29 March 2012

Islamophobia a cover for other problems

.... criticism of religion does not exist in a vacuum of ideas, abstracted from any wider political context. In this vein, it is worth asking what function the disproportionate fixation with diagnosing Islam's ills fulfils in much of Europe and North America today.

Could this too be a political ploy, to disguise and displace deeper anxieties about the direction our societies are taking at a time of immense political and economic upheaval?

[A COMMENT] …. Islam gets off lightly, especially compared to Christianity. The South Park episode where they were prevented from depecting Mohammed, only to show Jesus defecating on the American flag, makes the point well. The religion is not toally compatible with Western society, especially as it is seemingly resistant to any kind of reform.

[A COMMENT] "Muslims and non Muslims alike have always engaged critically and creatively with the Islamic tradition, both reverently and irreverently" Really? Lately when non muslims have engaged with it critically and irreverently they've tended to be murdered. [Guardian Cif] Read more