Stephen's bigotry against Muslims

In last year's Educating Stephen About Islam, I tried to do just that: educate reader Stephen about Islam. Evidently it didn't take. Stephen continued to proclaim Islam a "religion of hate."

(To be clear, this posting refers to reader Stephen M., not blogger and reader Stephen B.)

In the comments to Indian Mounds in P. Allen Smith Gardens, Stephen essentially challenged me to prove his bigotry against Muslims. Ask and ye shall receive, buddy. Here are your quotes from Armenian and Indian Genocides:There are no inferior races but there are inferior cultures and religions; Islam is nothing more than a barbaric [culture or religion]. And frankly I'm sickened by Obama's 'respect' for a religion that preaches hatred, bigotry, misogyny and so on.Although you left out the word after "barbaric," it's clear what you meant. Islamic religion is barbaric and so is Islamic culture.

Islamic culture is a product of many forces besides Islamic religion. By saying the culture is inferior and barbaric, you're indicting more than just the religion. You're indicting the people and their social, economic, and political institutions. You're indicting everything they think and do.

To reiterate, if a culture is barbaric, the people who produced and practice it are barbaric. No other meaning is logically possible.Unlike Muslims the Norse didn't conquer because of religious beliefs but because they lived in misery.Here's evidence that you don't believe your phony distinction between Islam and its believers. As you just implied, Muslims conquer(ed) others because of their religious beliefs. Islam didn't conquer people in some abstract, philosophical way; the Muslims who practiced it did. According to you, Muslims are evildoers.

Islam infects Muslim world?I disagree as evidenced by those verses (only a few examples of how putrid Islam is) and what's currently going on in the Muslim world I'd say Islam is a serious problem.What is going on in the Muslim world, in your opinion? Democratic movements in places such as Iran and Egypt? Or more hatred and terrorism against the West? Let us know so we can see how biased you are.

If you were attacking only Islam, you wouldn't have used the phrase "the Muslim world." It's clear you think the Muslim world--i.e., the world's Muslims--is turning evil. Although a few Muslims may escape your scorn, you're basically indicting them all.So the 'Islam is alright it's just a few fanatics twisting it' myth is just that; a myth, Islam is a religion of hate.You don't believe "just a few fanatics" are twisting Islam. Then you must believe those who regularly practice Islam accept its message of hate. In other words, Muslims are hateful.

And not just a few of them. The opposite of "a few" is "most." If "a few fanatics twisting it" is a myth, then you believe most Muslims aren't twisting Islam. According to you, it's a religion of hate and they believe in its hatefulness.Hitler actually wished that Germany was Muslim rather than Christian (since it would have made the holocaust easier).Did you mean to write "Germany was Muslim" rather than "German was Islamic"? Once again you failed to distinguish between the religion and its believers. Hitler wanted to equate his country with the barbaric, hateful Muslim world and so do you. You agree with him that Muslims are basically Nazis.

More examples of Stephen's bigotry

In a recent e-mail, Stephen helpfully provided more examples of his bigotry against Muslims. First, when comparing the national aspirations of the Palestinians and America's Founding Fathers, he wrote:Apart from the fact that comparing the founding fathers to hamas goons is downright insulting....We were talking about all Palestinians, bright boy, not "Hamas goons." You're the only one who compared Palestinians to Hamas goons. That's because you're bigoted against millions of Palestinians whether they're part of Hamas or not.

And that's because you're bigoted against Muslims, not just Palestinians or "terrorists." To you, almost every Muslim and Palestinian is a gook goon.[T]here are already no shortage of Arab states that can easily accomadate the so called palestinians, do you really yet another Arab dictatorship?So the Palestinians will inevitably form another Arab dictatorship? Even though they have a quasi-democratic government now? Because that's what Arabs inevitably do: form dictatorships?

So you're bigoted against Arabs as well as Muslims, eh? No surprise there.[Y]es I am opposed to the existence of a palestinian state; merely because I have no desire for yet another Arab terroist state.Right, because Arabs inevitably form dictatorships and terrorist states. Because they're inherently evil, according to you.

