I'm trying to get to the root of America's Islamaphobia

[90-percent]

Last edited Fri Dec 18, 2015, 08:50 AM - Edit history (1)

I caught a segment on O'Reilly that had a piece with Pat Robertson's thoughts on the merits of Islam. My imprecise transcript:

"Islam is a political system bent on world domination. ..... It is not a religion as such. ......Islam believes the world is divided into two parts; the world of Islam and the world of non-believers, who should convert and if not they should be put to the sword.....A military discipline bent on world domination."

I just cannot comprehend a major established Abrahamic religion would be so medieval????



-90% Jimmy


Here's the 700 Club video I forgot to post. Can't find the O'Reilly coverage of around Dec.9.

[rug]

1. Here's a start:

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/islamophobia-is-an-american-tradition-that-emerged-long-before-911/

[Warpy]

2. That gobshite is conflating the present day with the world 1200 years ago

Islam was expansionist more for territory over conversion until the Ottomans began to totter. Christians treated the Jews far worse during the 1940s.

All zealots are Mediaeval, all treat women like cattle, and all are intolerant of any outsider unwilling to convert. It's a good thing they all hate each other. Otherwise, they might join forces.

[mwrguy]

3. Rampant ignorance and hatred

In a nutshell.

[Yorktown]

4. So fear of Islam is borne out of ignorance?

Strange.

One could think it was knowledge of the violent ayas/hadiths which could have caused fear.

[FrodosPet]

11. Yes, the Christian and Islamic religions are both full of that

I'm sorry. I forgot that the presence of good Muslims means that there are no bad Muslims, that ISIS and other similar groups are freedom fighters protesting western imperialism, and rape victims, gays, and apostates are NOT being stoned to death in fundamentalist Islamic nations.

WAKE UP PEOPLE! Having issues with violent, doomsday-oriented death cults, is NOT anti-progressive. Excusing the actions of right wing religious fundys just to avoid a label IS anti-progressive.

[AtheistCrusader]

5. Christian Dominionism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_Theology

I think they're projecting.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

6. 9/11. Sometimes the obvious answer really is the right one.

Yes, there was Islamophobia in the USA before that, but far less; 9/11 2001 was the day it went mainstream.

[Lordquinton]

7. America has a strong bigotry streak

And after 9/11 it got focused towards Islam. The root? Conservative ideology that there is an us and them? It's nothing simple, you could get a PhD on the subject and still not cover it all.

[Iggo]

8. Ex-Tee-Annity.

There you go.

[Fumesucker]

9. I've come to think it has to do with Islamist suicide attackers as much as anything

Someone who believes in their religion strongly enough to martyr themselves is a scary enigma to those who mouth religion but really aren't completely convinced.

Religion in the US strikes me as being a mile wide and an inch deep, I say this after watching the many many Christians in my own life closely for decades, Islam seems to have a much deeper sense of conviction about it.

It also seems that most Muslim majority nations have some form of Sharia, it's telling that the most vocal opponents of Muslim Sharia are the Christians who would most like to institute Christian Sharia here.

[FrodosPet]

10. Why are some ex-Muslims Islamophobic?

Doomsday cults suck. ALL of them. INCLUDING CBN. INCLUDING Islam.

Published on May 28, 2015
Presented at the American Humanist Association 74th Annual Conference, May 7-10, 2015, in Denver, Colorado. #ahacon15

Reformists in Muslim countries are routinely silenced, through persecution or violence, which has been increasing over the last few decades as Islamism gains traction. Liberals are in a unique position to make a nuanced and compassionate critique of harmful conceptions of religion- a position which we are ceding. As a result, the only visible voices are those of hate-mongers from the far-right, Islamists and outright apologists. It is of the highest priority that liberals exert pressure on both groups towards positive change.

Sarah Haider is a co-founder of Ex-Muslims of North America, a community building organization for Ex-Muslims across the non-theist spectrum, for which she currently works to reduce discrimination of those who left Islam.

[hr]

Muhammad Syed is an ex-Muslim and President of the Ex-Muslims of North America. He spent a few minutes with Seth Andrews in conversation about his former faith.

http://www.exmna.org

[hr]

Published on Feb 12, 2015
Sohail's story on becoming faithless, his love of physics and coming to terms with his sexuality.

www.faithtofaithless.com