Before embarking on my project of explaining my views on Islam, I need to deal with an important question upfront: why should national security professionals discuss Islam in the first place?
Some argue that singling out Islam for debate is inherently discriminatory. After all, military members don't feel the need to search out "the truth" about Christianity or Buddhism. Intelligence agents and law enforcement officers don't study the doctrines of ancient Judaism. According to those who make this objection, the only reason national security professionals feel the need to discuss Islam is that structural or latent forms of Islamophobia lead them to unfairly single the religion out.
I disagree with this argument for two reasons.
First, Americans frequently discuss religion to whatever extent it intersects with political and social issues. Americans don't often talk about Christianity and terrorism, but they talk plenty about Christianity in other contexts. If you are an activist for gay marriage, you most likely have a keen interest in Christian doctrines about sexuality and the role they play in the public policy debate. If you are a biologist who cares about how evolution is represented in school textbooks, Christian doctrine is also of paramount importance. If you care about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, then you need to know something about Jews who assert a divine right to Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. You are probably also interested in Christian Zionism, the phenomenon that leads many American evangelicals to offer unflinching support of Israeli policy. All of these examples feature prominently in public discourse. Americans don't shy away from discussing religion in these contexts, because the role that religion plays is so apparent.
Islam matters for the same reason: because the role of Islamic belief is so apparent in a variety of political and social issues. This list includes Islamic extremism/terrorism, the relationship between religion and the state, the rights of religious minorities, and the treatment of women. These are huge issues, and there is vast room for disagreement and debate about Islam's role, but it is indisputable that Islam has a role. As most Muslims acknowledge, Islam was founded not just as a personal, spiritual religion but as a comprehensive way of life that has political, economic, and social dimensions. For better or worse, this means that Islam is an important element of many political and social issues that involve Muslim communities. I believe we are much better off acknowledging that, and then digging into the details of how Islam actually influences these issues, rather than pretending Islam doesn't matter.
Second, anti-Muslim activism has become a serious concern in the U.S., and it has a national security dimension. This alone makes Islam uniquely worthy of study. Although I do believe Americans have valid concerns about Islamic belief and its ramifications for society, most skeptics of Islam do not rise to this level of rational concern; browse the websites and events where these people congregate, and you will mostly see a crass, bigoted hatefest. It plays out in truly alarming behavior, like torching or desecrating mosques, ripping the veils from the faces of covered women, and shouting hateful things at ordinary, peaceful Muslim-American citizens. This is a disgrace for the United States in its own right, but it also has an adverse effect on American national security by reinforcing the narrative that the United States is at war with Islam.
To be clear, I do believe that the concept of "Islamophobia" is vastly overplayed to stifle even legitimate concerns and discussion about Islam. I make this argument in my AFJ paper. However, there is clearly a real phenomenon of vicious hatred directed toward Muslims, and we need a word to describe that. As problematic as I find the word "Islamophobia", I don't know a better alternative. In other words, "Islamophobia" is analogous to "anti-Semitic." The latter label is used to describe a real phenomenon of bigotry against Jews, but is also overplayed to demonize anybody who disagrees with the policy choices of the state of Israel.
One reason Islamophobia is on the rise is that Americans have valid concerns about Islam, but aren't getting satisfactory answers from reputable voices. Because many opinion leaders aren't willing to engage with the hard questions about Islam, the ground is being ceded to right-wing extremist voices. Their views are problematic and even profoundly wrong in some cases, but they offer a narrative that sounds plausible to worried Americans. Islam's defenders brand these authors and speakers as "hateful Islamophobes", accuse them of lying, and ridicule their views. What they don't often do is actually engage with their arguments.
Nobody is doing Muslims any favors by ignoring these arguments. If I'm right, and Islamophobia is rooted in legitimate questions and concerns about Islam, then the only way forward is to plunge right into the heart of the controversy. If some of those concerns are unwarranted, then corrective truth needs to emerge through patient discussion and engagement. And if other concerns are warranted, then Muslims need to seriously reflect on those concerns and consider how they contribute to American perceptions of their faith. Either way, open and honest discussion of Islam is essential.
Some argue that singling out Islam for debate is inherently discriminatory. After all, military members don't feel the need to search out "the truth" about Christianity or Buddhism. Intelligence agents and law enforcement officers don't study the doctrines of ancient Judaism. According to those who make this objection, the only reason national security professionals feel the need to discuss Islam is that structural or latent forms of Islamophobia lead them to unfairly single the religion out.
I disagree with this argument for two reasons.