Why would (a few) Palestinians continue terrorizing people after they get a state when a state is their primary reason for terrorizing people? Because they're inherently evil, according to you.

Muslims form terrorist states?

There's your bigotry for you. It lies in your failure to distinguish between Islam and its 1.3 billion adherents. According to everything you've said, you believe the vast majority of Muslims are as evil as their religion. All they want to do is live in dictatorships and terrorize the rest of us.'Palestinian' ideology isn't islamic at all it's secular; just like how the Ba'ath party and PLO was secular, so my objections to the palestinian movement have very little to do with religion.Apparently you believe Palestinians practice an "ideology of hate" as well as a "religion of hate." In other words, you're bigoted against Palestinians whether or not they're Muslim and Muslims whether or not they're Palestinian. Why doesn't that surprise me?

If Palestinians have a secular ideology that has little to do with Islam, why are they so filled with hate, according to you? Why are they goons and terrorists, according to you? Why are they incapable of forming anything but dictatorships and terrorist states, according to you?

Is it just an incredible coincidence that the Palestinians' "secular ideology" is exactly as hateful as Islam? That it leads to exactly the same dictatorships and terrorist acts? I'm stunned that two groups that don't overlap (secular Palestinians and religious Muslims who aren't Palestinians) have produced almost identical results.

Just a coincidence? Sure it is, bigot.

Incidentally, the questions above aren't rhetorical. If you're not too afraid, I expect you to answer them. While you're at it, try harder to disguise your bigotry, because it's virtually transparent now.

Questions Stephen can't answer

If you think I've misstated your position, feel free to clarify it. Here are some helpful questions to guide your "thinking":

If Islam is a "religion of hate," why are the vast majority of Muslims peaceful? Alternatively, if the vast majority of Muslims are peaceful, how can you call Islam a "religion of hate"?

Roughly what percentage of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims a) hate the West, b) want to conquer or destroy the West? Don't bother with weasel-words like "some" or "many" unless you're as cowardly as you seem. If you don't know the answer, give me your best numerical guesses.

If Islam is different from Christianity, why did Europe and the US form "terrorist states" that killed, conquered, and enslaved the world's indigenous populations? If both religions are "terrorist," what's your excuse for singling out Islam? Because its practitioners are generally brown rather than white?

Whew. You've spewed a lot of bigotry for one comment and e-mail. I'm pretty sure you say equally bigoted things whenever you talk about Islam, Muslims, Arabs, or Palestinians. I'll be glad to post more quotes as needed.

I look forward to your clarification about which Arabs and Muslims are filled with hate and which aren't. Your estimate of how many Muslims believe in and practice their hateful religion. And your explanation of all the hateful acts of terrorism committed in the name of Christ. Good luck with your answers...you'll need it.

Relevance of this posting

With Muslims and the interfaith community center near Ground Zero in the news recently, this subject is especially timely. If anyone's wondering, here's why this subject is relevant to this blog:

1) We should fight racism and prejudice wherever they exist. People who are prejudiced against one group are usually prejudiced against others. For more on the subject, see Stereotypes Beget Stereotypes and Native Stereotypes Increase Other Stereotypes.

2) Stephen is using the same arguments against Muslims that his ancestors used against Indians. They're violent, they're barbaric, they're evil, they can't be reasoned with, they want to destroy us. This kind of thinking usually leads to a final solution: We must kill them before they kill us.

For more on Stephen's ignorance, see Educating Stephen About Israel's Occupation and Educating Stephen About Palestinians.

For more on the similarities between Muslims and Indians, see:

Bigots protest brown-skins on 9/11
Conservative bigotry against Islam
Muslim "tribes" = Indian tribes?!
"9/11 mosque" = "devil worship"
Yesterday's Cherokees = today's Muslims

For more on the subject in general, see Understanding Islam and Highlights of the US Report to the UN on Racism.