The cold war under the bed
Oh, Guardian, honestly. Really?
Conservative thinktanks are in a bit of a bind when it comes to responding to the rise of Islamophobia. On the one hand they want to condemn the BNP and the English Defence League for their racism and violence, but on the other they want to downplay the extent and existence of anti-Muslim racism because it might deflect attention from “Islamism” – the catch-all term for politically active Muslims, which they see as the main problem facing the UK.
“Islamism” is not the (or a) catch-all term for politically active Muslims; that is completely ridiculous. It’s a term for political Islam, which is a different thing.
The difficulty with their position is that they end up condemning the peaceful political activism of Muslim groups…
No; Islamist groups, which are a different thing.
The record of these thinktanks is that their publications at best exaggerate the threat posed by “Islamists” and the supposed Islamisation of public institutions. Their concern is not over the threat of terrorism or even of any illegality.
Right, because that’s not all there is to be concerned over. Theocracy is something to be concerned over even if it takes power without violence and within the law.
Reassuringly, the commenters understand that. It’s too bad the Guardian doesn’t.
Ah, the wet-left-people-from-the-developing-world-can-do-no-wrong brigade. Keep at it, Guardian, and you’ll have Tories in Westminster for a very long time indeed. Not that I mind :)
Both of the most popular canards trotted out for our delectation, too: Islam treated as a race, and the silly addition of ‘phobia’ to any form of criticism.
Gay people really should demand their word back, for the simple reason that ‘homophobia’ describes a genuine psychological phenomenon that is relatively common: a fear of homosexuals on the basis that the person experiencing fear is worried about his (and it is usually ‘his’) sexual orientation.
Islamophobia, by contrast, describes no such thing, and if one is gay, or a westernised woman, is likely both legitimate and warranted.
Yes, the commenters at the Guardian are certainly giving Miller a thrashing.
My Pomo thought for today: question Islamophobia.
I don’t see why one can’t condemn wrong actions no matter who is committing them.
One of my major frustrations with political parties on the right and left is that one side cares about discrimination against Muslims while excusing/ignoring discrimination committed by Muslims while the other side cares about discrimination committed by Muslims but excuses/ignores discrimination against Muslims or other minority groups.
Attempting to choose a side in this ridiculous battle became rather annoying and so I decided ultimately that they’re both wrong.