First, Americans frequently discuss religion to whatever extent it intersects with political and social issues. Americans don't often talk about Christianity and terrorism, but they talk plenty about Christianity in other contexts. If you are an activist for gay marriage, you most likely have a keen interest in Christian doctrines about sexuality and the role they play in the public policy debate. If you are a biologist who cares about how evolution is represented in school textbooks, Christian doctrine is also of paramount importance. If you care about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, then you need to know something about Jews who assert a divine right to Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. You are probably also interested in Christian Zionism, the phenomenon that leads many American evangelicals to offer unflinching support of Israeli policy. All of these examples feature prominently in public discourse. Americans don't shy away from discussing religion in these contexts, because the role that religion plays is so apparent.
Islam matters for the same reason: because the role of Islamic belief is so apparent in a variety of political and social issues. This list includes Islamic extremism/terrorism, the relationship between religion and the state, the rights of religious minorities, and the treatment of women. These are huge issues, and there is vast room for disagreement and debate about Islam's role, but it is indisputable that Islam has a role. As most Muslims acknowledge, Islam was founded not just as a personal, spiritual religion but as a comprehensive way of life that has political, economic, and social dimensions. For better or worse, this means that Islam is an important element of many political and social issues that involve Muslim communities. I believe we are much better off acknowledging that, and then digging into the details of how Islam actually influences these issues, rather than pretending Islam doesn't matter.
Second, anti-Muslim activism has become a serious concern in the U.S., and it has a national security dimension. This alone makes Islam uniquely worthy of study. Although I do believe Americans have valid concerns about Islamic belief and its ramifications for society, most skeptics of Islam do not rise to this level of rational concern; browse the websites and events where these people congregate, and you will mostly see a crass, bigoted hatefest. It plays out in truly alarming behavior, like torching or desecrating mosques, ripping the veils from the faces of covered women, and shouting hateful things at ordinary, peaceful Muslim-American citizens. This is a disgrace for the United States in its own right, but it also has an adverse effect on American national security by reinforcing the narrative that the United States is at war with Islam.
To be clear, I do believe that the concept of "Islamophobia" is vastly overplayed to stifle even legitimate concerns and discussion about Islam. I make this argument in my AFJ paper. However, there is clearly a real phenomenon of vicious hatred directed toward Muslims, and we need a word to describe that. As problematic as I find the word "Islamophobia", I don't know a better alternative. In other words, "Islamophobia" is analogous to "anti-Semitic." The latter label is used to describe a real phenomenon of bigotry against Jews, but is also overplayed to demonize anybody who disagrees with the policy choices of the state of Israel.
One reason Islamophobia is on the rise is that Americans have valid concerns about Islam, but aren't getting satisfactory answers from reputable voices. Because many opinion leaders aren't willing to engage with the hard questions about Islam, the ground is being ceded to right-wing extremist voices. Their views are problematic and even profoundly wrong in some cases, but they offer a narrative that sounds plausible to worried Americans. Islam's defenders brand these authors and speakers as "hateful Islamophobes", accuse them of lying, and ridicule their views. What they don't often do is actually engage with their arguments.
Nobody is doing Muslims any favors by ignoring these arguments. If I'm right, and Islamophobia is rooted in legitimate questions and concerns about Islam, then the only way forward is to plunge right into the heart of the controversy. If some of those concerns are unwarranted, then corrective truth needs to emerge through patient discussion and engagement. And if other concerns are warranted, then Muslims need to seriously reflect on those concerns and consider how they contribute to American perceptions of their faith. Either way, open and honest discussion of Islam is essential.
2 comments:
All persons interested in Israel and Jews should Google "Do Christian Zionist Authors Push Their Agenda Through Lies and Plagiarism?"
(Warning: Christian Zionists will not be provided with shock absorbers!)
[I saw the above web bit. Larry]
"Islam's defenders brand these authors and speakers as "hateful Islamophobes", accuse them of lying, and ridicule their views. What they don't often do is actually engage with their arguments"----that is because Islamophobia is based not on "legitimate" concerns but on myth and fantasy---and any time any Muslim tries to inject any reason or facts---they are accused of "taqiya" (lying).
That does not mean that there are'nt real, legitimiate problems in Muslim-Majority countries. These are being debated by Muslim scholars in the West. (Why the West?---because there is more freedom to discuss these issues and forulate answers and policies than in many of the Muslim-Majority countries) These Muslim scholars have a lot of influence in other countries---particularly among young Muslims---In the East---the demographics show that there are more young in the East. Though the Middle East may be of interest to Americans as that is where the oil is---Demographically, a large portion of Muslims (60% of the 1.5 billion Muslims) are in the East.
(approx 15 % in the Middle East, and 20% in Africa) Ofcourse the "East" is a rather large chunk of the planet geographically.....
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