on the consciousness of Islamic peoples and the choices this heritage will naturally have had on the choices some Muslims have made(this doesn't mean condoning those choices...it means recognizing how people got there, even if where they got to was a horrible place);
2)Avoid, at all costs, the "Clash of Civilizations" narrative-there is as much horrible and bloodsoaked in "Western Christian" history(and as much good in Islamic history as there is in the West)and the point isn't to get into a pissing match as to whose "culture" is superior. The critique should NEVER sound like the arguments made by those in the West who want to militarily and economically subjugate the Arab/Muslim world(i/e., return it to a neo-colonial relationship with the West) and should always recognize that the various Islamic faith traditions have as much right to go on existing as any other religious traditions;
3)If you are arguing from a secular position, remember that imposed secularism was part of the Western imperial tradition in the Arab/Muslim world when much of that world was under Western colonial subjugation. If a secular tradition is to re-emerge in the Islamic world, it must arise from within, and no Western efforts to impose it from without(especially through military intervention)can EVER be legitimate;
4)Acknowledge, at all times, that the vast majority of the world's Muslims, like the vast majority of the world's believers in any other religion, are NOT violent extremists, do not condone violence against non-Muslims, and are simply trying to quietly get through their busy day like anybody else.
5)Remember that things like FGM and honor killings were not invented by Muslims, that they existed in countries that are now Muslim before the Islamic faith was adapted, that they existed and still exist in countries that have never been Musllim, and that it is not fair to assume that all or even MOST Muslims actually support those practices. ALL societies have barbaric pasts and all have done things that people in our age find and have found objectionable.
In short, Islam, like many other religions, does need critique, and those who misinterpret its teachings to justify violent acts must be condemned, but the critique of the religion itself needs to be respectful, needs to be culturally sensitive and non-imperialist/non-Western chauvinist. Above all, any critique offered needs to avoid, at all costs, rhetoric that ends up calling for collective demonization of Muslims, group restrictions against Muslims in the West, or, worst of all, the kind of Neo-Crusader militarism that many on the right in this country, as well as the UK and Europe, seem hell-bent on inciting.
Critique, challenge, dispute...but don't start a blaze with words.
That's not asking too much.